On his first official day as the leader of the IUPAT, new General President James Williams, Jr. spoke with the FCA Board of Directors. He indicated he looks forward to continuing the efforts in charting a new course with FCA International.

Mr. Williams provided a breakdown of his new leadership team, which is comprised of mostly new individuals outside the General Vice President of Canada and the FTI Director. A new Service Department has been created to assist IUPAT members directly.

Per Mr. Williams, the IUPAT is facing several major challenges including the pension fund, market share and labor management collaboration.

  • Pension: Mr. Williams emphasized the importance of getting the IPAT Pension funding headed in the right direction. As part of these efforts, he expects that there will be a zero-cost rehabilitation plan that would not impose any increased costs to the contractors and likely include some benefit restructuring. FCA’s appointed IPAT management trustees and the IUPAT’s appointed labor trustees will address the rehabilitation plan during upcoming pension meetings.
  • Market Share: Mr. Williams addressed the concerns of declining membership and market share, and he expressed his willingness to work together on anything that will help grow market share and membership.
  • Labor Management: FCA International’s conversations with the IUPAT, LMCI and FTI have increased substantially in recent months. Mr. Williams expressed his team’s focus on strengthening labor management relationships. Working together increases employers’ work opportunities which increases IUPAT members’ work opportunities. Williams also discussed the need to increase and build training capacity.
  • Legislative Opportunities: Mr. Williams described the unique opportunities we have with the Biden Administration for an open dialog that we need to use to help move our industry forward. He saw opportunities particularly with Project Labor Agreements on federal projects that would create tremendous opportunities for roughly 500k construction workers.

FCA International is encouraged by the new IUPAT leadership team’s focuses and priorities, and we look forward to the opportunities that lay ahead. Together, our industry can thrive for all stake holders.