After letting home building slip away to open shops, the UA attempts to diversify from
an overreliance on commercial work.
Over the past year, the United Association has met with most every local in every state in the union to discuss a new plan to recapture the $320 billion dollar residential construction market.
"Recapture" is the catchword since union labor was at one time just as much a powerhouse in building homes as it is today building commercial/industrial facilities. As it stands now, the UA estimates that nonunion labor commands 90 percent of the national residential construction market. Meanwhile, the union's 10 percent share is concentrated in metropolitan areas that have remained union strongholds for any type of construction.