Walbridge V.P. E.G. Clawson dies 
Walbridge-Aldinger Group Vice President E.G. Clawson, who oversaw major projects like the Compuware headquarters and the Daimler-Chrysler North American Headquarters and Technology Center, died July 22, 2003 at the age of 56 after a long battle with cancer.

E.G. started his career in the construction industry as a laborer in 1972, and worked through the ranks to become group vice president at Walbridge-Aldinger, the state's second largest general contractor.

"He's been an integral part of our company, and an important part of the entire construction community in Southeast Michigan," said John Rakolta Jr., Chairman and CEO of Walbridge-Aldinger. "Since 1986, he has managed a number of major projects for us. It's difficult to imagine going forward without him."

Rakolta, who had been a friend of E.G.'s since high school, said, "it's been a privilege working with him all these years. He was a great guy, and was always fair and just with the people he worked with and the unions. I don't know anyone who didn't like him."

"E.G." - he didn't like his first name, so he used the initials of his first and middle names - brought his expertise to a number of committees in the Greater Detroit Chapter of the Associated General Contractors, serving as chairman of the Labor Policy Committee and Chairman of the Laborers Labor Policy Committee. He also served as a Trustee for the Laborers Health and Welfare Fund and on the Laborers Employers Cooperation and Education Trust Fund.

Building on his experience at Daimler-Chrysler, E.G. spearheaded Walbridge's successful Total Quality Management, an accomplishment in which he took great pride.

"It was a privilege to work with E.G.," said Patrick Devlin, secretary-treasurer of the Greater Detroit Building and Construction Trades Council. "He was always helpful, very knowledgeable about the industry, and you could tell he cared about workers. Beyond that, he was just a terrific person."

E.G. is survived by his wife Kathy and three children, David, John and Laura.

Toyota insists on PLA in Texas
You have to give credit to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Co., which insisted on the use of a project labor agreement with the AFL-CIO Building Trades Department for construction of a new $800 million truck manufacturing plant in San Antonio, Texas.

"We expect the San Antonio project will be another win in a series of successful PLA projects," said a company spokesperson.

Toyota stood firm in seeking the agreement despite the fact that Texas is a right-to-work state and that union construction workers are in the vast minority in San Antonio.
Toyota said its policy is to seek the use of local construction workers whenever possible, and many will be nonunion. But half of this project is expected to require the use of higher skilled, possibly union workers to install paint booths and assembly lines.

Construction of the Toyota plant is a complete opposite of what's happening in Cottondale, Alabama, where Daimler-Chrysler is doubling the size of their Mercedez-Benz assembly plant. Not only are they not utilizing a PLA, they're not using local workers - they're employing Polish workers who are working under visas that only allow them to do highly specialized work, and who are toiling for as little as $1,000 a month.

Sheet Metal Workers Local 292 Business Manager Bob Donaldson, whose members install paint equipment around the country, and local Alabama unions alerted U.S. Rep. Sander Levin about the visa issue, and he is investigating.