View source for International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers

{{Infobox Union
|name= Bricklayers (BAC)
|full_name= International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
|image= [[Image:Bac logo.png]]
|founded= 1865
|country= [[United States]] and [[Canada]]
|office= [[Washington, D.C.]]
|people=
|website= [http://www.bacweb.org/ www.bacweb.org]
|affiliation= [[AFL-CIO]], [[Canadian Labour Congress|CLC]]
|members= 100,000
|native_name=
|current=
|head= [[James Boland]]
|dissolved_date=
|dissolved_state=
|merged_into=
|footnotes= }}
<!-- Include all unused fields for future use. See {{Infobox Union}} for usage. -->
The '''International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers''' (often known by the acronym BAC) is a [[trade union|labor union]] in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] which represents [[bricklayer]]s, [[pointers/cleaners/caulkers]], stone and marble [[Stonemasonry|masons]], [[Concrete finisher|cement masons]], [[plasterer]]s, [[tile]]setters, [[terrazzo]] and [[mosaic]] workers. The union is an affiliate of the [[AFL-CIO]] and the [[Canadian Labour Congress]].

BAC was founded in 1865 as the "Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers International Union of America" (BMPIU).  It was established during a great wave of blue-collar union formation in the 1860s, during which the [[Puddling furnace|iron puddlers]], locomotive engineers, cigarmakers, carpenters, tailors, painters and heaters' unions were founded.

The union's first Canadian unions were chartered in 1881, making the union truly international.

By the early 1900s, however, BAC was nearly bankrupt. In 1904, [[William J. Bowen]] was elected president. Bowen not only restored the union to financial health, but created the union's first [[widow's pension]] fund and strike fund. Bowen led the Bricklayers into affiliation with the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL), and himself later served on the [[National War Labor Board]].

High officials of the Bricklayers are crucial for the history of the AFL and the [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]] (CIO). [[Richard J. Gray]] was treasurer of the union in the early 1930s, and his staunch advocacy of [[craft unionism]] and his abrasive personality contributed significantly to the break between the AFL and the CIO. Later, however, BAC president [[Harry Bates (labor leader)|Harry Bates]] was one of three AFL delegates to the committee which in 1955 helped merge the AFL and the [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]].

In 2000, the BAC created a "Canadian Congress" to give Canadian members a more powerful, effective voice in union affairs.

==References==
*Bates, Harry C. ''Bricklayers' Century of Craftsmanship: A History of the Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers' International Union of America.'' Washington, D.C.: Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers Union, 1955.
*Fink, Gary M., ed. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.'' Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984. ISBN 0313228655
*Rayback, Joseph G. ''A History of American Labor.'' Rev. and exp. ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1974. ISBN 1299505295

==External links==
{{Portal|Organized labour}}
*[http://www.bacweb.org/ BAC Web site]
*[http://www.imiweb.org/ IMI Web site]

{{AFL-CIO}}
{{Canadian Labour Congress}}

[[Category:AFL-CIO]]
[[Category:Canadian Labour Congress]]
[[Category:Trade unions in the United States]]
[[Category:Trade unions in Canada]]
[[Category:Bricklayers]]
[[Category:International Federation of Building and Wood Workers]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1865]]
[[Category:Building and construction trade unions]]


{{NorthAm-trade-union-stub}}