THE HELPER CONTROVERSY IN THE CONSTRUCTION-INDUSTRY

Helpers, whose role is to assist craftsmen, have been a subject of controversy in the construction industry for nearly a century. The AFL-CIO construction unions have attempted in various ways to control the work of helpers so that helpers cannot "pick up" the trade and then compete with craftsmen for jobs. With the help of the U. S. Department of Labor's administration of the Davis-Bacon Act, these unions succeeded in almost eliminating the use of helpers on government-financed construction and most union jobs. This has meant that much unskilled and semiskilled work has been done by journeymen at skilled labor wages. The result has hurt union members and unionized contractors by aiding open-shop contractors, who use helpers extensively, to underbid their competitors and win increasing market share. This article examines the ramifications of the helper issue and related training problems from the turn of the century to the present, discusses various union policies, court decisions, and legislation affecting the issues, and concludes that the economies of utilizing helpers are sufficient to cast doubt on the efficacy or future success of current union attempts to limit narrowly the training and use of helpers.