Operating Engineer - Fall 2014

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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Change of Address - Requests must
be submitted in writing to the IUOE
Membership Department (address
above). Include your new address,
registration and local union number.
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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
Patrick L. Sink, Second Vice President
Jerry Kalmar, Third Vice President
Russell E. Burns, Fourth Vice President
James M. Sweeney, Fifth Vice President
Robert T. Heenan, Sixth Vice President
Daniel J. McGraw, Seventh Vice President
Daren Konopaski, Eighth Vice President
Michael Gallagher, Ninth Vice President
Greg Lalevee, Tenth Vice President
Terrance E. McGowan, Eleventh Vice President
Louis G. Rasetta, Twelfth Vice President
Mark Maierle, Thirteenth Vice President
Randy Griffin, Fourteenth Vice President
Got Big
News
?
from Your
Local
We want to
hear about it.
trustees
Kuba J. Brown, Trustee
Bruce Moffatt, Trustee
James T. Kunz, Jr., Trustee
Joseph F. Shanahan, Trustee
International Operating Engineer
appreciates the stories and
photos we receive from
local affiliates throughout
North America. Send us your
submissions or ideas for stories
you would like us to consider.
Send your submissions, plus
photos (digital images are
preferred), to Jay Lederer
at jlederer@iuoe.org, or mail
1125 Seventeenth Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C., 20036
From the General President
A Union for All Seasons
In good times or bad, our bond is unbroken
ONCE AGAIN WE come to the close
of another year. It’s been a year where
the IUOE had an increase in man hours
and a steadily improving work outlook,
and for that I’m sure we are all grateful.
Projects large and small, public and
private throughout the United States
and Canada have begun to roar back to
life. In some regions, Locals have been
challenged to keep pace and meet the
demand for our skilled hands, but thus
far have met those needs successfully.
All would agree that these are good
problems to have, especially after the
darker days of the recent recession.
However, even in these improving
times, we must seize the opportunity
to increase our market share and grow
our membership. Failure to do so
risks ceding that ground to non-union
entities. We will not let that happen on
our watch.
Success will come by taking
advantage of our stellar training
programs offered through our Locals.
Members, no matter how long they
have been initiated, should look to
upgrade skills and be prepared to fill
the void created by the ever increasing
demand for our highly skilled, safety
conscience operators. Every member
should look to be an organizer and a
mentor to those who aspire to join our
ranks.
As I reported at the regional
conferences this summer, we have
systematically begun to recruit and
replace, mainly through attrition, a full
cadre of International Representatives
in the field and new department
heads at IUOE headquarters. These
individuals have hit the ground
running and are ready to assist
any Local throughout this great
organization. I am pleased to report
that these appointments have already
begun to improve our operations and
alter jurisdictional standings for the
IUOE. I wish to thank those Business
Managers who selflessly allowed me to
tap into the talent they have developed
and recommended to serve throughout
the regions.
I am truly excited and proud of the
team that we are building to protect
and serve the IUOE membership.
We can all do our part by being ever
watchful over the jurisdiction that our
predecessors have fought to maintain
and be ever mindful that we are all
stewards of this great organization.
We have all been charged with its
oversight and to deliver to our sons
and daughters a better station than we
found.
This year the International hosted
several well attended conferences
covering Legal, Political and Legislative,
and Healthcare issues. In addition, the
National Training Fund continued to
provide high quality offerings for H&P,
Stationary, Pipeline and Petro-Chem
instructors. These events, including an
upcoming International Rep training,
have enabled IUOE leaders and staff
to keep our organization firing on all
cylinders.
By the time this reaches you, the
results of the US mid-term elections
will have been tallied. Regardless of
the outcome, we will continue to find
ourselves fighting to maintain our rights
to bargain. The political environment
has turned hostile towards working
people and unions. We must stand
together and push back.
My message to every member is that
loyalty to your local union is now, more
than ever, paramount. If one thinks
back truthfully about what your Local
union offers to the well-being of all our
lives — not just fair wages, benefits and
safe working conditions — you find it’s
so much more. It’s the place where we
turn to at the best of times to enjoy the
friendships forged through common
[James T. Callahan]
struggles. More importantly, it is the
hand we seek during the tougher times
in our lives.
When a child or loved one falls
ill and when insurance limits have
been exhausted, it’s often the union
health & welfare trustees who find new
avenues to move mandated insurance
parameters. When one of our own falls,
it’s not only an earned death benefit,
but the union brotherhood who rallies
to emotionally and financially soften
the loss to a friend’s family.
Likewise, many of us have struggled
to put our children through college, only
to have them face insurmountable debt
when they graduate into a job market
that has little to offer. Fortunately, we
have had our local union to turn to. It’s
there that they get trained and referred,
and truly begin the process of achieving
their own American Dream, unlike the
empty promises of the diploma mills.
Make no mistake, we are in a real
fight to protect our way of life. I ask
each and every IUOE member to
reflect on where we would be if not
for our Local union. No matter what
our small differences may be, our
loyalty to the Local union and the
bond of brotherhood throughout the
International is what sustains us and
allows us to keep fighting, to keep
bargaining for all our futures.
Please have a safe and a joyous
Holiday Season.
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