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PAINTERS AND ALLIED TRADESINDUSTRY PENSION FUNDPension Dollars at Work for MembersOne of the worst hit sectors of the American economy in the market crash of 2008 wasconstruction. Building projects that were heavily reliant on borrowed money for completionacross the United States suddenly found themselves without funding as the banksthat fueled our economy with cash began to falter and even collapse. Construction work all butceased.As a result, unemployment in theconstruction industry was far higherthan the overall national numbers.According to data from the UnitedStates Department of Labor Bureauof Labor Statistics (BLS), while thenational unemployment rate went from5.0% in 2007 to a high of 9.9% in2009, the unemployment rate in constructionwent from 7.4% to 19.0% inthe same time period.Many recall how the new ObamaAdministration took immediate actionto get the economy moving againwith measures such as the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act, theauto industry bailout and the JOBSAct. What is not so well known is howunion pension money was also put towork to get union members back onthe job.The AFL-CIO Housing InvestmentTrust (HIT) was established 45 yearsago as a fixed income investmentcompany that currently manages $4.5billion in assets for hundreds of investors,which include union and publicemployee pension plans. Its long term,union-friendly objective has been toearn competitive returns for the pensionfunds it represents by investing inthe construction of affordable housingbuilt by union labor. In fact, accordingto its website, since its inception,“the HIT has invested over $6.5 billionto finance more than 105,000units of housing nationwide, generatingover 70,000 union jobs.”So it was no surprise that HIT wasa primary point of discussion whenthe Obama Administration calledlabor leaders to the White House in2009 to discuss ways to get Americaworking again. The result of that meetingwas the creation of the AFL-CIOHIT Construction Jobs Initiative. Itsinitial goal was to generate 10,000new union construction jobs throughpension fund investment. In October2012, HIT reported that it had farsurpassed that goal by generating15,000 new union construction jobsin 55 building projects in 28 citiesacross the United States.“There is definitely a sense of prideknowing that the work we’re doing isnot only securing a good retirementfor our members, but putting manyof them back to work as well,” saidGary Meyers, administrator of theIUPAT Industry Pension Fund. “Quitefrankly, in many ways, it’s the bestinvestment we’ve ever made becausewe’re not only seeing a monetaryreturn on the dollars we’re investing,but we’re also putting food onthe table for so many of our fellowmembers who have struggled in thesedown times.”HIT is hoping to build on its successin generating union jobs in theyears ahead and has already set anew goal of reaching the 20,000mark for new jobs by the end of2013. Learn more about the AFL-CIOHousing Investment Trust at www.aflcio-HIT.com.District Council 35/Local Union 939 member Cedrick Edwards hard at work on the OldColony Apartments Project in Boston, Massachusetts. Old Colony is one of ten Bostonprojects in which the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has invested under the jobsinitiative. These projects represent nearly 3,000 union jobs.28 October-december 2012 • J ournal