Hard Labor: Laborer's 657 Builds a Bigger Union

Laborers Local 657 has dramatically increased their membership to 2,500 in just four years. But newly-elected Business Manager Anthony Frederick Sr. still isn't satisfied. "My goal is 5,000 members," says the 41-year-old leader -- who was first appointed in September 2005 -- "but our ultimate goal is really to organize 100% of the local market." Frederick - along with Local 657 Vice-President Ron Freeland and Recording Secretary Dario Ferrufino - sat down with UNION CITY last week to talk about the local's future. Local 657 is the result of the 2003 merger of locals 456 -- which did "heavy and highway" work -- and 74 -- which did building construction work. Laborers are proud to be "the first ones on the job and the last ones to leave" area construction sites, Freeland said. There are dozens of job titles that fall under the general "laborers" heading, from demolition laborers to riprap man, scale man, water nozzleman, timber bucker and faller, cement handler and more. "Basically, we're the support craft on building sites," says Ferrufino. As with all construction work, jobs "can last a day, a week or a year," depending on the project, adds Frederick. While laborer's work is hard, demanding physical labor, "it doesn't require as much schooling as most of the other trades," says Freeland, which makes the laborers a popular entry point into the construction trades. The Laborer's apprenticeship program accepts new applicants every two months and puts graduates on the job after about five weeks of training; journeyman status takes about three years to achieve. "We're a 'feeder union'," agrees Ferrufino, who notes that most of the local's members - who are predominantly African-American but now include more than 1,200 Latino workers - are District residents. Like many of his members, Frederick came into the trade right out of high school. The local, which just a few years ago only represented 3% of the area laborers, now has 20% and continues to grow. "The DC stadium project brought in a lot of contractors," says Frederick. Non-union contractors who hired union laborers under the Project Labor Agreement governing the stadium project "discovered that our members were reliable and skilled and now they swear by our workers," Frederick brags. The local - which Frederick says needs more members because "we have more work than ever," now has ten organizers who are out on worksites early every morning talking up the benefits of belonging to the union. "There's a lot of cheating on non-union sites," says Ferrufino. "Contractors often try to get away with not paying prevailing rates, especially to new immigrants, many of whom are undocumented workers who don't know their rights and are afraid of losing their jobs." As a result, Local 657 has been very involved in immigrant rights issues in recent years, participating in events like last year's massive march and rally in Washington. Under the Regional Manager Dennis Martire and former Business Manager Gene Pinder's leadership, the local got heavily involved in the local labor movement, becoming more active in political activities and routinely showing up on area labor picketlines in their trademark bright yellow safety vests. "That's our trademark," laughs Frederick, who says that the newly-elected leadership plans to continue this level of visible activism. The local is contemplating plans to erect a new building across the street from their current offices near the Fort Totten Metro station and Frederick talks enthusiastically about how the local has become ever-more involved with the labor and local community, whether it's serving as labor headquarters for the DC City Council races earlier this year or hosting language classes by local community organizers. "We're reaching out," says Frederick. "And I don't ask anyone to do anything I wouldn't."
-Report/photos by Chris Garlock