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You don’t have to take our word for it. Listen to what others are saying. Business executives, elected officials, community leaders and others in both the public and private sectors are speaking the praises on the value of union construction and the importance of union building trade workers to western Pennsylvania.

To some employers, the thousands upon thousands of union carpenters, electricians, pipe fitters, laborers, ironworkers and other building trade workers who live and are employed in this region represent a skilled workforce like no other. Educated, experienced, well-trained union craftsmen and craftswomen ply their trades everyday on job sites large and small. The availability of this deep talent pool enables developers, architects, engineers and others associated with the construction industry to prosper, knowing that skilled labor resources are readily available in western Pennsylvania to build any size or type of project.

In addition to bringing their skills to their employer’s worksite, many of the men and women in the union building trades can also be found volunteering to help build and rebuild people’s homes and lives through their charitable donations. Local building trade unions and their members are an important part of this region’s middle class and help make the Pittsburgh area one of the nation’s most livable communities.

What follows are a series of perspectives from just a few local business and community leaders on the value of union construction and what union building trade workers mean to this region.