The Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council is an umbrella group representing 48 local unions and district councils in 14 Trades. Membership in these unions totals more than 140,000 skilled men and women.
The Council negotiates Project Labor Agreements that bring union labor standards to projects in the public and private sector.
Please see a list of our members here: https://laocbuildingtrades.org/council-affiliates-union/
Private and Public Projects
The Council currently has PLAs with entities including the Los Angeles Unified School District; Los Angeles Airport; Port of Long Beach; Port of Los Angeles; City of Anaheim; Nickelodeon Hotel, Garden Grove; Apple for Culver Crossing; LA County Metro for Purple Line and Regional Connector subways; Intuit Dome/LA Clippers; Inglewood People Mover; NBCUniversal; City of Los Angeles; LA County Museum of Art and many others.
See a landmark building or facility in Southern California? Chances are that our skilled union members created it.
Winning for Our Members
Through Project Labor Agreements, working men and women earn fair pay; benefits; retirement pensions; and health and safety on the job. We work as partners with project owners to complete projects on time and on budget, with no work stoppages or interruptions.
Community Outreach
The Building Trades recruit a diverse workforce that represents every area of LA and Orange Counties. Our Project Labor Agreements target local residents for hiring, to bring them into lifelong Building Trades careers. The Council’s Apprenticeship Readiness Fund oversees 21 programs that train newcomers to succeed in union apprenticeship.
Learn more about the Apprenticeship Readiness Fund here: https://laocbuildingtrades.org/apprenticeship-building-trades/pre-apprenticeship/ or contact info@laocmc3.org
Political Activism
The Council is a powerful political force. We educate residents and elected officials about the skills that Building Trades members use on the job, and the need to employ union labor when building. We educate our own members on the need to vote, and to represent their own interests when they decide how to vote. We form coalitions to create smart, forward-looking development, especially for mass transit and affordable housing.
The Council is a leader of United to House LA, the coalition that won a November 2022 ballot initiative to raise more than $700 million a year for union-built affordable housing and tenant protection.
Apprenticeships
New members enter the Building Trades through the accredited, time-honored system of apprenticeship. We are the second-biggest source of job training in the US, just behind the military. Apprentices take classes and work full time, receiving pay and benefits. They do not pay tuition for their classes.
To find out more about Trades apprenticeships, please see https://laocbuildingtrades.org/apprenticeship-building-trades/ and http://www.calapprenticeship.org/.
Welcoming Veterans
We are committed to offering opportunities to military veterans through Helmets to Hardhats: http://www.helmetstohardhats.org/
“Building Trades News”: The Record of the Building Trades
The Council is the publisher of “Building Trades News,” our magazine covers Council accomplishments, the leaders and members of our local unions, and our campaigns for good jobs.
For editorial coverage, please contact Communications Director Anne-Marie Otey: Amotey@laocbuildingtrades.org