International Operating Engineer - Fall 2015

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
Subscription Terms - $5 per year
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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should be sent to:
International Operating Engineer
Mailing List Dept.
1125 17th St., NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20036
Publications Mail Agreement No.
40843045
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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
Jerry Kalmar, First Vice President
Russell E. Burns, Second Vice President
James M. Sweeney, Third Vice President
Robert T. Heenan, Fourth Vice President
Daniel J. McGraw, Fifth Vice President
Daren Konopaski, Sixth Vice President
Michael Gallagher, Seventh Vice President
Greg Lalevee, Eighth Vice President
Terrance E. McGowan, Ninth Vice President
Louis G. Rasetta, Tenth Vice President
Mark Maierle, Eleventh Vice President
Randy Griffin, Twelfth Vice President
Douglas W. Stockwell, Thirteenth Vice President
Ronald J. Sikorski, Fourteenth Vice President
trustees
Kuba J. Brown, Chairman
Bruce Moffatt, Trustee
James T. Kunz, Jr., Trustee
Joseph F. Shanahan, Trustee
Edward J. Curly, Trustee
RETIREMENT
Local 12 Business Manager and 1st International
Vice President William “Bill” C. Waggoner
announced his retirement this summer after a
long and accomplished career.
Waggoner began his career with the Operating
Engineers in 1951. He was elected Business
Manager of Local 12 in 1976 and has served as an
International Vice President since 1980.
Waggoner is highly regarded as a dedicated
union leader and tough negotiator. He also held
leadership positions with the California Labor
Federation and California Building Trades Council.
From the General President
Growing from the Grassroots
Local worker activism the key to future success
As the year comes to a close, we
continue to see encouraging signs that
we are regaining the ground lost in the
Great Recession. Our Stationary and
H&P locals have reported that work
hours and job placements are up for
the year.
Through their hard work, this has
translated into more fruitful organizing
opportunities. All of these metrics
are signs that the IUOE is growing our
membership back to where we were
before the recession hit us seven years
ago.
We have experienced this
resurgence despite a political climate
that is very hostile towards labor unions
and the middle-class. Conservative
politicians wrongly believe that the
sacrifices necessary to heal the wounds
of failed budgeting and the financial
collapse on Wall Street should be borne
on the backs of middle-class workers.
Labor’s detractors have seized this
opportunity to strip basic rights and
benefits of working people and to
silence our voices at the workplace and
in the voting booth.
Well, I say enough is enough! We
must begin to take back our future
from those who look no further than
their next Super Pac check and who
have forgotten what it means to pay a
mortgage, raise and educate kids, and
provide healthcare for their families.
We must affect change by becoming
more active and more vocal on the local
level. We must utilize our strengths
in a grassroots campaign, beginning
in each and every one of our own
backyards. We need to start electing
more union members to school boards,
as mayors, county commissioners, and
state legislators—all the way up to the
Governor in each and every state.
Look at the recent successes
building trades candidates have had in
places like Boston, Chicago, St. Louis,
Kansas City, New Jersey, and all across
the country, who made preserving
middle-class jobs and the rights of
workers their top priorities and won.
Each year, school boards across
the country make decisions awarding
millions in local tax dollars towards
capital construction projects. These
decisions directly affect building
trades work. It only makes sense that a
member from the Operating Engineers
should be party to the decision making
process.
It has been said that today’s county
clerk can very well be tomorrow’s
governor. Often times my office has
been guilty of focusing primarily on the
big federal races—President, Senate
and Congress. Well, I’m here to tell you
that we plan to find a new balance and
bring a renewed focus to where we can
make a real difference for Operating
Engineers—in our hometown races
that influence where our people work
and live, and where our voice can be
heard over the influence of big money.
The strength of our membership
can be a powerful agent of change in
our communities and our country.
Today’s politicians know quite well
how many people vote in the district
they represent and which local issues
matter to them.
One only needs to look at the
tremendous victory our brothers and
sisters in Missouri recently had in
defeating anti-union legislation there.
So-called Right-to-Work, backed by
wealthy special interests, was turned
away because of grass-roots activity
by union members. Through personal
and sustained contact by our members
to their local elected officials, our
[James T. Callahan]
collective voice carried more weight
than the out-of-state billionaires.
Let’s continue to build on these
successes and become a force to be
reckoned with when it comes to labor
issues and how our tax dollars are
being spent on public construction and
school projects.
We can’t hold back the financial
onslaught of the billionaire, antiunion
funders by solely competing to
outspend through our treasuries. But
we can fight back and win with the
most powerful weapon we have—our
collective voice.
As your General President, I am
requesting that every member do a
few simple things to make us more
powerful as a union. Make sure that
you are up-to-date on your voter
registration, get your family registered
and then become a more visible and
active constituent in your community.
Attend a school board or city council
meeting. Meet a local legislator and let
them know what issues are important
to you as a union Operating Engineer.
We must all work together to take
back the power of policy making for
our future success.
Work safe and enjoy a holiday
season filled with friends and family.
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
FALL 2015 5