Southern Regional Council of Carpenters

Southern Regional Council of Carpenters
UBCJA's regional council for the American South
Abbreviation	SRCC
Parent	United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBCJA)
Executive Secretary-Treasurer & CEO	Kavin Griffin
States covered	Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (11 states)
Phone	(504) 305-4737
Email	info@southernrcc.org
Constituent locals (selected)	Includes Carpenters Local Union 551 (Pasadena, TX) and Local 1905 (Orlando, FL)
Website	southernrcc.org (also: centralsouthcarpenters.org)
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Executive Summary

The Southern Regional Council of Carpenters (SRCC) is the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America's (UBCJA) regional arm across eleven Southern states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Headquartered in the New Orleans area and led by Executive Secretary-Treasurer and CEO Kavin Griffin, the council coordinates training, organizing, and contract administration for member locals such as Carpenters Local Union 551 in Pasadena, Texas and Local 1905 in Orlando, Florida.

The SRCC's geographic footprint covers the densest industrial corridor in the United States: the Texas–Louisiana Gulf Coast petrochemical belt. From the Houston Ship Channel to Texas City, from the Beaumont–Port Arthur Golden Triangle to Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" along the lower Mississippi, SRCC-affiliated carpenters built — and have continued to maintain — the refineries, chemical plants, and petrochemical complexes that supply much of the nation's fuels, plastics, and industrial chemicals. The same industrial build-out that made the region a Southern carpenters' jurisdiction also made it one of the most asbestos-intensive work environments in American history through the peak exposure era (roughly 1945–1985).

The council did not manufacture asbestos, specify it, or purchase the materials its members worked with. Asbestos-containing joint compound, floor tile, transite, and the asbestos pipe insulation that surrounded carpenters on refinery turnarounds were chosen by contractors, supplied by manufacturers, and used by an entire industry that knew of the hazard well before warning the trades. Retired SRCC carpenters today are diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis at elevated rates reflecting that exposure history — and compensation is available through asbestos bankruptcy trusts and product-manufacturer claims without suing the union or the contractor.

At-a-Glance

The Southern Regional Council of Carpenters at a glance:

• Eleven states in the SRCC's jurisdiction: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas
• Executive Secretary-Treasurer and CEO Kavin Griffin heads the council
• Headquartered in the New Orleans area — phone (504) 305-4737; email info@southernrcc.org
• Affiliated with the UBCJA — the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, founded 1881 in Chicago
• Constituent locals include Carpenters Local Union 551 in Pasadena, Texas — on the Houston Ship Channel — and Local 1905 in Orlando, Florida, among others
• Eight UBCJA crafts represented — Carpenters, Floor Coverers, Interior Systems, Lathers, Millworkers & Cabinetmakers, Millwrights, Pile Drivers, and Residential & Framing
• Gulf Coast jurisdiction encompasses the Houston Ship Channel, Texas City refinery row, Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange Golden Triangle, Freeport petrochemical complex (Dow Chemical), Corpus Christi refinery cluster, and Louisiana's River Parishes "Cancer Alley"
• PMR 397 for carpenter mesothelioma — 34 to 50 times the general-population rate, per NIOSH occupational mortality surveillance
• $30+ billion remains in asbestos bankruptcy trusts paying claims to SRCC retirees and their families without litigation

What is the Southern Regional Council of Carpenters?

The Southern Regional Council of Carpenters is one of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America's regional councils — the intermediate organizational tier in the UBCJA's three-tier structure (International → Regional Council → Local Union). Regional councils administer the day-to-day relationship between the International and the member locals: they coordinate training across multiple locals, manage contract enforcement and grievance handling, conduct regional organizing, and act as the contracting party for multi-state agreements with industrial contractors.

The SRCC covers eleven Southern states that together make up the largest single regional council footprint in the UBCJA. The eleven states, as listed on the council's home page, are:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Florida
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas

Within those eleven states, the council oversees a network of local unions — examples include Carpenters Local Union 551 (Pasadena, Texas; Houston Ship Channel jurisdiction) and Local 1905 (Orlando, Florida). Each local administers member services within its own defined territory while drawing on the regional council's training, contract, and organizing resources.

Who leads the SRCC?

The Southern Regional Council of Carpenters is headed by Kavin Griffin, who serves as Executive Secretary-Treasurer and CEO. In UBCJA regional council structure, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer is the chief executive officer of the council — the position is both the senior elected officer and the senior administrative leader. The council also operates with an executive board, area managers covering sub-regional geographies, and dispatched leadership in the member locals.

The SRCC's primary contact information is publicly listed as:

• Phone: (504) 305-4737
• Email: info@southernrcc.org (also: info@centralsouthcarpenters.org)
• Website: southernrcc.org (rebranding to centralsouthcarpenters.org as of 2026)

What crafts does the SRCC represent?

SRCC member locals represent the same eight UBCJA crafts organized at the International level: Carpenters (General), Floor Coverers, Interior Systems, Lathers, Millworkers & Cabinetmakers, Millwrights, Pile Drivers, and Residential & Framing. In practice, the craft mix varies by local and by jurisdiction. Gulf Coast locals serving the refinery and petrochemical sector lean heavily into millwrights (industrial equipment installation), interior systems (control building and office buildout), pile drivers (port and waterfront work), and general carpenters (formwork, scaffolding, and structural concrete forming). Florida and Carolinas locals serving commercial high-rise and institutional construction lean more into general carpenters, floor coverers, and interior systems work.

For more on the eight crafts and their historical asbestos exposure profiles, see United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

Why the Gulf Coast matters: the industrial geography of SRCC asbestos exposure

The SRCC's jurisdiction encompasses the heaviest concentration of asbestos-exposing industrial infrastructure in the United States. Major facility clusters within the council's territory include:

Texas (Houston Ship Channel and beyond): The Houston Ship Channel hosts more than 200 industrial facilities including refineries, chemical plants, and petrochemical complexes. Major refineries within Texas SRCC jurisdiction include ExxonMobil Baytown, Shell Deer Park, LyondellBasell (Houston/Pasadena), Marathon Texas City (formerly Amoco), Valero Texas City, BP/Whiting (formerly Amoco), Motiva Port Arthur, Total Port Arthur, and Citgo/Flint Hills in Corpus Christi. Petrochemical hubs include Dow Chemical Freeport (one of the largest in the world), DuPont in Beaumont and Orange, Sun Oil/Sunoco in Port Arthur, and the dense Texas City complex.

Louisiana (River Parishes / Cancer Alley): The Mississippi River corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans hosts ExxonMobil Baton Rouge (one of the largest refineries in the United States), Shell Norco, Motiva Convent, Marathon Garyville, Phillips 66 Belle Chasse, and dozens of chemical plants in the River Parishes. The Lake Charles area adds Citgo Lake Charles, Phillips 66 Lake Charles, Westlake Chemical, and Sasol.

Alabama, Mississippi, and the Gulf shipbuilding corridor: Ingalls Shipbuilding (Pascagoula, MS), Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding (Mobile, AL), and Avondale Shipyard (Westwego, LA) historically employed thousands of SRCC pile drivers, ship carpenters, and millwrights — all working in the asbestos-saturated shipbuilding environment.

Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee: Naval and commercial shipyards (Charleston, Norfolk-adjacent, Jacksonville), TVA fossil-fuel power plants, paper mills throughout the South, and the heavy commercial and institutional construction sector all employed SRCC carpenters and millwrights during the peak asbestos era.

Through the period from roughly 1945 to 1985, these facilities were saturated with asbestos: pipe insulation, block insulation on boilers and vessels, gaskets and packing in valves and flanges, refractory in process heaters, asbestos-cement (transite) board for cladding and ductwork, asbestos floor tile in control buildings, asbestos-containing joint compound in offices and break rooms, and asbestos-containing acoustical sealants throughout. SRCC carpenters working anywhere in these facilities — even those doing finish work in air-conditioned office areas — breathed fibers released by adjacent insulators, pipefitters, and boilermakers.

What asbestos exposure did SRCC members encounter?

SRCC members encountered asbestos in two overlapping ways:

Direct product exposure. SRCC carpenters cut, fit, sanded, and demolished asbestos-containing building products: joint compound (3–15% chrysotile, USG/Georgia-Pacific/National Gypsum/Kaiser Gypsum), acoustical ceiling tile (10–30% asbestos), spray-on "popcorn" texture (up to 80% asbestos), vinyl asbestos tile (VAT) and asbestos-containing mastic adhesives, transite (asbestos cement) board for siding and ductwork, and asbestos-containing caulks, sealants, and acoustical compounds.

Bystander exposure on industrial sites. Refinery and chemical-plant construction and turnarounds placed all of the building trades on the same jobsite simultaneously. Insulators stripping pipe lagging, pipefitters replacing gaskets, boilermakers performing refractory work, and electricians cutting transite raceway all released asbestos fibers into shared air. SRCC carpenters building scaffolding, forming concrete, installing floor tile, framing control buildings, and installing millwright equipment in those same units inhaled the same fibers. This bystander exposure is well-documented in the industrial-hygiene literature and is responsible for a substantial share of carpenter mesothelioma cases on Gulf Coast jobsites.

For the full clinical statistical record on carpenter asbestos disease — PMR 397, the 34–50× elevation, the 97% occupational attribution rate, and the Peto et al. odds-ratio data — see Carpenters.

Training and apprenticeship

SRCC locals participate in the UBCJA's Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) system. Apprentices complete four-year registered apprenticeships combining paid on-the-job training with classroom and lab instruction at council and local training centers across the eleven states, with access to advanced and instructor training at the UBC International Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Modern SRCC apprentices train under post-1980s asbestos safety standards — OSHA's 0.1 fibers-per-cubic-centimeter permissible exposure limit, mandatory respiratory protection during any disturbance of suspect material, and licensed-abatement protocols for known asbestos work. New asbestos-containing joint compound has been effectively unavailable in U.S. construction since the early 1980s, and EPA's 2024 chrysotile rule phases out the remaining permitted uses of asbestos. A carpenter joining the SRCC today faces only a small fraction of the asbestos risk that retired members carry.

Compensation options for SRCC retirees

A retired SRCC carpenter — or a surviving family member — diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, or asbestosis has access to multiple compensation channels, none of which involve suing the union or the contractor.

Asbestos bankruptcy trust funds. More than 60 manufacturers of asbestos-containing joint compound, floor tile, ceiling tile, transite, pipe insulation, gaskets, and refractory have entered bankruptcy and established trusts. Over $30 billion remains in these trusts. Trusts particularly relevant to Gulf Coast carpenters include the United States Gypsum Trust ($3.95 billion — the single largest source for joint-compound claims), the National Gypsum Trust, the Kaiser Gypsum Trust, the Owens Corning Fibreboard Trust, the Johns-Manville Trust (pipe insulation), and the Babcock & Wilcox and Combustion Engineering Trusts (refinery boilers and refractory).

Personal injury claims against solvent manufacturers. Companies that produced asbestos-containing products and remain solvent can be sued in state civil court. Texas and Louisiana each carry their own statutes of limitations — two years from the date of mesothelioma diagnosis in Texas, and one year from the date of diagnosis in Louisiana under that state's accelerated tort limitations period.

VA disability and DIC benefits. SRCC members with U.S. military service — particularly Navy and Merchant Marine veterans who worked as shipboard carpenters or millwrights — may qualify for 100% VA disability if mesothelioma is service-connected, plus Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses.

A typical Gulf Coast SRCC carpenter with confirmed mesothelioma and a multi-employer work history can recover $1 million to $2 million through the trust system alone, with additional recovery from solvent-defendant lawsuits and ongoing VA benefits where applicable.

A note on the SRCC and Danziger & De Llano. Senior Client Advocate Larry Gates at Danziger & De Llano has worked with Gulf Coast building-trades retirees and their families throughout his career. His father, Dan Gates, worked the Shell refinery in Pasadena, Texas and died of mesothelioma in 1999. SRCC carpenters, millwrights, and pile drivers — or family members of a member who has passed — who want to talk through trust filings, lawsuits, or VA benefits can reach the firm at (866) 222-9990 or at dandell.com.

Resources for SRCC members and retirees

• Southern Regional Council of Carpenters — official council website at southernrcc.org (also operating as Central South Carpenters at centralsouthcarpenters.org, reflecting a rebrand underway as of 2025–2026)
• UBCJA International — parent international union
• Danziger & De Llano — Texas-based mesothelioma firm representing Gulf Coast retirees since 1996. Free case review at (866) 222-9990
• Larry Gates, Senior Client Advocate — D&D senior advocate with deep roots in the Gulf Coast refinery community
• Mesothelioma.net — Refinery Workers — asbestos exposure profile for refinery construction and maintenance trades
• OSHA — Asbestos — current federal asbestos standard

Related Pages

• United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America — UBCJA International, the SRCC's parent organization
• Carpenters Local Union 551 — SRCC member local in Pasadena, Texas, on the Houston Ship Channel
• Carpenters — full clinical and occupational risk profile for the carpentry trade
• Pipefitters Local Union 211 — Gulf Coast pipefitters local; frequent jobsite neighbor to SRCC carpenters
• Insulators Local 22 — Gulf Coast insulators local
• Boilermakers Local 74 — Gulf Coast boilermakers local
• Oil Refinery Workers — exposure profile for refinery construction and maintenance trades
• Chemical Plant Workers — exposure profile for petrochemical-plant trades
• Asbestos Trust Funds — overview of the bankruptcy trust compensation system
• Mesothelioma Lawsuits — civil litigation against solvent asbestos product manufacturers

⚠ Statute of Limitations Warning: Filing deadlines vary by state from 1-6 years from diagnosis. Texas allows 2 years from diagnosis or discovery. Contact an attorney immediately to preserve your rights.