Orange County native Chris Hannan is the new president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, succeeding Andrew Meredith who resigned after a year and a half on the job.
The formidable trade group, which represents nearly half a million members of statewide construction unions, has been in a contentious tug of war with legislators in Sacramento who are pushing for building reform to expedite new housing.
Politico, which first reported the news June 30, said the leadership switch was “shaking up one of Sacramento’s most influential labor groups.”
In April, CalMatters reported two of the council’s members defected over a housing bill the parent group was fighting. The “surprising and surprisingly public break could help shift the political balance long defining California housing policy,” the story says.
The bill in question, CalMatters said, would make permanent a 2017 state law that expedites affordable housing construction. Developers that use the law would have to pay union-level wages — something the building industry says makes construction too costly in many parts of the state.
Hannan grew up in Orange County and is a second-generation member of Sprinkler Fitters Local 709. Previously, he was the executive secretary of the Los Angeles and Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council.
His first order of business, the council said in a statement, is leading the building trades through the remaining two months of California’s legislative session.
Robbie Hunter, the president prior to Meredith’s tenure, said “it’s not an easy job.”
“… The responsibility of getting up every day to fight for nearly half a million of the hardest-working Californians is a big responsibility,” he said. “But as Chris did in Los Angeles, he will do in Sacramento. He will work hard to ensure that the voice of construction workers is always heard in the Capitol.”
Another small apartment complex snatched…
Read the full article here
