From the desk of Troy Garland,

As I write this letter in early June, most members have gone back to work. However, hours have plummeted with Tile hours down 10% in March compared to February before the pandemic and 70% lower in April. The Brick trades fared better with March hours 15% lower and April hours 50% lower compared to February hours. We want to thank our members and our Brothers and Sisters on the jobsites for following safety protocols. This will help protect yourself, your family, and others.

As many counties are opening nonessential businesses, you would think cases were declining, but tallies continue to climb. Some Counties are getting passing grades while others are failing. An example would be Alameda County where our main office is located. Alameda now has the 6th highest number of coronavirus cases of the State’s 58 Counties, with cases doubling every 27.2 days. The City of Oakland has the most cases in Alameda County where virtually all the construction projects in Oakland have started back up. Please continue to be diligent in protecting yourself and others. An Increase in cases on jobsites will certainly cause another shutdown.

Our apprenticeship classes at the Masonry Development Center are scheduled to start again on June 8th. The Tile School is tentatively scheduled to open in early July. Unfortunately, the Western States Apprenticeship Contest was cancelled for 2020. Next year it will be held in Southern California hosted by BAC Local 4. Our Local Contests continue to move forward with Tile on August 22nd and Brick, PCC, Marble and Terrazzo on September 19th.

Remember, until we can meet in person, all our Chapter Meetings are now being held online using ZOOM. Please visit our website (www.bac3-ca.org) or our BAC Facebook page (BAC Local-Three) for more information and current updates.

In closing, we are now reaching triple digit temperatures throughout Northern California. Please remember how serious Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustions can be, even deadly. Please take all necessary precautions and stay hydrated. I am certain we have better days ahead and will defeat this virus; hopefully, sooner than later. The good news is, there are still indications of a continued robust construction market moving forward.

Be safe, be well.