• Mark Ohlmann -- Ohlmann’s concrete, Louisville, Kentucky
• Brenan Filippini -- Plastering Plus – Northwest, Bellingham, Washington
• James Duby -- Duby Plastering, LLC, Scott City, Missouri

Mark Ohlmann, Owner, Ohlmann’s Concrete, Louisville, Kentucky

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“This letter is to express my thanks for the quality and professionalism of service in our first year of contract with Local 694. Being apprehensive to sign a contract at first, I now wish we would have made this decision years ago.

My brother and I are Louisville Professional Firefighters (Local 345) and have had a residential concrete company on our off days for about 15 years. We used local help for finishing in the past, but could not allow employees to work full time due to our other job. One of our largest clients started contracting light commercial jobs to us and the sporadic help we had at the time was not sufficient. We needed alternatives to our situation and the Union provided the labor, professionalism and high standards that our customers look for.

The agreement has been a positive experience for our company, giving us the flexibility to have help when we need it and without the commitment to individual employees. The workers have been knowledgeable and work with very little supervision. Chuck Tarter takes care of contacting enough finishers to meet our needs however large or small.
After a year of trial and error, the transition has been smooth and has been a positive step for our business. The only negative thing I can say about going union is that we did not do it sooner.”

Mark Ohlmann, Owner

Brenan Filippini – Plastering Plus – Northwest, Bellingham, Washington

“The first two weeks having union guys on my jobs blew me away. One of the guys told me in a conversation we had: "We just want to make your company money". Wow, I have never heard this from an employee. It was refreshing to hear and as I work with more union employees most of them seem to have this attitude. They ask me questions, wanting to know if we are coming in under our projected man hours. Most importantly, they put in the effort and really try to make things profitable for us. They seem to understand that If Plastering Plus makes money they will have more work, which means more jobs for them as well as a more productive and stronger labor union.”

Brenan Filippini, Owner

James Duby, Duby - Plastering, LLC, Scott City, Missouri

“I had gone through the union apprenticeship program and knew the union from the membership side, but not from the contractor’s point of view. My employees had mixed feelings about it at first, they hadn’t been in a union before and now they were going to have to pay dues. But they were excited at the prospect of having benefits. We have definitely benefited. My bid price isn’t much larger than before, but now our productivity has increased with fewer call backs. The crew likes making more, and they are willing to do what it takes to keep the company profitable so they can keep the better wages and benefits. They know what is available out there for them working non-union, and they prefer to work with us so we can all share in the benefit. This attitude has allowed us to improve our market share.”

James Duby, Owner