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Bond takes over Carpenter’s Union as new training center opens in Kansas City

ST. LOUIS – The end of an era for the Carpenter’s Union with the retirement of Terry Nelson coincides with the beginning of a new one as Al Bond takes the reigns after spending his career with the organization and will be opening a new multi-million dollar training facility in Kansas City. We sat down with the new executive secretary-treasurer for a question and answer session during his first days in office.

Missouri Times: First things first, what are some goals you have for the Carpenters now that you’re in the top job?

Bond
Bond

Al Bond: I’m entering the top job, but I’ve been Terry Nelson’s top assistant for about six years. He’s been a great leader, and kept me very involved in all of our major projects so it’s going to be, pretty much, business as usual for the most part. I’ve got some minor things that I’d like to see done moving forward. When you have a succession change like this, you have other moves that happen also and other ideas.

MT: Give us your background up to now.

Bond: My dad had a small business down in Poplar Bluff; he lives in Patterson, Missouri now. He worked hard and now has 120 acres there, and he’s retired. My mom’s side of the family, Stovall, was from Cape Girardeau. I’ve got a lot of rural roots down there.

I started as an apprentice carpenter in 1983. I went to Affton High School and then I went to Southeast Missouri State. I started with the Carpenters in ’83 – looking for an opportunity, looking for a chance to get into the trade. I didn’t really know if college was for me. I was an athlete in high school, I liked the physical part of things.

MT: What do you mean?

Bond: I played football and baseball all through high school, and I worked parttime. That’s what you did after high school; you either went to college – a bachelor’s degree back then was a big thing – or you went to work for Anheuser Busch, or Chrysler or Ford.

If you didn’t do either of those you got into the construction trade. I got into the construction trades and it was so cool because I was able to go out and get a job, the doors were open for me to get the opportunity to work hard. I got there, and after so many hours, I had family insurance and I was able to build my career and move forward.

MT: What local were you a member of?

Bond: I came through Local 5, it was established in 1883. In fact, when they established this local, all the minutes were done in German. It was a German local. It’s neat to look back at the chapter’s history and see the minutes recorded in a foreign language, in German.

I just worked my way through. I was really interested in how the union helped our workers. At the time, Terry Nelson was a business agent with Local 5. He really caught my ear. He was a real good leader, very well spoken. He got my attention and I got involved with the local in the political arena.

Shortly thereafter I became a journeyman, I became president of Local 5 and I was there for 11 years. Then I became vice president of the district council. I still worked the field as a superintendent. I was still the Local 5 president and the vice president of the district council while working in the field. In 1999, I got appointed as the business agent.

MT: What would you like people to know about Terry Nelson?

Bond: Terry Nelson cared about the labor movement. He thought there was a need for fairness, to be able to collectively bargain with a company, but also felt that with relationships, it had to be a partnership. It wasn’t us against them like many of the unions felt back in the day, it was a true partnership. That partnership mentality was instilled in him by other laborers before him. It’s a business model that has worked very well for us over the years. The Carpenters have learned that the way you make money is to compete for your job. The work rules are pretty limited. Most of our contractors treat our workers fairly, so we don’t really have to work through many issues there. We bring skilled abilities and technology that keep us on the competitive edge.

MT: A lot of people are very interested in learning the marketing/political operation. Is that something you plan to continue?

Bond: I was part of it and have been part of it for the last 15 years. We left the AFL-CIO. With that, we left the local labor council. We decided to go out on our own. We would have our own political action committee, we’ve always had our own, but we wanted to take control of our own politics.

That was in 2000.  I was criticized by some of the guys and some of the labor people in town because my approach was that we need to talk and make friends in both parties. We need to continue to make relationships, especially in the Republican Party.

MT: It seems like that strategy has created opportunities for the Carpenters, such as your relationship with Sen. Paul Wieland’s office.

Bond: Sen. Wieland is a terrific man. We work hard to be very credible in the political arena. When we say we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it. We back up our words. We’ve got to build trust in politics and sometimes trust is hard to come by on both sides because some politicians flip their positions or break their word.

MT: There have been questions as to whether labor would stand behind those Republicans who voted with them on Right-to-Work. Then one of the largest Right to Work supporters contributed half a million dollars against a senator who voted with you. Will the Carpenters be standing behind those Republicans in 2016?

Bond: Absolutely. They led the way. If it wasn’t for those Republican legislators, we would be a Right-to-Work state today. The people that have stood with us have shown some real leadership, and the Carpenters will have their back.

MT: Explain why Right-to-Work is such an important issue for the Carpenters.

Bond: It’s not just the Carpenter’s Union. I’ve been to Right-to-Work states, I’ve seen the quality of workers in Right-to-Work states, particularly the training of those workers in the construction business. There’s simply not the training, there’s not the safety, the professional business-like approach that there is here in Missouri.

Even the non-union companies have had to follow suit to have job safety, reasonable workman’s comp insurance, because of the rates with iffy track records. The other thing is our contractors and our partners want skilled, trained, safe people. That partnership works so well because that’s what we provide. We don’t ask the government for anything. Everything is bought and paid for through our unions and through our contractors associations.

MT: Under your leadership, do you plan to continue your political operation?

Bond: Absolutely. We plan to continue to do what we’re doing. We’ve gained respect. Our jurisdiction is actually the state of Missouri, southern Illinois, and Kansas. We’re a presence, we’re a powerful presence in the political sphere. We just try to do the right thing for our members.

MT: Do you plan to keep Local 57?

Bond: Absolutely. It’s going to continue on and it’s worked very well.

MT: For our Kansas City readers, I understand you’re in the process of opening up or are opening up a training facility there.

Bond: Yep, we’re going to have a grand opening Tuesday, October 13. That’s a $7.1 million investment. Our new building, it’s an existing building that we’ve invested $7 million in and look forward to having for our members. Plus, it’s right across the street from the Royals’ stadium.

MT: Lastly, are there any differences in the union that your time in leadership will bring?

Bond: The thing I’d like to focus on is building more relationships across the state. Business runs on relationships. Trust is built on relationships. Our membership is good, hard working people who pay their taxes. We’re very concerned about the state of Missouri, southern Illinois, and Kansas.

We have a presence in almost every large town. We’ve got locals in Columbia, Missouri, Jefferson City, Springfield, St. Joseph, and Cape Girardeau. Obviously, we’ve got locals in Kansas City and in St. Louis, even a small local up in Hannibal. We’re here all over the state working to build relationships. All politics are local and relationships are local. We’ve got 12 training centers. We’re training young people. People have come out of college with bachelor’s degrees and – after looking at this job market – have decided to go into the construction trades. We’re working real hard with veterans, too. We could use more carpenters and would love to bring more veterans in.

MT: Speaking of, how does someone join the Carpenter’s Union?

Bond: It’s very simple. All you need is a letter of intent to be hired; a signatory contract to be hired, and we have signatory contracts with 1,100 contractors. We cover a wide range of work.