What Construction & General Laborers Local 185 does

Construction and General Laborers' Local 185 is a construction craft labor union chartered in 1929 and headquartered at 1320 National Drive in Sacramento, California, with a regional branch office at 2210 Twin View Blvd. in Redding. The union represents construction craft laborers — entry-level workers, apprentices, journeymen, foremen, and superintendents — across 20 counties in Northern California, serving members who work for building contractors, general engineering contractors, specialty sub-contractors, and site-agreement-covered plants and factories. Members are dispatched daily to signatory contractors through an out-of-work list system, and the union operates under collective bargaining agreements that govern wages, benefits, and working conditions.

The union's core offerings are union representation services, a daily job dispatch system, the state-recognized Northern California Laborers Apprenticeship Program (4,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 6 weeks of classroom instruction), and skills training delivered primarily through the Terence J. O'Sullivan Training Center in San Ramon. Members receive family health insurance coverage and a defined benefit pension plan administered through the Laborers Trust Funds for Northern California. Member-facing infrastructure includes a web-based online dues payment portal supporting credit card and e-check transactions with optional auto-pay enrollment, plus a member benefits portal linking to approved attorneys and dentists.

Local 185 is a chartered local of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) and is affiliated with the Northern California District Council of Laborers. The organization operates with approximately 38 staff, generating subscription-recurring revenue from monthly union dues. Go-to-market is event-driven: new member orientations every Wednesday at 9 AM at the Sacramento Union Hall, annual job fairs co-hosted with signatory employers (April at Redding, May at Sacramento), daily contractor dispatch, and outreach via Facebook, Instagram, and a semi-annual Hands On News newsletter. The scholarship fund and community outreach programs extend the union's engagement with member families.

Name

Construction & General Laborers Local 185

Legal name

Construction and General Laborers' Local 185

Website

https://laborerslocal185.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1929

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Construction and General Laborers' Local 185 is a LIUNA-chartered labor union founded in 1929 that represents construction craft laborers across 20 Northern California counties, providing job dispatch, apprenticeship training, and health and pension benefits through signatory contractors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Labor Union Services

NAICS

Other Specialty Trade Contractors (2389)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction & General Labor Staffing (BPACAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Heavy Civil Construction Trades (Roads, Bridges & Utilities) (EDAOAAAN)

Keywords

• Construction labor union
• Union apprenticeship training
• Construction job dispatch
• Collective bargaining services
• Laborer benefit plans

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Union Dues: Monthly union dues collected from members. Members can pay dues online through VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or E-Check. Auto-pay enrollment is available. Payments are non-refundable.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Construction & General Laborers Local 185 is a chartered construction craft labor union founded in 1929 that represents construction laborers across 20 counties in Northern California. The union provides workplace representation, daily job dispatch to signatory contractors, a state-recognized apprenticeship program, comprehensive skills training, and trust-funded family health insurance and defined benefit pension plans. It is affiliated with the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) and operates from its Sacramento headquarters and Redding branch office.

Product overview

Construction and General Laborers Local 185 is a construction craft union chartered in 1929, providing a comprehensive suite of services to its members across twenty counties in Northern California. The organization's core offerings center on union representation, job dispatch through signatory contractors, and workforce development via the Northern California Laborers Apprenticeship Program and Terence J. O'Sullivan Training Center. Member benefits include family health insurance coverage and a defined benefit pension plan. The union also provides ancillary services including an online dues payment system, scholarship fund for members and their dependents, and a network of approved vendors for legal and dental services. The organization supports both member and contractor needs, positioning itself as a full-service labor organization for construction professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Union Representation Services
• Job Dispatch Services

Quantifiable outcome

• First period apprentice starting wage: $23.73 with increases each time a level is completed (1,000 hrs/level)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Northern California District Council of Laborers (NCDCL)coreOthersLocal 185 is affiliated with the Northern California District Council of Laborers and local affiliates. The District Council is part of the broader LIUNA structure.
• Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA)coreOthersLocal 185 is chartered under LIUNA. Dues payments include per capita payments to the international union. LIUNA provides resources and benefits to members, employers, and local affiliates.
• Laborers Trust Funds for Northern CaliforniacoreOthersAdministers pension, health and welfare benefits, apprenticeship and training for union members. Employers may reduce payroll taxes by contributing to these trust funds.
• Terence J. O'Sullivan Training Center (San Ramon)coreTechnology or IntegrationMost training classes are taught at this facility. The center provides basic and advanced instruction in construction skills with modern equipment and tools, emphasizing operation and safety.
• Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET Pacific Southwest)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides information regarding market share, additional education, training and health and safety funds available to members and signatory contractors.
• Laborers Health and Safety Fund of North AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational organization providing health and safety training resources and funds for laborers and signatory contractors.
• Teichert ConstructionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSignatory contractor installing backbone infrastructure for the FC Republic Stadium project at the Railyards in Downtown Sacramento. Represents ongoing vertical construction work.
• McCarthymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected as the builder for the Downtown Dova indoor arena in Rancho Cordova. The 7,500-capacity venue will host professional indoor soccer, concerts, and other events.
• Emergent ConstructionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner continuing to grow and building a new 2-story Recovery Campus for VOTC in Redding.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cement Masons Local 400 (California): Cement Masons Local 400 represents union concrete-finishing craft workers across Northern California. They frequently work alongside Local 185 laborers on the same concrete pours and paving jobs, and share signatory contractors, joint apprenticeship administration, and dispatch infrastructure.
• Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 447 (Sacramento): UA Local 447 dispatches union plumbers and pipefitters to signatory contractors across the Sacramento region and is affiliated with the same broader building-trades council. Its membership, dispatch model, apprenticeship program, and contractor base are structurally identical to Local 185's, differing only by craft specialty.
• IBEW Local 340 (Sacramento): IBEW Local 340 represents union electricians in the greater Sacramento region. Like Local 185, it dispatches craft labor through signatory contractors, operates an apprenticeship program, and competes for work hours on the same NorCal job sites — making it a directly comparable building-trades peer.
• Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 (San Francisco): SMW Local 104 is the union for sheet metal workers across Northern California. It is a directly comparable craft union peer: signatory contractor dispatch, apprenticeship pipeline, joint labor-management training, and overlapping NorCal jurisdiction with Local 185 on commercial and industrial construction.
• Operating Engineers Local 3: Operating Engineers Local 3 is the IUOE-affiliated heavy-equipment-operators union covering Northern California (and beyond). It is a direct peer of Laborers Local 185: both are building-trades craft unions dispatching members to signatory contractors on overlapping construction job sites in the same Northern California territory.
• Northern California Carpenters Regional Council: The NCCRC represents union carpenters across Northern California and dispatches them to signatory contractors on the same building, infrastructure, and tenant-improvement projects that employ Local 185 laborers. Same geographic footprint, same project bidding environment, same signatory-contractor pool — making it a directly comparable peer.
• Iron Workers Local 118 (Sacramento): Iron Workers Local 118 dispatches union ironworkers to signatory contractors throughout Northern California on structural steel, rebar, and bridge projects. Like Local 185, it is a building-trades craft union operating in the same territory with signatory collective bargaining agreements and apprenticeship training.
• Teamsters Local 150 (Sacramento): Teamsters Local 150 represents construction truck drivers, dump-truck operators, and material handlers in the Sacramento region. It is a peer craft union that dispatches members to the same construction job sites and signatory contractors, covering transportation and material-handling scopes adjacent to Local 185's laborer work.

Regional players

• Sacramento-Sierra Building & Construction Trades Council: The Sacramento-Sierra BCTC is the umbrella council of building-trades unions covering the same Northern California territory as Local 185. It is a regional peer that coordinates dispatch, project-labor agreements, and apprenticeship access across the craft unions — including Local 185 — operating on the same signatory-contractor job sites.

Broad incumbents

• Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA): LIUNA is the international parent union that charters Local 185 and collects per-capita dues. It is a broad-incumbent peer: it provides the same labor-supply / collective-bargaining infrastructure and training resources that Local 185 offers, but at a national scale across hundreds of member locals, rather than in a single NorCal territory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LIUNALocal185
• Instagraminstagram.com/LIUNALocal185
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/construction-&-general-laborers-local-185

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Construction & General Laborers Local 185