On June 2, EIMA staff members met with leaders of the Operative Plasterers' & Cement Masons' International Association to discuss ways in which the organizations can collaborate in advancing the EIFS industry.

Organized in 1864 during the Civil War, OPCMIA is the oldest building and construction trades union in the US. The union amended its constitution to include Canadian workers in 1887. As an affiliate of North America's Building Trades Unions, OPCMIA today represents more than 50,000 plasterers and cement masons who work in numerous industry segments, including EIFS, for the purpose of protecting and promoting the quality of the industry and livelihood of its members.

Training is literally the foundation for everything OPCMIA does, and the organization operates a host of training programs that open doors of opportunity and guarantee highly skilled, safe and productive workers in dozens of chapters located throughout the US and Canada. Aspiring plasterers and cement masons can earn while they learn through the OPCMIA International Training Fund’s Apprenticeship Program. High school students and recent graduates can learn valuable skills through the National Plastering Industry’s Joint Apprenticeship Trust Fund, which is OPCMIA’s partnership program with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps program.

Through its Steel Edge Women initiative, OPCMIA also encourages young women to join apprenticeship programs and strengthen their participation at all levels of the union.

Not surprisingly, members of OPCMIA have installed EIFS on many of our industry’s most important and notable projects, and OPCMIA members will continue to play a critical role in the industry and our country’s built environment.

EIMA is very pleased that OPCMIA is a valued member of the association and leading player in the EIFS industry. EIMA staff appreciated the generous hospitality extended by OPCMIA’s Timothy Nelson, Executive Vice President Todd Lair and International Representative and Director of Training, Health & Safety Deven Johnson, and looks forward to having continued conversations on workforce training.

EIMA staff admired the striking bronze sculpture in front of the OPCMIA HQ, which features President Abraham Lincoln and is the inspiration for the union’s brand new logo. Union members of Local 755 who do extensive work in the motion picture industry created this timeless sculpture, and people can learn more through this YouTube video.