Building Industry Magazine - August 2014 - (Page 34)

etting G eady R Union carpenter He ginio Bagcal working at the construction Albert C. Kobayash site of i Inc .'s Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach Work for As construction picks up, is there enough skilled labor to go around? BY PRISCILLA PÉREZ BILLIG S killed workers needed. This is the clarion call of general contractors seeking qualified building tradespeople to compete for work amid Hawaii's latest construction boom. Insiders say the greatest challenge facing the building industry is the shortage of skilled workers, foremen and project managers. But determining whether a shortage of adequately trained workers exists depends on who you talk to. The opinions of developers, unions and merit shops differ, but all agree that training is a top priority. Last year the Hawaii construction industry completed an estimated $7.7 billion in projects and added 2,500 jobs, and is predicted to grow by 12.4 percent this year and 8.3 percent in 2015, according to a February study 34 | BUILDING INDUSTRY HAWAII | AUGUST 2014 by the State Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. Driving the construction upswing and its attending economic growth are public infrastructure upgrades, largescale commercial projects and residential construction. Most prominent and promising of these are the Honolulu rail transit project and the Kakaako area development. The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC), a major developer of the Kakaako area, hires only union members. Michael Vachio, director of preconstruction at HHC, says this practice ensures that hired workers are qualified and, if necessary, his company will import union members from outside Hawaii. But not everyone agrees that this stance guarantees efficiency. "With undo pressure being placed on developers to use union contractors only, or else be bannered or picketed, the backlash is now that the unions cannot find enough workers to do the jobs they have committed to do due to a lack of skilled workers willing to join the unions," says Jeffrey Durham, ABC Hawaii Chapter chairman of the board. "There is no real shortage of workers on the merit shop side." ABC offers apprenticeship programs in carpentry, electrical, Jeffrey Durham

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Building Industry Magazine - August 2014

THE BIG ISLAND: KEEPING THE FAITH
INSIDE THE HICA
GET READY FOR WORK
CONCRETE MOVES FORWARD
INTERVIEW WITH KAREN NAKAMURA
NEWS BEAT
Datebook
Contracts Awarded
Low Bids
Company Profile: HPM Building Supply
Faces: ABC Hawaii Celebration
News Makers
New Products
Faces: Red, White and Blue
Faces: Hawaii Power

Building Industry Magazine - August 2014

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