ABSTRACT
The case study of the ‘Jobs Now!” coalition of exclusive unions in this chapter examines that building trades union policies toward their unemployed members are constrained by the unions’ accountability to their workers. Construction workers remain active union members of these exclusive unions even after they lose their jobs. During periods of unemployment, workers represented by the building trades are also in a different relationship with their unions than workers in other industries. Most union-worker relationships are quickly severed after workers lose their jobs. The close relationship between construction workers and their unions can be both beneficial and harmful to trade union power. The economic recession of the early 1990s hit the construction industry the hardest. The construction union referral mechanism was damaged by the early-1990s recession. A large pool of unemployed construction workers was created by the long duration of joblessness that resulted from the economic downturn.
