Operating Engineer - Summer 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l 

Operating Engineer 

www.iuoe.org • summer 2012 

Operators Going 

Underground in SFO 

Transbay Terminal is largest 

drill-shaft project in North America 

IUOE Special Series: 

Election 2012 

Candidate profiles 

IUOE endorses Barack Obama 

for re-election

i n t e r n at i o n a l 

Operating Engineer 

Summer 2012 • Volume 155, No. 2 

Brian E. Hickey, Editor 

08 A New Bridge Over Troubled Waters 

Congress Approves $633 Million Bridge Project 

14 Election 2012: Special Series 

The Candidates Sound Off About Workers, Unions 

18 Operators Going Underground in SFO 

Transbay Terminal Work is Full Steam Ahead 

22 ‘Right to Work’ is Wrong for Everyone 

Measure Means Low Wages, Less Voice 

Departments 

05 From the General President 

06 Education & Training 

12 Politics & Legislation 

24 GEB Minutes 

28 In Memorium 

[cover] 

Mechanic David Nail repairs a drill can on site of the 

Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco, CA. 

Photo: Dominique Beilke 

[left] 

Local 302 operators lay pilings for a new ferris wheel at 

Pier 57 in Seattle, WA. 

Photo: Simon Johnston 

2 

international operating engineer 

summer 2012 3

International Operating Engineer 

(ISSN 0020-8159) is published by the: 

International Union of 

Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO 

1125 17 th Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20036 

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Printed in the U.S.A. 

International Union of Operating Engineers 

AFL-CIO 

general officers 

James T. Callahan, General President 

Brian E. Hickey, General Secretary-Treasurer 

William C. Waggoner, First Vice President 

John M. Hamilton, Second Vice President 

Patrick L. Sink, Third Vice President 

Jerry Kalmar, Fourth Vice President 

Russell E. Burns, Fifth Vice President 

Rodger Kaminska, Sixth Vice President 

James M. Sweeney, Seventh Vice President 

Robert T. Heenan, Eighth Vice President 

Daniel J. McGraw, Ninth Vice President 

Daren Konopaski, Tenth Vice President 

Michael Gallagher, Eleventh Vice President 

Greg Lalevee, Twelfth Vice President 

Terrance E. McGowan, Thirteenth Vice President 

Louis G. Rasetta, Fourteenth Vice President 

trustees 

John M. Holliday III, Chairman 

John T. Ahern, Trustee 

Kuba J. Brown, Trustee 

Bruce Moffatt, Trustee 

James T. Kunz, Jr., Trustee 

engineers action resPonse netWorK 

Because elections matter 

Make your voice heard • Register for EARN today 

www.iuoe.org 

From the General President 

Trade union values unite us all 

Barack Obama the clear choice moving forward 

I want to open with a heartfelt 

thank you to all the members who I’ve 

had the pleasure to meet as I have begun 

to visit locals throughout every 

region we represent and the Business 

Managers who invited me to address 

their members. In addition, our International 

Reps who have also given 

their time to introduce me to scores 

of talented operating engineers in the 

pipeline and petro chemical industries 

who hail from a wide array of locals, 

who are sought out by contractors because 

of their expertise, and who travel 

far and wide to follow the work. I look 

forward to more of these opportunities 

and the open and honest discussions 

that occur. 

In my conversations with operators 

throughout the International, a 

common thread has become evident 

that transcends geographic boundaries. 

These are basic ideals that working 

men and women hold sacred—God, 

country, family, the right to collectively 

bargain, the right to bear arms. While 

these tenets may be labeled “conservative” 

in today’s political discourse, 

by no means does this indicate acceptance 

that our hard-fought rights over 

working conditions or our well administered 

health and retirement funds are 

to be used as political fodder for politicians 

who never held a lever, set a pipe, 

turned a wrench or maintained a structure 

environment. 

Another election season is quickly 

upon us and I believe we must act with 

unity and a clear message towards 

those seeking our support—or seeking 

to scapegoat us—in their campaigns 

for elected office. We must hold politicians 

accountable, in word and in 

deed, who would infringe on our collective 

bargaining rights. We must be 

a visible presence of the majority they 

wish to represent—the working middle-class—to 

counter the influence 

of corporate money and patronage so 

prevalent today. 

Our country is just beginning to recover 

from one of the worst recessions 

on record and many operating engineers 

and their families are still feeling 

its effects. Brave men and women are 

returning home from two lengthy and 

costly wars, only to find that our manufacturing 

sector has been sold off-shore 

for quick profit. Now those responsible 

for these calamities are telling us we 

must forego fair wages, promised pensions, 

and safe working conditions to 

fit into their world view. They are using 

an age old strategy of divide and conquer, 

attempting to pit public and private 

sector workers against each other, 

to methodically dismantle the labor 

movement. 

These attacks on core trade union 

values like collective bargaining, prevailing 

wage, healthcare and pensions 

have raised the stakes even higher for 

this year’s election. We are already seeing 

this stark contrast play out in the 

presidential campaigns of President 

Obama and presumptive Republican 

nominee Mitt Romney, bringing into 

focus who really is the best choice to 

lead our country forward. 

Through surveys, meetings and 

conversations with IUOE members 

and local affiliates over these past few 

months, that choice has become abundantly 

clear. Taking all of this into consideration, 

the IUOE General Executive 

Board voted unanimously to endorse 

President Barack Obama for re-election. 

When the President took office, he 

inherited an economy that was losing 

750,000 jobs a month. In response, 

President Obama pushed for an economic 

recovery plan that prevented 

another depression and which saved or 

created 3.6 million jobs. The transportation 

and infrastructure piece of his 

stimulus plan created and maintained 

hundreds of thousands of construction 

jobs, many of them operating engi- 

[James T. Callahan] 

neers. He also made key appointments 

in the Department of Labor and to the 

National Labor Relations Board that 

have strengthened compliance and 

standards, and leveled the playing field 

for labor and management relations. 

This isn’t to say that we see eye-toeye 

with the President on everything. 

We were deeply disappointed that he 

chose to delay construction of the Keystone 

XL pipeline and put thousands 

more operating engineers to work. We 

don’t expect the president to agree 

with us every time, but we have never 

doubted President Obama’s commitment 

to creating good jobs and putting 

the country on a sound path to recovery. 

Brothers and sisters, I am asking 

you to stand with me at this time and 

support President Obama so that we 

can battle back against the anti-labor 

forces in this country. We must stand 

united against those who would strip 

away the rights and voice of working 

people. We must stand strong and not 

fall prey to those who would divert our 

attention away from core trade union 

values. It is my fear that if we vote solely 

based on social issues, we will miss 

the bigger picture and allow our enemy 

in the door. 

We have a lot of work ahead of us to 

protect the middle class way of life in 

the United States, but I’m asking the 

hardest working, smartest, and engaged 

group in the labor movement to 

see us through. 

4 



Education & Training 

Alaskan Training Center Serves a Growing Membership 

When Local 302 planned their new training center in Alaska, it 

was built with growth—and the elements—in mind. The 11,000 sq. 

ft. energy efficient main office and classroom building was based on 

the current membership, but is ready to expand classroom space and 

training capabilities as the local continues to grow membership. 

Adjacent to the main building, is a 9,600 sq. ft. 3-bay shop. Taking 

training needs into consideration, three classrooms are dedicated 

to mechanics training. Classes are offered to heavy duty mechanic 

apprentices and journeypersons on major component rebuilds, lineboring, 

and hydraulics, among other offerings. A computer lab was 

developed to provide more defined training in electrical classes focused 

on mine work. To accommodate 

welding classes, 

which range from introductory 

to advanced welding, 

eight welding booths were 

configured in the welding 

bay. 

The largest obstacle for 

training in Alaska is the long winter season. A 16,000 sq. ft. (80’ x 200’) 

indoor training arena was designed with the specific intent of training 

on machines and grade checking between November and April. 

Previously, heavy equipment training was nearly halted due to frozen 

ground. Local 302 has the only indoor training arena in the state of 

Alaska and it’s a point of pride to be able to provide local members 

the benefit of year round training opportunities. 

New Training Simulators 

Making the Rounds 

National Training Fund instructors 

traveled to the John Deere 

simulator facility in Davenport, Iowa 

to train on the assembly, set-up, and 

trouble shooting of four new equipment 

simulators. The two dozer and 

two motor grader simulators will be 

loaned to IUOE locals around the 

U.S. and Canada as part of an NTF 

pilot program. 

The dozer simulators have an 

automatic grade control simulation 

utilizing a Topcon control screen, 

with Trimble and Leica system displays 

to be added soon. The motor 

graders will be fitted with automatic 

grade control and display by the end 

of 2012. All of the simulators have 

multiple lessons that would be used 

in construction and have specific 

feedback that is recorded for each 

operator using the machines. The 

seven member assembly team will 

be available to assist the locals utilizing 

the simulators. 

Local 520 Moves to the Operating Engineers Certification Program 

Local 520 in southern Illinois 

recently began using the 

Operating Engineers Certification 

Program (OECP) for all of 

its crane operator certifications. 

Business Manager Ron Johnson 

stated, “We decided to go 100 

percent with the OECP not only 

because of its exceptional operator 

assessment capabilities, but 

being the program is exclusively 

union, we feel it is the right 

choice for our membership.” 

All Cleaned Up During 

HAZMAT Training 

Local 139 members, enrolled 

in a 40-hour HAZMAT 

training course, get accustomed 

to breathing through a respirator 

and moving about wearing a 

protective suit and gloves while 

cleaning up the grounds around 

the local’s hall in Pewaukee, 

Wisconsin. 

The OECP is funded by the 

IUOE National Training Fund 

and over the last several years 

has continued to expand to all 

areas of the country. Says Bruce 

Hepp, Local 520’s Apprenticeship 

and Training Fund Administrative 

Manager, “With the 

opening of our new training site 

in St. Jacob, we elected to start 

fresh with the OECP and capitalize 

on all the advantages it can 

bring to the local.” 

The OECP is recognized by 

Federal OSHA and complies 

with the recently published 29 

CFR 1926 regulations that require 

all crane operators to be 

certified by November 2014. 

For more information about 

the program, please contact the 

OECP Main Office at 951-351- 

4001 or by e-mail at oecp@oecp. 

org. 

From left are Jim McDannel, Roy Heldt, Bill Torgerson, Brad Martin, Kevin Funk, Ted 

Peterson, Tom Haider, Brian Torgerson, Dan Lessard, Glen Heldt, Andy Guillama, 

Darrek Travis, Howard Moore, Domenick Tirabassi III, Jeff Manley, Dean Anderson, 

Mike Branski, Don Oakes and Bob Cayer, instructor. 

6 



A New Bridge Over 

Troubled Waters 

Congressional Approval Brings Minnesota and Wisconsin Together on $633 Million Bridge Project 

8 



a controversial bridge 

project has finally been greenlighted 

for construction, after 

decades of twists and turns that 

threatened to run it into a ditch. 

Members of Local 49 and Local 

139 will soon be working to 

replace a dilapidated lift bridge 

over the St. Croix River between 

Minnesota and Wisconsin. Legislation 

designed to facilitate 

construction of a modern-day 

span passed Congress and was 

signed into law by President 

Obama on March 14. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D- 

MN) and Representative Ron 

Kind (D-WI) led the effort to 

pass legislation exempting the 

new bridge from the federal Wild 

and Scenic Rivers Act, a necessary 

step to permit construction 

over the river. The legislation 

passed unanimously in the Senate 

and passed the House on a 

solid bipartisan vote of 339-80. 

It is believed to be the first-ever 

waiver given since the Wild and 

Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 

1968. The law prohibits federally 

funded projects that would have 

“a direct and adverse effect” on 

“values” of rivers designated 

wild or scenic. 

Terry McGowan, Business 

Manager of Local 139 in Wisconsin 

said, “We hope we don’t 

need an act of Congress to build 

every bridge in this country, 

but this step allows a project to 

go forward that has been in the 

works for decades. The project 

will employ hundreds of Local 

139 Members. Our whole Congressional 

delegation came together 

and did a great job, but 

we particularly want to thank 

Representatives Ron Kind, Sean 

Duffy, and Tammy Baldwin for 

their work.” 

The badly needed infrastructure 

project will not only relieve 

traffic congestion on both sides 

of the river, it will bring thousands 

of construction jobs to 

an area that has been slow to 

recover from the recession. Figures 

from the Associated General 

Contractors of Minnesota 

cite more than 50,000 construction 

jobs lost in the state since 

its peak in 2006. The proposed 

bridge will employ an average of 

3,000 construction workers for 

three years, with estimated wages 

for workers of $200 million 

during the construction phase. 

The existing 80-year old, 

two-lane Stillwater Lift Bridge 

is functionally obsolete. It was 

built to handle about 11,000 vehicles 

per day, but the Minnesota 

Department of Transportation 

estimates that now over 

18,000 vehicles use the crossing 

each day. The bridge has also received 

a sufficiency rating of 32 

out of 100, which is lower than 

the rating given to the I-35W 

Bridge in the Twin Cities when it 

crashed into the Mississippi River 

in 2007, killing 13 and injuring 

145 people. 

Plans for the new bridge call 

for a four-lane, extradosed bridge 

spanning 4,953 feet between the 

Minnesota and Wisconsin river 

banks. The extradosed design is 

frequently described as a cross 

between a girder bridge and a 

cable-stayed bridge. This design 

“We hope we don’t need 

an act of Congress to 

build every bridge in 

this country...” 

—Terry McGowan, 

Business Manager 

of Local 139 

will result in fewer piers in the 

river and a reduced height of the 

towers above the bridge deck, 

helping to maintain the scenic 

quality of the river corridor and 

mitigating any environmental 

harm to the river itself. 

The project also requires 

a full complement of highway 

work, including new approaches 

and ramps, on both sides of the 

bridge. This broadens the scope 

of the overall project and increases 

the number and type of 

skilled workers required to bring 

the project in on time and on 

budget. 

First proposed by federal 

and state officials in 1995 and 

having endured countless false 

starts and setbacks, the saga of 

replacing the Stillwater Bridge 

looks to have finally reached a 

conclusion. Both Wisconsin 

and Minnesota have set aside all 

of the necessary funding to pay 

the estimated $633 million cost 

and no more federal funding is 

required. However, in the end, it 

took an actual “act of Congress” 

to make it a reality. 

[previous page] 

A digital rendition of the new 

St. Croix crossing will consist of a 

four-lane, extradosed bridge. 

Photo: Minnesota Department of 

Transportation 

[above] 

The Stillwater Lift Bridge has 

stood for 80 years, but has become 

functionally obsolete and 

structurally deficient. 

10 



Politics & Legislation 

Progress Made on Highway Bill as 

Another Deadline Draws Near 

A congressional conference committee 

has begun deliberations to find a compromise 

between House and Senate highway bills. Currently, 

federal transportation programs are funded only 

through June 30 due to several short-term extensions. 

The highway bill is vital, providing billions of 

dollars to states and communities to build and repair 

roads, ensure bridges are safe and improve mass 

transit for millions of commuters. It also sustains 

millions of construction jobs, where unemployment 

is still around 15 percent nationwide. 

The Senate bill calls for investing $109 billion over 

two years. In a rare show of bipartisanship, Chairman 

Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Member Jim 

Inhofe (R-OK), of the Environment and Public Works 

Committee, led the effort to pass a fully-funded twoyear 

highway bill. The legislation, Moving Ahead for 

Progress Act in the 21st Century (MAP-21), slightly 

improves current investment levels by delivering 

$13-billion in new revenues for highway and transit 

spending. 

The bill maintains key priorities for the Operating 

Engineers, including full application of Davis-Bacon 

prevailing wages. It cuts bureaucracies and programs, 

streamlines the environmental permitting process, 

and increases innovative financing for mega-projects. 

The bill received 74 votes in the Senate, including 22 

Republicans. 

By contrast, the House bill is little more than a 

“shell” piece of legislation, extending current funding 

for another three months. Unlike in the Senate, the 

House Republican Leadership stubbornly refused to 

include Democrats in a bipartisan solution to pass 

a long-term highway bill. However, passage of the 

“shell bill” was critical to moving the process forward 

to a conference committee. It also left a number 

of bad policy provisions on the cutting room floor, 

including major problems with investments in mass 

transit. 

The House bill does contain a few IUOE supported 

elements, including approval of the Keystone XL 

Pipeline and a commitment to increase dredging of 

the nation’s harbors, ports, and waterways. 

Industry representatives believe it is more 

likely that the Senate’s positions will prevail in the 

conference committee negotiations. Given the 

bipartisan support for the two-year bill in the Senate, 

the House is not in a strong negotiating position. But 

House negotiators will not walk in empty handed. 

They are expected to make every effort to promote 

domestic energy production and the Keystone XL 

Pipeline. 

No higher job-creation priority exists for 

Operating Engineers than passage of the highway 

bill. The number of jobs created for heavy equipment 

operators in this legislation dwarfs any other single 

piece of legislation that Congress considers. 

Updates on the highway bill’s progress can be 

found at www.iuoe.org 

TransCanada Resubmits Keystone 

XL Application 

TransCanada, the company behind 

construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, 

announced May 4 that it is again seeking State 

Department approval for the project. The pipeline 

would run 1,700 miles, bringing Canadian crude oil 

from Alberta to Texas and American oil from North 

Dakota and Montana to the nation’s refineries on 

the Gulf Coast. The company said it had 

worked out the key issue blocking prior 

approval of the pipeline, its impact on 

the large underground Ogallala aquifer in 

Nebraska, by finding a new route around 

it. 

The IUOE has consistently backed 

construction of the pipeline and 

TransCanada has stated that they intend 

to stick by its original project labor 

agreement, signed two years ago, to have 

union workers—from the Operating 

Engineers, Electrical Workers, Laborers, 

Plumbers and Pipefitters, and Teamsters— 

build Keystone XL. 

“IUOE shares TransCanada’s 

determination to see Keystone XL built 

and fully supports its decision to reapply 

for a federal permit,” General President 

James Callahan said. “It’s time to put 

politics aside and put thousands of construction 

workers back to work,” he added. It’s estimated that 

Keystone construction would create 20,000 highquality 

jobs, including about 4,000 IUOE jobs. 

Despite the denial of project’s original permit 

in January, progress on the Keystone XL pipeline 

has continued. In March, TransCanada announced 

plans to start construction of the “Southern leg” 

of the project from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port 

Arthur, Texas. That roughly 500-mile segment does 

not require State Department approval. Upon 

completion, it will eliminate the supply glut at the 

key oil hub in Cushing, and the company plans to 

begin work on those spreads later this summer. 

Significant progress has also been made on 

the route realignment in Nebraska. The state is 

conducting its own environmental review on the 

new, 100-mile reroute, and expects to complete the 

analysis in about six months. In turn, these positive 

developments prompted TransCanada to reapply 

with the State Department for a Presidential Permit 

for the section of the pipeline that will cross the U.S.- 

Canadian border. 

“The Operating Engineers strongly encourage 

the State Department and other relevant agencies to 

aggressively implement President Barack Obama’s 

March executive order to approve this project as 

quickly as possible,” General President Callahan 

said. “After three years of study and significant 

environmental improvement, after the rerouting of 

the pipeline around the sensitive Sandhills area of 

Nebraska, it is beyond time to approve this.” 

Callahan noted that even in the height of 

construction season, when contractors should 

be adding jobs, they instead cut another 28,000. 

“Keystone XL offers game-changing potential to 

the sector hardest hit by the recession and where 

the unemployment rate is still near 14%. Operating 

Engineers are among the most highly trained and 

skilled pipeline workers in the world. Their expertise 

will ensure that Keystone is built right, built safe and 

built to last,” he declared. 

12 



Election 2012: Special Series 

Barack Obama, Democratic Candidate for President 

Willard “Mitt” Romney, Republican Candidate for President 

President Barack Obama came into office 

riding a wave of unparalleled expectations and facing 

an unrivaled economic crisis. He inherited an economy 

from President Bush that was losing 750,000 jobs a 

month. President Obama took immediate action and 

passed the largest economic stimulus and jobs program 

in history which saved or created 3.6 million jobs. 

During his first term, he also tackled other big issues. 

He championed comprehensive health insurance 

reform, expanding coverage and arresting skyrocketing 

costs. He even took on Wall Street, reforming a system 

that was rigged in favor of the same wealthy insiders 

who put our entire economy on the brink of collapse. 

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Building & 

Construction Trades Department, President Obama 

declared, “I’m not a perfect president.” No one can ever 

Managing the Economic Crisis 

• President Obama pushed through Congress the $787 billion 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the largest 

economic stimulus and jobs program in history. The 

President’s Recovery Act provided over $100-billion in 

funding for the struggling construction industry, which 

included investments in highway, transit, high-speed rail, 

school construction, and clean-energy projects. 

• Just days into his first term, President Obama implemented 

an Executive Order to encourage federal agencies to 

use project labor agreements, revoking President Bush’s 

order that had prohibited PLAs. 

• President Obama led the federal effort to rescue the 

domestic auto industry, overcoming the opposition of 

many, including Mitt Romney, who claimed it would be 

better to “let Detroit fail.” Because of President Obama’s 

leadership, the U.S. auto industry has added back 160,000 

jobs — the fastest pace of auto job growth since 1998. 

Many IUOE members work in these plants. 

Jobs, Wages, and Standards 

• The Obama Administration mandated prevailing wage 

requirements on sewer and water projects, clean and 

renewable energy programs, and the first nuclear power 

plant to be permitted in thirty years which receive federal 

funding or federal loan guarantees. 

• President Obama’s appointees to the National Labor Relations 

Board (NLRB) are taking steps to level the playing 

field for workers who want to exercise their rights in the 

workplace. One of those appointees is Richard Griffin, former 

General Counsel to the International Union of Operating 

Engineers. 

• The Obama Administration dramatically stepped up 

enforcement by OSHA to protect worker safety and the 

Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor increased 

enforcement and compliance activity to protect 

worker safety, wages, and working conditions. 

Governor Mitt Romney, the presumptive 

Republican Party nominee for President in 2012, 

received his undergraduate degree from Brigham 

Young University and both his law degree and MBA 

from Harvard University. After graduating from 

Harvard, Romney immediately began his career in 

business consulting and the financial sector. 

Romney made his huge personal fortune working 

at Bain Capital, a venture capital firm. His estimated 

net worth is $190 to $250 million, according to his 

2010 tax returns. Over the years Romney has failed 

to disclose many of the details about his financial 

holdings, including the family’s possession of a Swiss 

bank account and other investments in low-tax havens, 

like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, which are used 

by wealthy people to avoid or reduce their fair share of 

taxes. 

Bain Capital and “Vulture Capitalism” 

Bain Capital often maximized returns for Romney 

and other investors by firing workers, seeking 

government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly 

for large profits. Sometimes Bain investors gained 

profits even when companies slid into bankruptcy. 

In 1992, Bain acquired Ampad, a company in 

Indiana. Two years later they fired all 258 of their 

employees, allowing most of them to reapply for their 

jobs at reduced wages and benefits. In early 1995, the 

company demanded more concessions from the union 

at their Marion, Indiana plant. When the employees 

refused and went on strike, the company closed the 

plant and laid-off all of its 240 workers. 

GSI Industries, another company acquired by Bain 

Capital, eventually went bankrupt and more than 

700 workers were laid off—losing not only their jobs, 

but health insurance, severance and a chunk of their 

pension benefits. The partners at Bain Capital made a 

100% gain on their investment. 

During the Republican presidential primaries, 

Governor Rick Perry of Texas called this brand of 

economics “vulture capitalism,” as Bain would pick at 

the bones of companies that they would help kill. 

Mitt Romney supports political and economic 

policies that weaken unions, hurt working people, and 

muzzle workers’ voices on the job. 

Mitt Romney on Union Issues 

• Supports a National Right to Work Law — “Right to 

work is the right way to go and I’d like to see it at the 

national level.” (Detroit Free Press, 2/19/12) 

• Vows to Repeal Davis-Bacon Act Prevailing Wages “If 

I become President…I will fight to repeal Davis-Bacon!” 

(Speech to the Associated Builders and Contractors, Phoenix, AZ 

(3/7/12) 

• Will Prohibit Project Labor Agreements — “If I become 

President, on day one I will end government’s 

favoritism towards unions and contracting on federal 

projects and end Project Labor Agreements.” (Speech to 

the Associated Builders and Contractors, Phoenix, AZ (3/7/12) 

• Wants to Eliminate the National Labor Relations 

Board — “The National Labor Relations Board is now 

be perfect, but President Obama has worked hard in 

the face of great challenges and accomplished many 

good things for operating engineers and other working 

people in this country. 

President Obama has earned the endorsement 

of the IUOE, AFL-CIO, the Building & Construction 

Trades Department and other major unions. 

Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters 

Workers’ Rights 

• The President took many important steps administratively 

to protect workers’ rights, like prohibiting federal 

contractors from using government funds to block union 

organizing; requiring federal contractors to post a notice 

informing workers of their right to form and join unions; 

and guaranteeing that workers can keep their jobs when 

a federal contract for services changes hands. 

stacked with union stooges selected by the President.” 

(The Hill, 1/5/12) Richard Griffin, the former General Counsel 

to the IUOE, is a member of the National Labor Relations 

Board. 

• Romney has been endorsed by the Associated Builders 

and Contractors (ABC) — the largest anti-union 

contractor association in the country. 

Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP 

14 



Election 2012: Special Series 

“I believe our economy is 

stronger when workers are 

getting paid good wages and 

good benefits.” 

“Because the right to 

organize and negotiate a fair 

pay for hard work should be 

the right of every American 

– from the CEO in the corner 

office to the worker in the 

hard hat who built that office.” 

“One of the first things I’ll 

do —actually on day one—is 

I will end the government’s 

favoritism towards unions in 

contracting on federal projects 

and end project labor 

agreements, and I will fight 

to repeal the Davis-Bacon 

Act.” 

“And I will fight for right-towork 

laws.” 

Quote: President Barack Obama speaking to 

delegates at the Building & Construction Trades 

Department, AFL-CIO conference on April 30, 

2012. Photo: Emily Johnson 

Quote: Republican Presidential nominee Mitt 

Romney speaking to delegates at the Associated 

Builders & Contractors convention on 

February 22, 2012. Photo: Paul Sancya/AP 

16 



Feature 

Operators Going Underground in SFO 

Transbay Terminal is largest drill-shaft project in North America 

The Transbay Transit Center project in downtown 

San Francisco is referred to as the West Coast’s “Grand 

Central Station.” The $4 billion project will replace the 

old terminal at First and Mission streets with a new hub, 

connecting eight counties through ten transit systems. 

However, the underground aspect of the project has 

remained somewhat of a mystery. 

Extending Caltrain and California High-Speed Rail 

underground into the new center presents more than 

a few engineering challenges, since the terminal will 

be built five stories below ground, with trains running 

below the massive 50-story Millennium Building, home 

to San Francisco’s rich and famous. 

To protect the integrity of the well-known highrise, 

Becho, Inc., a Local 3 signatory that specializes in 

foundation work, was called in to maximize time and 

space and minimize disruption to the jobsite and area 

residents. 

“We are basically taking the existing earth soil and 

replacing it with concrete,” said Becho Project Manager 

Rusty Lucido, son 

of former company 

owner Lou Lucido 

(1979-2011) and 

brother of one of 

the project’s crane 

operators, Anthony 

Lucido. 

255 feet (50,000 linear feet), 7 feet at a time. The 30 

crewmembers must drill 207 shafts, starting 60 feet 

below ground, using four rotators and three Liebherr 

cranes. The casings are 2,200 millimeters in diameter, 

weigh 30,000 pounds each and are bolted together 

in 25-foot-long sections for a total weight of 330,000 

pounds. But the astounding specifications don’t stop 

there. The shafts actually overlap 12 inches to keep 

material from compromising the shoring wall, and 33 

of the shafts along the front and back row of the wall 

include 70,000-pound rebar cages. 

If these figures aren’t daunting enough, consider 

the actual process, which is an engineering marvel all 

its own. The crane places the casing in a rotator, while 

acting as a counter-weight. The rotator then uses 5.5 

million pounds of torque to screw and rotate the casing 

as hydraulic jacks pull the casing into the earth. During 

the rotation, the crane uses a clamshell attachment to 

grab the dirt out of the middle of the casing, so casings 

are installed and material is excavated at the same time. 

Eventually, the casings are pulled up and concrete is 

pumped underground to replace the extracted material. 

To do this, Becho 

must slowly excavate 

[left] 

Crane Operator Mark Powell 

and Darren Crawford 

(on manlift) add a section 

of tremie pipe for the 

concrete pour. 

Photo: Dominique Beilke 

[right] 

Artist rendition of Transbay 

Terminal. 

Illustration: Transbay Joint 

Powers Authority 

18 



In other words, there’s a lot going on at this small 

plot of land behind the Millennium Building, called 

the “sandbox,” and there’s even more going on below 

ground. 

As crews drill, they run into water, concrete, metal 

– obstructions left over from the old terminal and ancient 

reminders of the Bay Area’s past. Operators cannot 

overlap the casings if the concrete is too hard or too 

soft, so the concrete must continuously be tested. They 

must also constantly turn the rotators so that too much 

pressure doesn’t cause them to seize. 

The crew is also working on a tight deadline. Because 

of strict noise-impact restrictions, most of the 

work must be done during the day. Still, crews work six 

days a week, 24 hours a day, taking only Christmas off, 

and even then, someone has to come in to turn the rotators. 

In spite of a grueling schedule, when the project is 

completed next April, members will be masters of a special 

line of work that only a limited number of operators 

can perform. “This is the largest drill-shaft contract in 

North America,” said Rusty Lucido. This job will literally 

put these operators on the map – and they know it. 

They are perfecting a new frontier of shoring, and 

they are doing it well. The drilled shafts are tested every 

10 feet for deviation, and the project specifications 

consider up to 12 inches out of verticality as acceptable. 

These operators have been off verticality an average of 

just 2 inches and have gotten a reading as good as 0.3 

inches in 255 feet! 

“That’s unbelievable,” said Local 3 Vice President 

Carl Goff, who toured the job with Local 3 Recording 

Corresponding Secretary Jim Sullivan in late April. Sullivan 

worked for Becho from 1982-1987 in Utah. Both 

officers were amazed at the different 

soil conditions and debris 

the members drill through – more 

than 77,000 gallons of water per 

shaft – and the precision they do 

it with. 

The crew is a mix of young and 

old, some local and some out-ofstate, 

and though they are tired, 

they are happy. They are making 

good money with no time to 

spend it and see themselves like 

family. They work together, live 

together and when time allows, 

they play together. 

“Becho is the best company 

there is,” said Chris Howells, who 

has been with the company for 33 

years. “Operators’ kids grew up with us, and now they 

are operators – more like a family.” 

The company really is family for 22-year-old Crane 

Operator Anthony Lucido, who has worked for his dad 

since high school. “It’s awesome. I love it,” he said. “We 

have a lot going on here – so fast, so big; it’s like playing 

football, the Super Bowl of drilling.” 

For Lead Mechanic Jason Handlen, his decision to 

get on a plane from Washington and join Becho “was a 

life-changing flight.” Since the equipment he services 

is so rare and designed out of the country, he has had to 

perfect a “learn-as-you-go system,” and his skills have 

proven invaluable to the project’s success. 

In 1979, Lou Lucido started Becho with $300 and a 

pick-up truck. He could never have imagined that almost 

35 years later, his company would be working on 

a $50 million project for a nationally known terminal. 

“Becho packs a big punch,” said night-shift Supervisor 

Frank Prosser. 

Article: Mandy McMillen 

[left] 

Balfour Beatty Operator Ronnie Blankinship assists Becho by 

removing spoils. 

[above] 

From left: Apprentice Ashleigh Hodoh, Rec. Corres. Secretary Jim 

Sullivan and Vice President Carl Goff. 

[right] 

Crane Operator Anthony Lucido extracts material from a shaft. 

Photos: Dominique Beilke 

20 



‘Right to work’ is wrong for everyone 

Measures’ biggest impact is to reduce wages and workers’ voice 

IN TODAY’S ECONOMY, with high 

unemployment and even higher underemployment, 

who wouldn’t want the 

“right to work”? Put another way, the 

right to work at good jobs is really what 

the country needs to continue down 

the path to economic recovery. So what 

does that necessity—more good jobs— 

have to do with so-called right-to-work 

laws that are popping up in state legislatures 

around the country? Almost 

nothing, although you wouldn’t know 

it from all the fantastic claims made by 

the well-funded backers of this legislation. 

“Right to work” has a nice feel-good 

ring, but that obscures what it means 

in practice. The basic thing to 

realize is that right to work is not 

about worker freedom, competitive 

business climates, fairness or 

any other lofty claims. It is really 

about limiting workers’ collective 

voices and driving down wages; in 

other words, it ultimately hurts the 

middle class. 

Right-to-work laws date back to 

the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments 

to the National Labor Relations Act. 

Taft-Hartley allowed states to make 

it illegal for unions and employers to 

bargain agreements that required all 

workers represented by a union to pay 

dues. Since then, 23 states (including 

Indiana last year) have passed such 

laws. However, that doesn’t release the 

union from its legal requirement to 

represent all workers, whether they pay 

dues or not. 

There is plenty of disagreement 

on the impact of right-to-work legisltion 

on a state’s economy. (More on 

that shortly.) But one clear result is 

that such laws lead to lower rates of 

unionization. With a weaker collective 

voice, it becomes that much harder for 

workers to bargain effectively and bring 

more balance to labor-management relations 

that are already stacked against 

them. 

IUOE Local 49 in Minnesota used 

22 


the analogy of a “right-to-work-out” 

law to explain how ridiculous this is: 

Such a law, they noted, would prevent 

health clubs from forcing people to 

pay dues or membership fees to use 

the equipment, services and facilities. 

Gyms and health clubs would have 

to admit everybody, even those who 

never paid a cent. In other words, 

“right-to-work-out” laws would allow 

everybody to get all the benefits of 

health club membership absolutely 

free! How cool is that? 

No evidence for ‘right to work’ 

Aside from the inherent unfairness 

of right-to-work laws, there’s ample research 

on how bad they are for workers 

Right-to-work 

and the broader economy. To site just a 

few examples: Workers in right-to-work 

states earn about $1,500 less per year 

than workers in other states; they are 

less likely to be covered by employersponsored 

health insurance or pensions; 

and their workplaces have higher 

rates of death and injury. For every 

$1 million decline in workers’ wages, 

six jobs are lost, according to research 

from the Economic Policy Institute. 

In a report done for EPI, economist 

Gordon Lafer wrote: “In Indiana 

and elsewhere, large sums of money 

have been devoted to backing RTW 

bills, with lobbyists claiming that RTW 

significantly improves both the number 

of jobs in a state and the wages people 

earn because companies that had 

avoided the state will flock there. The 

evidence shows that these claims are 

completely without scientific founda- 

tion.” Other recent studies reach the 

same conclusion. 

Research by Lafer and Sylvia Allegretto 

about Oklahoma, which in 

2001 became the first state in 25 years 

to adopt a right-to-work law, found “no 

significant positive impact whatsoever 

on employment.” In fact, they found, 

both the number of companies relocating 

to Oklahoma and the total number 

of manufacturing jobs in the state 

fell by about a third after the law was 

passed. 

The idea that right-to-work laws are 

needed to protect workers’ rights is 

also misguided. Our opponents don’t 

like to acknowledge it, but unions are 

democratic organizations. If the 

members don’t like the way things 

are going, they can elect new leaders, 

vote down contracts and even 

opt to decertify. No one can be required 

to join a union or pay dues 

to support causes they disagree 

with. Yet, unions still provide free 

representation, even for members 

who haven’t paid dues. 

The same can’t be said of the 

Chamber of Commerce, one of 

the most aggressive backers of the 

right-to-work notion. The chamber 

would, and has, refused to serve the 

interests of companies that don’t pay 

membership dues. 

When an employer in Kentucky 

asked if it could maintain its membership 

without paying dues, the Owensboro 

chamber replied: “It would be 

against chamber by-laws and policy to 

consider any organization or business a 

member without dues being paid. The 

vast majority of the chamber’s annual 

revenues come from member dues, 

and it would be unfair to the other 

members to allow an organization not 

paying dues to be included in member 

benefits.” That’s probably not something 

you’ll hear them say when they 

are pushing Republican-controlled legislatures 

to jump on the right-to-work 

bandwagon. 

Article: American Teacher (May/June 2012) 

© American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO 

Reprinted with permission 

False Claims, False Promises: Why “Right to Work” Is Wrong for Everyone 

Across the country, workers are facing a barrage of legislative attacks on their rights to form unions and bargain 

collectively, including so-called right-to-work legislation. Right-to-work laws make it optional for workers covered 

by a union contract to help pay for the expenses that the union incurs while protecting the rights of all employees. 

Contrary to claims from its supporters, right to work offers no protection or economic benefits for workers. In fact, 

studies show that these deceptively titled laws drive down wages, benefits, and overall living standards for everyone. 

And research reveals that right-to-work laws do not create jobs or improve a state’s business climate. 

Read on to learn why right to work is wrong for workers, businesses, and our economy. 

Wrong for workers 

These laws drive down wages for all workers, including non-union 

members, women, and people of color. Workers living in right-towork 

states earn about $1,500 less per year than workers in states 

without these laws. The wage penalty is even higher for women and 

workers of color. 

www.epi.org/publication/bp299 

Workers in right-to-work states are less likely to have health 

insurance. The rate of employer-sponsored health insurance for 

workers in right-to-work states is 2.6 percentage points lower than in 

states without these restrictions. 

www.epi.org/publication/bp299 

Right to work makes workplaces more dangerous. According to 

data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths 

is 52.9 percent higher in right-to-work states. 

www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/upload/dotj_2010.pdf 

Wrong for businesses 

Right-to-work laws do not improve business conditions in states. 

www.bepress.com/rle/vol5/iss1/art25 

Right to work is not a deciding factor in where businesses locate. 

www.areadevelopment.com/AnnualReports/jan2011/25th-annual-corporate-executivesurvey48843.shtml 

High-tech companies that provide good-paying, American jobs 

favor states where unions have a strong presence, because unions 

provide a highly skilled workforce and decrease turnover. 

www.itif.org/files/2010-state-new-economy-index.pdf 

For more on right-to-work laws and to download 

the flyer above, visit www.wrongforeveryone.com 

Wrong for the economy 

Communities lose jobs when wages are lowered by right to work. 

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that for every $1 million in 

wage cuts, the local economy sheds six jobs. 

www.epi.org/publication/working-hard-indiana-bad-tortured-uphill 

Right to work does not improve the employment rate. In fact, eight 

of the 12 states with the highest unemployment have right-to-work 

laws. 

www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm 

According to a report from Ohio University, these laws actually led to 

a decrease in employment in certain industries. 

econpapers.repec.org/article/sejancoec/v_3a73_3a2_3ay_3a2006_3ap_3a402-418.htm 

Right-to-work proponents are wrong 

Right-to-work supporters falsely claim that right to work protects 

workers who don’t want to join a union or disagree with a union’s 

politics. But federal labor law already protects workers who don’t 

want to join a union or make political contributions. 

Right to work’s true purpose is to hurt the ability of unions to advocate 

for all workers and serve as a check on corporate greed. 

Learn more about right to work and get involved at 

www.wrongforeveryone.com. 


protect your right to vote 

International Union of Operating Engineers 

1125 17 th Street, NW 


NON PROFIT ORG 

US POSTAGE 

PAID 

KELLY PRESS, INC. 

Are You 

Registered 

to Vote? 

Printed in the U.S.A. 

Are You Sure? 

Sometimes people have their names purged from the voter list by mistake and 

are not informed. Sometimes county clerk’s offices make clerical errors. If this 

happens to you, your ability to vote this year could be compromised. 

If you have any doubts, we recommend that you re-register to vote. 

For more information, contact your IUOE local office or visit: 

www.nonprofitvote.org 

International Union of Operating Engineers, AFL-CIO 

24 


25 international operating engineer

Operating Engineer - Summer 2012

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