Des Moines Register
09-04-06
Report lauds firm for union ties
McAninch Corp. strikes balance in profitability, workers' rights
By WILLIAM RYBERG
REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
Dwayne McAninch believes in union labor. And for that, a pro-union group says
he's a rarity among American bosses.
His earth-moving contracting firm, McAninch Corp. of West Des Moines, is an
example of a company with good union-management relations during troubled
times on the U.S. labor scene, says a report by American Rights at Work, a prounion group based in Washington, D.C.
The report, "The Labor Day List: Partnerships that Work," showcases seven
employers across the country, citing them as examples of companies that
successfully balance profitability with the needs and rights of workers. McAninch
is the only Iowa business on the list.
Private-sector union employees are among the minority in the U.S. work force.
The percentage of union members has been declining in the private sector for
decades, while the union percentage among government employees has been
holding relatively steady after increasing dramatically in the 1970s.
The nation, the report says, "has seemingly resigned itself to the notion that
massive layoffs, employing temporary and cheap labor, slashing benefits and
preventing workers from forming unions are necessary for employers to remain
profitable in today's global economy."
Dwayne McAninch, the company's founder and chief executive, is a former union
member. Union members are well-trained, and unions provide a diverse work
force that includes women and minorities, he said.
"We end up with a group of people who know what they're doing," McAninch
added.
McAninch is Iowa's largest and one of the Midwest's biggest earth-moving and
underground utility contractors, working mainly in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and
North Carolina.
McAninch has been a union company since the corporation was founded in
1967. McAninch Corp. was nominated to be on the list by a union that represents
McAninch laborers in Missouri, Local 663 of the Laborers International Union.
Richard Higgins, an organizer for Local 663, said the union was glad to see
McAninch win contracts in rural areas of Missouri, where nonunion contractors
often get the work. Among the McAninch jobs: A $75 million highway project in
the Lake of the Ozarks area.
"They're like our new best friends," Higgins said of the company.
The report says McAninch employs union workers from 29 local unions in its
market areas. The locals represent heavy equipment operators, machine
maintenance workers, truck drivers, laborers and plumbers. Companies on the
list excel in one or more of seven key elements, including providing good wages,
fostering diversity in the workplace and offering training opportunities.
"They take good care of their help," said Thomas Miller, 43, of Fort Dodge, a
McAninch heavy equipment operator. Miller says the wages and benefits are
good and so is the equipment he uses on the job.
Keys to good labor relations include McAninch's belief that union workers are an
advantage to the company because of their skills in machine operation, safety
and productivity.
"There's a way to make money using equipment, other than trying to get cheaper
wages," said Dwayne McAninch.
The company uses advanced technology such as the satellite-based Global
Positioning System to determine where to move dirt on construction jobs.
McAninch isn't alone when it comes to good relationships with unions.
Deere & Co. of Moline, Ill., the big maker of farm equipment and one of Iowa's
largest employers, is generally recognized as a company with a good relationship
with its unions, said Peter Orazem, an Iowa State University economist.
While some unions and companies go at each other "tooth and claw," Deere has
developed a relationship with its unions that works, Orazem said.
Mark Smith, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, said policies at some
companies make good relationships with unions difficult.
"It's hard to have good labor-management relationships when they're cutting
benefits and wages," said Smith.
Others see union activities — and the Labor Day list — differently.
"Union officials are increasingly either patting employers on the head or vilifying
them," depending on their positions about unionization, said Justin Hakes, a
spokesman for the National Right to Work Committee, a union opponent on
various issues.
Members of Local 234 of the Operating Engineers union earn about $21.50 an
hour in wages, and a total of about $32.50 an hour in wages and benefits
combined, said Rick Lane, the local's business manager. Benefits are primarily
health insurance and money that goes into a pension fund.
McAninch "believes in a fair day's work for a fair day's pay," said Lane.
In Iowa, the average wage for workers, union and nonunion, who operate heavy
equipment such as bulldozers and earth graders is $17.76 an hour, according to
Iowa Workforce Development.
Alesa Pierce of Colfax likes working for McAninch and likes being a union
member.
Pierce, 31, and her husband, Jason, were both laid off from their jobs at Maytag
in Newton, where they were members of United Auto Workers 997. Both are in
new career paths, and both are members of unions.
Jason Pierce is an apprentice electrician with the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers.
Alesa Pierce went back to school to become a welder, working at a McAninch
maintenance facility, where she's a member of Operating Engineers Local 234.
"I just believe in what the unions stand for," said Alesa Pierce. "I like the whole
idea of the brotherhood."