Cornell ILR, BCTC Launch Building Trades Peer Support Network

Cornell ILR School’s Worker Institute and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York (BCTC) have announced the launch of the Building Trades Peer Support Network. The program is an innovative peer support program designed to destigmatize mental health and reduce suicide in New York City’s construction industry by leveraging relationships within its unions.

Construction workers face myriad stresses every day, said Robert McCleary, a shop steward at the Laborers Union, Local 66, in Suffolk County, Long Island. There’s constant pressure to finish projects quickly. Hard physical labor takes a toll on the body, and the work is dangerous.

The construction industry’s stigma against sharing one’s feelings only makes things worse, McCleary said. “You have to be a tough guy – can’t let anybody know you’re letting your guard down,” he said. “To bundle it up and have someone tell you ‘Shut up and go back to work’ – it’s not the right thing to do.”

“What Cornell is doing is a form of action,” said Chris Scattone, who is the member assistance program director at the Ornamental and Architectural Ironworkers Union Local 580. “It’s not another slogan, it’s not another poster, it’s not another help line to call,” he said. “It’s an in-person action and I respect it, because it’s saying it’s OK to ask for help, and that’s what they’re providing.” Read more here!