125 Years Strong – An IUOE History

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS
I.U.O.E. HEROES SHINED,
PERISHED IN 9/11 ATTACKS
“Among the countless heroes of September 11,
2001, were the operating engineers at the World Trade
Center, the people responsible for the nuts and bolts of
the center’s air-conditioning, electrical systems, heating
and plumbing. Their jobs and their intimate knowledge
of the buildings meant that they were among the first
to respond when the first plane struck at 8:48 a.m.
“Some of the 40 engineers on hand that day
helped firefighters to attach hoses in the pump rooms.
Others rushed to inspect mechanical systems or assist
emergency medical teams. When the word came to
evacuate the building, many helped to get people out.”
– New York Times, May 29, 2005 (On the occasion of
the May 26 unveiling of the 9/11 Memorial Mural
at I.U.O.E. Local No. 94 of New York City.)
Members of the union’s National Hazmat
Project Emergency Response Team,
headquartered in Beckley, West Virginia, were
on the scene two days after the attack and
were critical to the safety and health of their
fellow members working at Ground Zero, as
well as workers from other crafts and agencies,
firefighters and police officers. The hazmat
team members set up a command post to
help monitor the air quality and to distribute
protective gear and respirators.
After visiting and inspecting the World Trade
Center site, General President Hanley sent an
impassioned message to the entire membership
in an article in the October-November 2001
International Operating Engineer:
“To observe our members at work is mesmerizing.
These operating engineers are doing this job because
they have a genuine desire to help in any way
they can, because they understand the loss and
anguish suffered by so many in this tragedy. They
are hardworking, selfless and dedicated people who
are giving their skills to get a gruesome job done
right because they care. They care deeply about the
victims, many of whom were family members, close
friends, union brothers and sisters.”
Seven brave I.U.O.E. members lost their lives in the September 11,
2001, (9/11) terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York
City after terrorists flew commercial airplanes into the center’s two
towers, causing them to collapse and taking the lives of 2,753 people,
including these members:
William Krukowski, Local No. 15
Fred Sheffold, Local No. 15
Vito DeLeo, Local No. 94
John Griffin Jr., Local No. 94
Charles Magee, Local No. 94
Dave Williams, Local No. 94
Vincent Danz, Local No. 138
International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger,
whose union lost 343 members during the attack, praised the I.U.O.E.
in remarks to over 300 delegates attending the open session of the
union’s General Executive Board meeting held November 9 and 10,
2001, saying “If it wasn't for I.U.O.E. members risking their lives in a
treacherous, unstable site, the fire fighters could not have made the
rescue and recovery efforts they did. It was your help, your caring that
allowed us to bring many of our brothers home in a dignified way. …
There are no greater group of heroes, no greater patriots than your
members and all union members working there.”
Shortly after the attack, each family of the seven I.U.O.E. victims was
provided with generous donations from the union’s International Disaster
Relief Fund to help them in their time of need.
New York City’ Local No. 94 also commissioned artist Cliff Miller to
create a mural to grace the outside wall of the local’s offices in Manhattan
to memorialize the local’s four members who perished when trying to
lead others to safety when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.
The group portrait was unveiled during a ceremony on May 26, 2005.
This mural, on display in a window of the I.U.O.E. Local
No. 94 union hall in Manhattan in New York City, depicts
members Brother John Griffin Jr., Brother Charles
Magee, Brother Vito DeLeo and Brother David Williams,
who were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attack on the
World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
locals No. 14 and No. 15 ran the heavy
equipment at the landfill site in Staten
Island where the debris from Ground Zero
was taken.
The I.U.O.E.-operated equipment
involved in the operation included some
20 cranes, one of which was a Manitowoc
21,000 with over 300 feet of boom and
a lift capacity of 1,000 tons and another
a Caterpillar 345 Ultra High excavator
with an 80-foot-long reach and shears that
could slice through steel beams. Union
survey engineers helped guide the work,
referring to the original blueprints from
when the complex was constructed in the
early 1970s to lessen the possibility of
further catastrophes while the debris was
being removed.
I.U.O.E. members and international officers on site to clean up the aftermath of the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.
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