The St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council has joined with the Chicago Regional Council to form a new, larger Midwest operation.
The Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council (MACRC) will now be one of the largest councils within the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America as well as one of the largest regional labor unions in the country, according to a news release.
The amalgamation of the two councils will fold approximately 50,000 workers under the MARC umbrella.
“Our new name reflects the vast territory we represent in 325 counties across Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and eastern Iowa,” Gary Perinar, the MACRC executive secretary-treasurer, said in a statement. “With new additional resources and the strength of our 50,000 members, we have real opportunity to better serve our contracting partners, the communities where we work and live, and most importantly our union brothers and sisters.”
A MACRC spokesperson declined to comment further on the news release when reached Wednesday afternoon.
News of the dissolution of the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council came late last month. The union was involved in Missouri politics, including opposing efforts to eliminate prevailing wage requirements or implement right-to-work policies.
And in September 2019, the union opened a health and wellness center for its members in St. Louis. An additional facility in Kansas City is expected to open soon.
Douglas J. McCarron, the longtime president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, has been known to reshuffle and consolidate locals and regional councils under his tenure.
The St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council was formed in 1915 and covered Kansas and southern Illinois along with Missouri.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
