Greater BOSTON
The Greater Boston Building Trades Unions represents 35,000 working families in the Metropolitan Boston region. The building trades unions advance social and economic justice by providing family-supporting wages, healthcare benefits and dignified retirement benefits to workers and their families in the construction industry.
The Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella group of 20 local construction unions, in partnership with more than 3,300 union contractors, provides the highest standards for workers in the construction industry. It is through collective bargaining and the Labor-Management partnership that workers achieve the highest levels of training, safety and economic security throughout their careers.
The Council strives to create a more fair and just environment for all workers in the construction industry.
The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 29
The Boilermakers are a diverse union of workers in construction, maintenance, manufacturing, professional emergency medical services, repair and related industries. Boilermakers build and repair ships, fishing boats, ferries, barges, cranes, boilers, tanks, pressure vessels, plate and structural fabrications among other things.
These skilled workers often use acetylene torches, power grinders and other equipment for welding, burning, cutting, rigging, layout and bolting. It’s hard work, and heavy lifting and dedication to the craft is required.
International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 3
BAC represents all skilled trowel trades workers, including bricklayers, tile setters, plasterers, cement masons, marble masons, restoration workers, and terrazzo and mosaic workers. Their work can be seen on many buildings, homes, stadiums, monuments and landmarks throughout the United States and Canada.
BAC craftworkers routinely demonstrate their talents at trade shows, union industries shows and apprentice contests.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103
The IBEW represents workers in the electrical industry including construction, gas and electric utilities, telecommunications, railroads and government agencies. Construction and residential electricians work in all phases of the electrical construction and service industry. Their worksites ranges from single-family residences to state-of-the-art industrial plants.
Inside wire workers may install and maintain conduits, switches, converters, wire lighting, and complex systems incorporating computerization and high technology. Electricians work in the electric sign industry and increasingly perform work in the installation of fiber optics and voice/data/video equipment.
International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 4
The IUEC represent the most qualified and trained elevator constructors in the world. Members assemble, install and replace elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, moving walkways and similar equipment in new and old buildings. Elevator constructors also maintain and repair this equipment and modernize older equipment.
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 6
The International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers has persevered since 1903, a testament to our founders’ commitment to the dignity, skills and well-being of our membership. For more than 115 years our union has endured, through good times and bad, in peacetime and at war, through economic depression and prosperity,in favor and out of favor with governments and politicians.
Through it all we not only have survived; we have flourished. Today’s Union Insulator is skilled in the installation of mechanical insulation, fire stopping, asbestos and lead mitigation or abatement, sound attenuation and specialty fabrications required in custom mechanical insulation installations for commercial, industrial, medical, bio-technical, governmental and educational facilities among other customer types. This work is installed by our professional mechanical insulators that have achieved journeyman status in the union through a multi-year classroom and 1,600 hour per year on-the-job training program second to none in North America.
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local 7
Members of the IW assemble and erect steel framework and other metal parts in buildings and on bridges, dams, skyscrapers, factories and other steel structures. They raise, place and join steel girders and columns to form structural frameworks, including the welding for metal decking.
Laborers' International Union of North America Local 22
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – is a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. A half-million strong, they are united through collective bargaining agreements which help us earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives.
LIUNA members are a skilled and experienced union workforce trained to work safely in the construction and energy industries. Members build infrastructure – from roads, bridges, and transit to schools and skyscrapers. They are certified to install rainwater catchment systems and trained to build water and sewer systems. Members also work in every area of the energy sector, helping to build solar plants, wind farms, and natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as, being skilled in the maintenance of nuclear and coal power plant facilities. LIUNA also represents over 70,000 public employees. LIUNA public employees provide critical services from health care and sanitation to road maintenance and emergency response. LIUNA is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees. LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a powerhouse sector of 12 million workers producing five percent of our countries’ economic output.
Laborers' International Union of North America Local 88 (Tunnel Workers)
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – is a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. A half-million strong, they are united through collective bargaining agreements which help us earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives.
LIUNA members are a skilled and experienced union workforce trained to work safely in the construction and energy industries. Members build infrastructure – from roads, bridges, and transit to schools and skyscrapers. They are certified to install rainwater catchment systems and trained to build water and sewer systems. Members also work in every area of the energy sector, helping to build solar plants, wind farms, and natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as, being skilled in the maintenance of nuclear and coal power plant facilities. LIUNA also represents over 70,000 public employees. LIUNA public employees provide critical services from health care and sanitation to road maintenance and emergency response. LIUNA is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees. LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a powerhouse sector of 12 million workers producing five percent of our countries’ economic output.
Laborers' International Union of North America Local 151
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – is a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. A half-million strong, they are united through collective bargaining agreements which help us earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives.
LIUNA members are a skilled and experienced union workforce trained to work safely in the construction and energy industries. Members build infrastructure – from roads, bridges, and transit to schools and skyscrapers. They are certified to install rainwater catchment systems and trained to build water and sewer systems. Members also work in every area of the energy sector, helping to build solar plants, wind farms, and natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as, being skilled in the maintenance of nuclear and coal power plant facilities. LIUNA also represents over 70,000 public employees. LIUNA public employees provide critical services from health care and sanitation to road maintenance and emergency response. LIUNA is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees. LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a powerhouse sector of 12 million workers producing five percent of our countries’ economic output.
Laborers' International Union of North America Local 223
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – is a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. A half-million strong, they are united through collective bargaining agreements which help us earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives.
LIUNA members are a skilled and experienced union workforce trained to work safely in the construction and energy industries. Members build infrastructure – from roads, bridges, and transit to schools and skyscrapers. They are certified to install rainwater catchment systems and trained to build water and sewer systems. Members also work in every area of the energy sector, helping to build solar plants, wind farms, and natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as, being skilled in the maintenance of nuclear and coal power plant facilities. LIUNA also represents over 70,000 public employees. LIUNA public employees provide critical services from health care and sanitation to road maintenance and emergency response. LIUNA is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees. LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a powerhouse sector of 12 million workers producing five percent of our countries’ economic output.
Laborers' International Union of North America Local 1421 (Wreckers)
LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – is a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build the United States and Canada. A half-million strong, they are united through collective bargaining agreements which help us earn family-supporting pay, good benefits and the opportunity for advancement and better lives.
LIUNA members are a skilled and experienced union workforce trained to work safely in the construction and energy industries. Members build infrastructure – from roads, bridges, and transit to schools and skyscrapers. They are certified to install rainwater catchment systems and trained to build water and sewer systems. Members also work in every area of the energy sector, helping to build solar plants, wind farms, and natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as, being skilled in the maintenance of nuclear and coal power plant facilities. LIUNA also represents over 70,000 public employees. LIUNA public employees provide critical services from health care and sanitation to road maintenance and emergency response. LIUNA is the most progressive, aggressive and fastest-growing union of construction workers, and one of the most diverse and effective unions representing public service employees. LIUNA members are on the forefront of the construction industry – a powerhouse sector of 12 million workers producing five percent of our countries’ economic output.
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 4
IUOE is a progressive, diversified trade union primarily representing operating engineers, who work as heavy equipment operators, mechanics and surveyors in the construction industry; and stationary engineers, who work in the service industries and in operations and maintenance in building and industrial complexes.
IUOE also represents nurses and other health industry workers, a significant number of public employees engaged in a wide variety of occupations, and a number of job classifications in the petrochemical industry.
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35
IUPAT members work in one or more of several crafts: painting, wallpaper hanging, glazing (glass work), drywall and taping, floor covering, and sign and display work. Painters and paperhangers work in industrial, commercial and residential settings, from bridges and ships to interior walls of office buildings and homes.
Drywall finishers tape, fill in and smooth seams in sheets of drywall. Glaziers prepare and install various kinds of glass, mirrors, metal framing and doors/entrances to buildings. Floor coverers work with resilient floors, as well as carpet and decorative coverings. Members also perform exterior sign and display work, like standard billboards and lighted billboards. Other types of work are convention display and show decorators.
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States, Canada (UA) Pipefitters Local 537
Local 537 represents more than 3,000 pipefitters, welders and HVAC technicians employed in the construction industry across Massachusetts. Members lead the way in providing installation, service, estimation, Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), supervision and management to projects of all shapes and sizes.
They are committed to ensuring that their members bring the highest level of skills wherever they work, including the region’s medical campuses, universities and more.At the heart of Local 537’s success is their five-year training program. Their curriculum teaches apprentices the right way to be a professional, from the most basic approaches to the latest cutting-edge technology. They graduate with careers and great benefits and are consistently ranked among the top piping professionals in the world. Local 537 pipefitters, welders and HVAC technicians also further their education to maintain the highest standards of excellence and safety on the job.
Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ International Association Local 534
OPCMIA members represent skilled plasterers, cement masons, shophands and associated members. Plasterers finish interior walls and ceilings of buildings, apply plaster on masonry, metal, wirelath or gypsum. Bridges, canals, dams, reservoirs, roads and many other engineering feats would be impossible without the skills of OPCMIA cement masons.
Cement masons are responsible for all concrete construction, including pouring and finishing of slabs, steps, wall tops, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, paving and other concrete construction.
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States, Canada (UA) Plumbers & Gasfitters Local 12
Plumbers & Gasfitters Local 12 Boston was chartered on February 7, 1890 by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting, and Sprinkler Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 has been aggressive with defending the integrity of the plumbing industry.
They have also made it their goal to insure that hard working plumbers have job protection and top wages on public projects in the Commonwealth.Local 12 Apprentices attend 5 years of comprehensive training. Members of Local 12 who are licensed have the benefit of acquiring advanced skills, such as medical gas training, and certifications in welding. This training does not bear any cost to their members in comparison to non-union workers who have to pay out of pocket for their apprenticeship training, and advanced journeymen training. Classes for continuing education, which is mandated for licensed plumbers in the Commonwealth, take place in the hall for a nominal fee.
United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 33
Members of the Roofers Union install new roofs and remove old roofs using a variety of materials. Roofers install hot built-up and single-ply roofing systems on mostly commercial/industrial structures. Waterproofers install moisture-resistant products on below-grade structures and other surfaces to prevent water intrusion into buildings.
The work is performed in all weather conditions. Members also operate a variety of mechanical and electrical equipment associated with the installation of roofing and waterproofing products.
Sheet Metal Workers' International Association Local 17
Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 is a building trades union representing more than 2,700 skilled and licensed workers throughout Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. They stand together as the most highly trained professionals in the industry, bringing the top safety standards and quality to any project.
Local 17 was formed in 1896 so that men and women working in the sheet metal industry could bargain collectively for better work standards.Today, their members enjoy dignified contracts, industry-leading wages and healthcare, and a sound pension plan they can count on after retirement.
SMW Local 17 cares about fighting for the quality of life of its members, guaranteeing the highest level of construction excellence available anywhere, and serving as a reliable partner to responsible contractors and communities.
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States, Canada (UA) Sprinkler Fitters Local 550
Sprinkler Fitters and Apprentices Local Union 550 is dedicated to the education and training of its members. They strive to stay abreast of the continual evolution of fire sprinkler systems and fire safety regulations. Their journeymen and apprentices are among the best trained in the world.
Continuing Education classes are offered on a regular basis to their Journeymen to keep them abreast of changes and trends in the sprinkler industry through a telecommunications link to the United Association. In addition, their apprentices are given hands on training in their state of the art valve rooms, CAD instruction in our computer lab, as well as classroom instruction. This training assures that their contractors and end-users get the ‘best and the brightest’ to design, install and service a quality fire protection system. No matter how big or small the project, their members work safely, proudly, reliably and quickly ensuring that the fire protection system will operate correctly every time and that projects remain on-budget.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25
The Teamsters represent 1.4 million working men and women in virtually every occupation throughout the United States and Canada, including many in the construction industry. Two-thirds of Teamsters members work in one of five divisions: warehouse, parcel, freight, public employees and industrial trades.
The public employees sector is the union’s fastest-growing division. Teamsters members are also spread out geographically. The largest concentrations of Teamsters are in the regions in the central and eastern states.
Join the Boston Building Trades Unions
Enroll in one of the Boston Building Trades Unions apprenticeship programs and earn while you learn the skills for a great career in the construction industry with industry-leading wages and benefits.
You can kickstart a career that offers you premium wages, the best healthcare, and a pension plan that guarantees benefits for you and your family.
With our apprenticeship programs, you can earn while you learn! Our apprenticeship programs continue to set the highest standard for construction safety and training across the world. The union construction industry is dedicated to recruiting and retaining the most diverse, best trained, and most highly-qualified craftspeople in the industry. Now, it’s time for you to build your future with us.