thumb|LIUNA's headquarters is in the Moreschi Building in downtown [[Washington, DC]]

The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom are in Canada. The current general president is Brent Booker who was appointed general president in 2023. There are nine regions across North America; these regions are further divided into 500 local unions. One region is in Toronto, Canada, and is led by Joseph Mancinelli, Local 183, which is the largest construction local union in North America.

History

1900–1920

LIUNA's origins stretch back to the 19th century when local construction unions began popping up across the United States. Then, in March 1903, Samuel Gompers, the President of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), successfully persuaded various local construction unions from across the US to unite in order to consolidate power in their fight against unfair labor practices.

As a result, on April 13, 1903, the International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers' Union (IHC and BLC) was established at its founding convention in Washington, DC. At the convention there were 25 delegates from 23 unions in 17 different cities in attendance. a General Secretary-Treasurer, Harold Stemburgh, and adopted a Declaration of Principles. Also, the delegates were able to produce the union's first charter, which claimed jurisdiction over:<blockquote>Wrecking of buildings, excavations of buildings, digging of trenches, piers and foundations, holes, digging, lagging, sheeting of said foundations, holes, and caisson work, concrete for buildings, whether foundations, floors or any other, whether done by hand or any other process, tending to masons, mixing and handling all materials used by masons (except stone setters), building of centers for fireproofing purposes, tending to carpenters, tending to and mixing of all materials for plastering, whether done by hand or any other process, clearing of debris from buildings, shoring, underpinning and raising of old buildings, drying of plastering, when done by salamander heat, handling of dimension stones.

During the early 20th century, the union achieved considerable wage raises for members in Pittsburgh, New York City, New York and Chicago, and orchestrated strikes in Boston, St. Louis and Philadelphia. By 1920, membership had climbed to 96,000. The union backed calls by African-American workers to be allowed full and equal status as union members, denying permission for segregated unions to be founded in Kansas City and Cincinnati.

1921–1940

In 1929, the union expanded to include the Tunnel and Subway Constructors' International Union of North America. Then, eight years later, the union expanded again to include the International Union of Pavers, Rammermen, Flag Layers, Bridge and Stone Curb Setters and Sheet Asphalt Pavers. In 1965, the union was renamed the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). A year later, LIUNA created the Laborers' Political League in order to both influence politics and encourage its members to participate in the political process. Then, six years later, LIUNA signed a national agreement with the Asbestos Abatement Contractors Association ensuring safer working conditions for all its members.

2001–present

In 2001, members of the LIUNA participated in the clean up at Ground Zero in New York following the September 11 terrorist attacks. In 2003, the same year the Laborers' Union celebrated its 100th anniversary, it also spearheaded the creation of its first construction charter school. The Cranston Public Schools Construction and Career Academy is a high school that teaches students about the construction industry and how to get into it. However, LIUNA officials said on August 13, 2010, that the union would leave Change to Win and rejoin the AFL–CIO in October 2010.

In May 2016, in the midst of the 2016 United States presidential election, LIUNA donated US$1 million to Priorities USA Action, a SuperPAC which supports Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Membership

According to LIUNA's Department of Labor records since 2005, when membership classifications were first reported, the union's membership has been in a slow decline across all categories except "retired" members, which reports a slight increase during the period. The most drastic decline, by over half, has been in "mail handlers associate" members, which is the second largest category of members and the only category reported as ineligible to vote in the union. LIUNA contracts also cover some non-members, known as agency fee payers, which since 2006 have numbered comparatively less than 1% of the size of the union's membership. Agency fee payers have also fallen by about half of its reported number, although comparatively marginal throughout. As of 2013 this accounts for about 90,000 "mail handler associates" (16%), 68,000 "retirees" (12%) and 38,000 "mail handler regulars" (7%), plus less than 2,000 non-members paying agency fees, compared to about 362,000 "regular" members (65%).

:1905: Michael Knipfer