WHO IS ABC GOLDEN GATE CHAPTER?

Two general statements provide a perspective into why contractors belong to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) in Northern and Central California. 

FIRST,  Contractors join ABC for many reasons, but they stay in ABC when they see how ABC serves and represents contractors based on clearly defined core values. 

SECOND,  While many contractors belong to other construction trade associations primarily because of who they meet, contractors join ABC because of what it does. 

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 75 chapters representing more than 23,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with nearly two million employees. The Golden Gate Chapter, based in Livermore, serves and represents more than 600 companies in Northern and Central California. 

ABC was founded in 1950 when seven contractors gathered in Baltimore to create an association based on the shared belief that construction projects should be awarded on merit to the most qualified and responsible low bidders. Their courage and dedication to the merit shop philosophy spread rapidly, and within time, ABC became the fastest-growing association in the United States. The Golden Gate Chapter was founded in 1976 in Concord.

 

• Through its national office, state office, and local chapters, ABC is the merit shop construction industry’s voice at the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal, state, and local government.

 

• ABC’s activities include government representation, legal advocacy, education, workforce development, communications, technology, recognition through national and chapter awards programs, employee benefits, leadership development, and business development. The Golden Gate Chapter regularly offers contractors seminars on labor law compliance, prevailing wage, employment law, bookkeeping and other issues of prime importance to the merit shop contractor.

 

• The Golden Gate Chapter operates state-approved apprenticeship programs in the electrical, carpentry, painting, plumbing, and laborer trades. Classroom instruction for apprentices is held in Livermore, Hayward, Concord, Sacramento, Turlock, Milpitas and Fresno. The chapter’s Education Director Anne Quick was appointed in 2005 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Apprenticeship Council. In 2008, she was elected Chairperson.

 

• The ABC Golden Gate Chapter employs some of the most seasoned construction trade association staff in the state. They are trained to help our members in all areas of public works compliance, apprenticeship programs and labor issues.

 

• ABC is a construction industry leader in fighting for open competition, free enterprise, and freedom of choice in training. Among the political issues of current importance to ABC members are government-mandated Project Labor Agreements (PLA), the use of environmental permit extortion (greenmail) to force commercial and industrial contractors to sign PLAs, prevailing wage mandates, electrician testing and certification, unfair local prequalification proposals, discriminatory local apprenticeship ordinances, salting (union organizers applying for jobs at non-union companies and then filing legal claims as a harassment tactic), and job targeting (unions subsidizing bids to manipulate the bidding process).

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