Journalist Catherine Rampell writes in The Bulwark that the U.S. construction industry is curiously silent about crossing President Donald Trump, even as he devastates its bottom line and knocks holes in its workforce.
“Recruiting workers for construction jobs, particularly in the skilled construction trades, is hard. The work itself is physically demanding and often dangerous. Roofers, for instance, have among the highest fatal work injury rates of any occupation in America,” Rampell wrote.
Non-Americans are overrepresented in many homebuilding trades, comprising more than half of plasterers, stucco masons and roofers. It’s among the reasons industry observers predict the Trump administration’s attack on industry employees will aggravate a worsening housing crisis.
“And yet, the construction industry has been curiously mum about it all,” reports Rampell. “Earlier this week, I requested an interview with the National Association of Home Builders, an organization I’ve talked with many times over the years about various challenges facing the residential construction industry. I asked to speak with someone about the recent rise in raids and how they have affected the industry. I was told they ‘do not have anyone available who would be able to address what you are looking for.’”
A press representative later sent Rampell a link to an innocuous “resolution” calling for “Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” But the organization issued no public statements condemning the rough treatment and removal of workers.
“Contrast this with the NAHB’s past irate comments about, say, Joe Biden’s energy standards,” said Rampell.
The curious silence is “not unique to the construction sector,” said Rampell. “It’s been asked of virtually every industry, from law firms to higher ed to media to manufacturers to farmers, all of which have dealt with Trump shakedowns or other policies that are bad for business. In the case of the construction industry — as in so many of these other industries — there may be fear of speaking out in light of the president’s vindictiveness. Or there may be a collective delusion that only one’s competitors will be hurt. Or both.”
Rampell said Institute for Justice attorney Jared McClain recently approached contractors to join a case concerning their embattled workers and got rebuffed.
“The big builders said they’re big enough to absorb [the raids],” McClain told Rampell. “A smaller builder wanted to get involved, but the raids, so far down there, have focused on the bigger ones not fighting back.”
Instead Rampell said lobbying records suggest big industry groups, who are also largely conservative, are meekly trying to “plead for favors [from the Trump administration] without publicly critiquing the administration.”
Read Rampell's Bulwark report at this link.