The SWRCC Provided COVID-Relief to Our Members in 2020.
No one was prepared for a pandemic. There was no play book to reference or industry standard to follow. As cities and states in the Southwest started closing, fear was setting into the construction industry about jobsite shutdowns, work hour reductions, and layoffs.
The leadership of the SWRCC immediately sprang into action to mitigate the effects on our membership and on the construction industry in the Southwest:
- Leadership worked with the Southwest Carpenters Vacation Trust to activate early distribution of vacation pay benefits.
- Leadership negotiated with the Southwest Health and Wellness Trust to extend health benefits to eligible members in May, June, and July.
- Offered an additional stiped for those members who had at least 12 CUPP hours.
- $60 in grocery gift cards were given to all members to compensate for due payments during the height of the shutdown.
- Care packages were delivered to all retirees containing grocery and household items.
- Our leadership worked tirelessly on the civic front to keep us working. The Chief Officers worked with our Governors and Mayors to deem construction an essential industry.
- VP Frank Hawk helped to form the Nevada Construction and Development Assembly – a group of Union leaders and developers focused on keeping jobsites open and safe.
- EST Dan Langford was appointed to the LA County Resiliency Task Force which helped to guide the county’s reopening after the COVID shut down.
Our Council and our leaders have helped to steward the membership through the effects of a global pandemic and to safeguard our jobs, our benefits, and our livelihoods.