Stirred, seldom shaken

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Generally, when you meet most people, you immediately sense one of three things: You don’t trust them; you’re not sure about them; or you know they are sincere and straightforward.

When you meet John Martini, the new international president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (commonly referred to as the International Roofers Union), there is no question you are conversing with an unpretentious man who says exactly what he means. He is a firm-handshake, look-you-straight-in-the-eye kind of guy who is extremely motivated to continue to advance the roofers union and roofing industry.

“I’m not a Washington, D.C., guy or some kind of big shot—I’m a roofer,” Martini proclaims. “I always try to think like a roofer and wouldn’t ask anyone to do something I am not willing to do myself.”

The only thing Martini says he is dreading about his new position as international president, besides having to frequently wear a dress shirt and tie, is tackling the issue of providing jobs in a tough economy. But he is confident persistence and doing what’s right will help him and the International Roofers Union achieve continued success.

Martini is a roofer on a mission, a man who is constantly stirred but seldom shaken. He undertakes a huge responsibility in carrying on the legacy of International Roofers Union presidents who preceded him but brings with him a solid foundation of personal and professional accomplishments, as well as a sincere desire for fairness.

“John has a reputation with contractors as someone who is tough but fair,” says Bill Good, NRCA’s executive vice president. “He understands both sides of the industry’s issues, which is important as we work together to move the industry forward.”

Martini promises: “I will do all I can to see that labor and management work together for the betterment of our industry.”

The journey

Now a father of four and grandfather of 10, Martini lives in Chicago with his wife, Lenore. He grew up on Chicago’s tough South Side, literally where the Chicago White Sox’s new U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey Park) is located.

“Our house used to be about where third base is now,” Martini says.

He learned from his father and mother, European immigrants, about hard work, family commitment and integrity.

“I had a pretty demanding father,” Martini says. “He was a baker and woke every morning at 1 a.m. to get ready for the day. My first job was helping my father in the bakery. Although he was demanding, he was fair, and I learned a lot from him.”

At age 19, Martini worked as a carpenter for about five months. He left, primarily because his boss did not support him joining the union. He then worked at a factory, but times were tough and steady work wasn’t available. A friend of Martini’s told Martini about his roofing job, so Martini decided to try the roofing trade.

“I figured I had a chance to make some good money, work outside and get a tan,” Martini remembers with a smile.

He began what would be a 20-year roofing career at Boice Roofing in LaGrange, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and joined the Roofers Local 11 of the International Roofers Union.

“I don’t think I missed a union meeting in 20 years,” Martini explains. “I believe people should attend union meetings because as dues-paying members, they always should know what’s going on.”

In 1970, Martini fell three stories during a new construction project where neither warning lines nor any kind of fall-protection system were provided. He suffered two broken arms and a broken leg, pelvis and jaw. After spending eight weeks in the hospital, Martini returned to work.

“It was a bad fall, and I was out for a while. But I went back to work as soon as I was able—I had to support my family,” Martini says.

And his commitment to his family paid off—he and his wife raised successful children. Martini’s oldest son is a human-resources director in North Carolina, and his youngest son graduated from medical school and is performing his internship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. His daughters are homemakers; one lives in Nebraska, and the other lives in Tinley Park, Ill.

During Martini’s 18th year with Boice Roofing, he became one of three trustees for the International Roofers Union Local 11 District Council, which represents the Chicago area, where he oversaw the council’s financial records.

After two years as a trustee, he was asked to serve as the business agent for Local 11. As Local 11’s business agent, he monitored jobs and workers, as well as spent a lot of time with negotiations. In 1979, after serving as business agent for seven years, newly elected International President Earl Kruse asked Martini to serve as the International Roofers Union’s international representative for the Midwest region.

“Earl and the union’s leadership didn’t want a ‘yes man’ for the job, and they knew by selecting me they were not going to get one,” Martini adds.

In 1993, Martini was asked to serve as one of 10 International Roofers Union vice presidents, as well as appointed organizing director. These positions involved overseeing all organizing efforts in the United States, which also involved a lot of traveling. When asked about his favorite places to travel, he responds in typical Martini fashion: “I’ll go wherever I’m needed to help people—it doesn’t matter where.”

When Kruse announced he would retire in 2003, the International Roofers Union’s Executive Board elected Martini international president. He will be a candidate for election for a five-year term at the 2003 Roofers Convention in October in Las Vegas, where the union will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

The priorities

Martini is ready to address his list of priorities, and ensuring roofing workers receive due recognition is on the top of the list.

“Roofing is the hardest-working trade of all the construction trades, yet roofing workers don’t get the recognition and respect they deserve,” Martini says. “I want to do all I can to see that our members get treated as equals on job sites.”

Because of his accident, safety also is a top priority for Martini.

He explains: “I know what it is like to get hurt badly, and it affects everyone—the worker and his family, the crew, the contractor, the company and the union. Safety must continue to be the top priority for workers and contractors, yet it is still often overlooked on many jobs. And it bothers me to no end that those designing roof systems usually don’t consider safety in their designs. In many cases, it’s not very difficult to include safety in a design, yet it doesn’t seem to be important because it is viewed as too costly.”

Martini also is disturbed by the way some regulators attempt to put a price tag on a human life.

He continues: “I’ll read about how some ‘expert’ will determine a human life is worth about $1 million for the purposes of a cost-benefit analysis. Well, what about when that life is your child? You can’t—and shouldn’t—put a price tag on a human life.”

Martini also plans to make union organizing a top priority. He sees new opportunities for growing membership, particularly in the Spanish-speaking segment of the roofing industry.

“We see the Southwest region as a tremendous opportunity for us,” Martini says. “We are developing creative ways to reach roofing workers, such as working with religious organizations to provide good job opportunities for their members. What is difficult right now in the Southwest is the roofing wage rate is so low we are competing with fast-food and coffee-house jobs, and it’s hard to convince someone to take a job involving physical labor on a hot roof for about the same amount of money. And when we are able to recruit workers into the roofing industry, we have to find more attractive ways to keep them—the turnover rate still is much too high.”

Worker training also is high on the list of Martini’s priorities. He believes the industry must continue to expand training programs for foremen, as well. The roofers union has begun a nationwide apprenticeship instructor train-the-trainer program; however, it still is determining how to most effectively follow up with trainers.

In addition, during the past 10 years, many of the union’s locals have purchased hands-on training facilities.

“We plan to have 30 to 40 additional training facilities available during the next 10 years,” Martini says. “We would like to see a national training program where each local chapter contributes one cent or two cents per hour to the national training program. And we’re finding new ways to encourage workers to participate in training. For example, in some areas, we are working with states to allow those who are out of work but attending union training programs to collect unemployment checks through the union.”

Challenges

Martini realizes the International Roofers Union faces some significant challenges. He believes there are many misconceptions about the roofers union that need to be clarified.

“I think we have to do a better job of public relations. We want to get across to contractors that we are not trying to destroy them or run their businesses,” Martini explains. “We are trying to train people and get them jobs. We want it to be a win-win situation for contractors and workers.”

Despite these apparent misconceptions, Martini is positive about the progress the International Roofers Union and NRCA have made during the past decade.

“We always will have certain issues we will disagree about,” Martini says. “But we have focused on areas of agreement and have a working environment where we can take action to improve the roofing industry. NRCA’s International Union Relations Committee has been helpful because it serves as a forum for discussing areas of common interest and concern, as well as gives the International Roofers Union a formal way to present recommendations to NRCA about roofing industry programs and policies.”

According to Good, meeting regularly with NRCA and union leaders has been invaluable because both organizations gain a better understanding of each other’s perspectives.

NRCA and the International Roofers Union have worked closely together to address such issues as asbestos and fall-protection and most recently collaborated to produce a program addressing asphalt fume exposure, largely in response to California’s Proposition 65 dilemma. (See “Prop 65 and asphalt roofing work: winning against a stacked deck,” August issue, page 28.)

Martini believes safety and worker training are two important areas with which NRCA and the International Roofers Union have opportunities to advance the roofing industry.

Martini’s philosophy about working with contractors and NRCA focuses on a basic truth: “If we can talk, there’s nothing we can’t work out.”

Straight up

As with all unions these days, the International Roofers Union is facing some tough challenges: recruiting and retaining members, organizing, training, safety, competition from open-shop companies, a down economy, etc. The only way unions will achieve advancement for the long term is to continue to benefit from strong leadership. And by all accounts, the International Roofers Union, under Martini’s leadership, promises to be one that will continue to thrive.

Carl Good is publisher of Professional Roofing magazine and NRCA’s associate executive director of communications and membership development.

A century of brotherhood

2003 marks the 100th anniversary of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, commonly referred to as the International Roofers Union.

The union will celebrate its centennial and officially elect its new international president and officers during the 2003 Roofers Convention held Oct. 12-17 in Las Vegas.

It all began June 5, 1903, when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) chartered the International Slate and Tile Roofers Union of America. Three years later, on Nov. 6, 1906, AFL chartered the International Brotherhood of Composition Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers.

The two unions merged in 1919 to form the United Slate, Tile and Composition Roofers, Damp and Waterproof Workers Association; the new union had jurisdiction for all types of roofing and dampproofing work. At the time of the merger, the slate and tile roofers union had about 600 members, and the composition roofers union had about 1,000 members.

The first convention of the new union took place in September 1919, which is when George W. Jones was elected as the first general president. The general office was located in Cleveland. It later would move to Chicago and then to its present Washington, D.C., location. The first edition of The Journeyman Roofer, the union’s official publication, was published in 1925. The October 1926 edition reported the highest wage in the United States for roofing workers was $1.50 per hour in Atlantic City, N.J., and the lowest wage was 70 cents per hour in Champaign, Ill.

Roofers union membership climbed in the 1920s to about 4,000—then, the stock market crashed in 1929. The roofers union, however, was able to maintain its membership base.

In 1942, Charles Aquadro replaced Jones as president. As the economy expanded and organized labor became more prominent, the union grew to more than 7,000 members.

During World War II, many roofing workers, waterproofers and other building tradesmen served in the armed forces and helped build facilities to house soldiers and equipment. Following the war, residential and commercial building flourished. Roofers union membership grew tremendously during the postwar period, reaching 13,666 in 1950.

The postwar period also produced controversial legislation, including the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 and Landrum-Griffin Act. The legislation, however, did not impair roofers union growth—by 1960, membership was more than 20,000.

Stagnation was a term used in the 1970s because of increasing inflation and unemployment. Oil prices increased dramatically and weakened the economy. In 1974, Aquadro retired and Roy E. Johnson became the new international president. The roofers union now was collectively bargaining health, pension and other benefits, as well as participating in the Building and Construction Trades Department’s pilot program to train safety personnel.

1978 was a banner year for the union: Membership stood at around 28,000, and average roofing worker and waterproofer wages were $11.27 per hour. Roofers union members and leadership decided to rename their union the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers.

In 1985, Joseph A. Wiederkehr, a union vice president from Kansas City, served a brief tenure as international president when Johnson retired. Succeeding Wiederkehr as international president the same year was Earl J. Kruse of Chicago. Kruse focused on developing quality training materials, including new apprenticeship manuals and the Roofers Safety and Health Manual.

During the mid-1990s, the issue of handling asbestos-containing roofing materials became prominent. The roofers union worked closely with NRCA to produce training and regulatory-compliance materials.

In 2002 and 2003, the International Roofers Union and NRCA worked to resolve the Proposition 65 issue in California and produced a training program for addressing the issue of asphalt fumes.

Union membership now stands at about 24,000, and roofing worker and waterproofer wages have increased steadily. The union continues to focus on members’ pensions, research and education, and political education, as well as services, such as legal assistance, credit cards, loans, prescription drugs and mortgage programs.

For more information about the International Roofers Union, call (202) 463-7663 or visit www.unionroofers.com.