Ironworkers Local 10 is positioned to become the union at the forefront of a new form of construction: mass timber construction.
There may be nothing new under the sun, but mass timber construction takes wood and turns it into an innovative and strong “new” building material.
According to reporting from Vox, “mass timber is a generic term that encompasses products of various sizes and functions, like glue-laminated (glulam) beams, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), nail-laminated timber (NLT), and dowel-laminated timber (DLT). But the most common and most familiar form of mass timber, the one that has opened up the most new architectural possibilities, is cross-laminated timber (CLT).
“To create CLT, lumber boards that have been trimmed and kiln-dried are glued atop one another in layers, crosswise, with the grain of each layer facing against the grain of the layer adjacent. Stacking boards together this way can create large slabs, up to a foot thick and as large as 18-feet-long by 98-feet-wide, though the average is something more like 10 by 40. (At this point, the size of slabs is restricted less by manufacturing limitations than by transportation limitations.) Slabs of wood this large can match or exceed the performance of concrete and steel. CLT can be used to make floors, walls, ceilings — entire buildings.”
Ironworkers Local 10 members employed by Foust Fab and Erectors have already racked up nearly 90,000 hours working on mass timber projects in northwest Arkansas, part of Local 10’s jurisdiction.
Foust is run by Colby Foust, a 4th generation Ironworker and member of Local 86, which is in Seattle Washington. Colby has been in the union since 1998 and worked on a large variety of projects, including highrises, stadiums, and radio towers up to 2,000 ft. up. After a spout with lymphoma cancer in the winter of 2009/10, he hit the road and started his own company in 2012. In the summer of 2018, a mass timber startup company had a manufacturing facility that they were breaking ground on in his hometown, Foust was awarded a bid to erect their structures which led to more work with the company and an appreciation for mass timber. Foust became a primary erector and a leader in the industry of mass timber erection, using union ironworkers for placing and finishing. Foust has since grown to work on some of the largest projects in North America.
Leaders of Local 10 have told The Labor Beacon that they are excited about what this new technology can mean for membership. The bulk of the work relates back to rigging, placing, fastening, all things that Local 10 members train on and regularly perform.
“Our members are already leading the way on this new form of construction for our region and I know we are all excited to continue doing this work,” said Dave Coleman, Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 10.
The Labor Beacon had the opportunity to speak with Ironworkers Local 29’s Political Director Lorne Bulling about the Ironworkers leading the way on mass timber. Bulling expressed enthusiasm over the construction material and said that in Local 29’s jurisdiction, the Portland, Oregon area, this form of construction has become much more common over the years. The work in Arkansas that Local 10 recently performed is among the first instances of this construction technique in our region.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
