The Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council has grown its jurisdictional boundaries to include the states of Iowa and Nebraska in a restructuring that makes the five-state Regional Council one of the largest carpenters’ Councils in the country with more than 57,000 union carpenters in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa and Nebraska.
Recently, General President Douglas McCarron of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America announced that geographical and trade jurisdiction of the states of Iowa and Nebraska had been assigned to the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council. Those states were formerly part of the now-disbanded North Central States Regional Council. The decision was made as a means to increase oversight of operations, reduce costs, maximize available resources, and increase market competitiveness.
“I look forward to building a long and productive working relationship with the representatives, staff, instructors, contractors and members from Iowa and Nebraska,” said Kevin McLaughlin, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council. “This merger presents real opportunities to increase our market share and further improve the lives of working families. It’s a win for our signatory contractors, it’s a win for the communities in which we live and work, and most importantly, it’s a win for our members.”
EST McLaughlin said that the restructuring will not impact the terms of the current collective bargaining agreements including the payment of wages and fringe benefit contributions.
