Cleveland Unionized Drywallers Strike for Better Pay

Construction workers at Bedrock’s Riverfront site earlier this year. Credit: Bedrock

Cleveland drywallers, a part of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 505, have initiated a strike in search of better pay and benefits, several sources confirmed with Scene on Tuesday.

A number of workers specializing in drywall jobs around the city are bound to vote on new bargaining agreements this week, a spokesperson for AVM Group, a drywallers contractor group based in Tremont, told Scene. The strike began officially on May 1.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” that spokesperson said in a brief phone call. “The drywall finishers are on strike. They’re looking for more money, better pay and more benefits.”

That strike comes amidst a flurry of union activity, across sectors and industries, from a union vote from 80 employees at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to about three dozen workers at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center urging for better pay and top-down transparency in an upcoming collective bargaining agreement revisal.

The drywallers strike comes during a turbulent time for materials in the construction industry.

In February, President Trump slapped a 10 percent tariff on all imported materials hailing from China, which could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a project’s budget sheet.

Pair that with increased mortgage rates, a lukewarm residential tax abatement and a mass deportation policy that’s locked up hundreds of undocumented immigrants in at least five jails throughout the state.

A representative from Local 505 did not respond to calls for comment on Tuesday.

The drywallers on strike are able to obtain what are called project labor agreements, permission slips from City Hall that allow them to work legally while striking.

It’s unclear exactly how many PLAs, as they’re commonly called, have be distributed.

“We are not aware of any direct impact to any city projects between now and when the strike started,” a spokesperson for the city said in a statement. “We are optimistic that the parties will come to a resolution soon.”