Marketing Associate Randy Kinder of the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation (ITC) represented the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT) at the 37th Annual Convention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) recently held in St. Louis. Some 1,500 union members from around the country gathered in St. Louis to attend the event, which focused on building political strength as a way to improve the lives of America's working families, especially in light of the slowing U.S. economy. "In today's sluggish economy, good jobs and wages are more important than ever before," says Kinder. "The BIT has always required that projects it finances be built with 100% union labor. This translates into family-supporting wages and family-friendly fringe benefits for thousands of workers. The BIT also has experience working with developers, contractors and unions to maximize apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship training, employment and career opportunities for community residents."