Local 582 Visit

On the same December day that we visited Pan-Pacific Plumbing, we took a turn down the road to Santa Ana, and the home of UA Local 582.  Business Manager Glen Nolte, with his officers and staff, met us at the dispatch window with a warm handshake and a friendly greeting.  In a few moments we were sitting in his office, listening to the history of the Local.

Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 582 was granted its charter in January of 1937, which makes the local seventy years old.  Since then, quite a few men have been elected to the Business Manager’s position.  Nolte began his term as an appointee in February of 2006, and was elected to the position in June of 2007. 

Nolte began his history of the local by saying, “I began as an apprentice out of this Local in 1982.”  He noted that the Local’s membership had once been about 2,000, owing to Orange County’s housing construction boom in the Sixties and Seventies, a time when the union had many members working on residential projects.  Today’s membership figure is about one thousand, with about two-thirds of that number working as plumbers and most of the remainder as HVAC fitters.  The Local currently has about 245 apprentices—a mix of off-the-street applicants and others who have heard about the union pipe trades from advertisements or through word of mouth.  Regarding apprentices, Nolte said, “We want them to be happy to come into this trade and we think there’s a future for them in it.”

Nolte mentioned that the Local’s jurisdiction is contained within the boundaries of Orange County, and that the composition of the membership and its size are relative to the state of construction there.  He made it clear that the fate of the local is closely tied to the economy and the political climate of the region. 

At the present time the Local is doing quite well in terms of area projects, with a Pan-Pacific/Murray joint venture at UC Irvine, the Renaissance condominiums and regular maintenance work through the Disney agreement. 

Future projects will include a “very large” Kiewit job at the Orange County Sanitation District which should commence in January.  Nolte also sees a good deal of work arising from future Green building initiatives.

I asked Business Manager Nolte point-blank, “Why is this local doing so well right now?”  His answer was detailed and complex, but it bears repeating:

“We maintain very good relationships with our contractors.  We give them what they need to bid and perform the work adequately.  This Local endorses the UA Standard of Excellence.  Apart from that, 90% of our plumbers have at least their basic certifications.” 

“The UA Standard for Excellence policy is a labor-management commitment to uphold the highest industry standards in the workplace and ensure customer satisfaction.  The program is designed to promote UA members’ world-class skills and safe, efficient work practices on the jobs performed by our signatory contractors for their customers.”

--Steve Kelly, Assistant General President, quoted in UA Journal, November 2006

Nolte added that the Local is constantly involved in the political process.  He said, “We have a big push on right now to register members to vote.  We understand that our survival depends on influencing local government—especially in areas like prevailing wages.  We’re let them know that we’re not just working for our members, but to help the community as a whole.  Paying decent, legal wages returns a lot of benefits to this community, and we help politicians to understand that.  We work to get majority support from our city councils all the way up to the federal level.” 

Nolte mentioned that the Local has been involved for a long time in the progress of the former El Toro Marine Corps base, which is slated to become a large public park development. 

Asked how the Local participates in organizing, Nolte claimed, “All our contractors and members are organizers.  Their success brings members into the UA, and it becomes our success.  The old adversarial relationship with our contractors is long gone.  The contractors are our partners; our fate is theirs--we rise or fall with them.  We also want to become partners with contractors and workers who are not yet union.”