About The Workforce Current

The Workforce Current is a weekly independent publication exploring building-trades workforce systems and labor-management relationships. It draws on practical experience and credible evidence to help people develop skilled professionals, strengthen working relationships, and improve workforce delivery.

It is written primarily for people who lead, train, represent, deploy and rely on building-trades professionals—including foremen, stewards, instructors, apprenticeship leaders, contractor managers, and owners.

Our Premise

The capacity to build and operate depends on more than securing enough workers. It requires skilled people, capable supervision, effective training, and labor-management relationships that support the work.

The Workforce Current examines how those elements work together, where they break down, and what people responsible for the building-trades workforce can learn from both.

What We Cover

Labor-Management Relationships

Bargaining, representation, trust, and accountability—and how agreements and everyday decisions affect building-trades work.

Workforce Planning & Delivery

How owners, contractors, and labor leaders anticipate craft needs, deploy skilled people, and address workforce constraints.

Apprenticeship & Craft Development

How apprenticeships, instruction, mentoring, and career pathways develop skilled professionals and sustain the building-trades workforce.

Frontline Leadership

How foremen, stewards, supervisors, and instructors handle commitments, resolve problems, and support safe, productive work.

About the Founder

Michael Shue has spent more than 30 years in and around the trades, starting as an apprentice. His experience includes work as a Boilermaker and Pipefitter, service as a union steward and instructor, and senior leadership in corporate labor relations.

That background shapes the questions he explores: How do people develop their craft? What makes a labor-management relationship work? And what helps those responsible for the workforce turn commitments into results?

He founded The Workforce Current to share what he has learned, explore ideas he cares about, and contribute to the people responsible for building-trades work. His writing combines practical experience with credible evidence and examines the responsibilities of both labor and management.

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn →

The Workforce Current is an independent publication. Views expressed are those of the author and do not represent any employer or organization.

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