125 Years Strong – An IUOE History

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS
Canada beginning in January. Nationwide
responses to the outbreak included prohibition
and cancellation of large-scale gatherings, stayat-home
orders and school closures.
The union operating engineers in the United
States and Canada were likewise adversely
affected by the impact of the pandemic. By
March in the I.U.O.E. northeast region, for
example, many states had taken dramatic steps
to curtail the spread of the virus, and the State of
Pennsylvania shut down construction entirely.
Notably, work on the new, $6-billion Shell
Oil Company Pennsylvania Petrochemicals
Complex, an ethylene cracker plant in Potter
Township, Pennsylvania, was stopped, affecting
the employment of over 500 I.U.O.E. members,
and on March 15, the City of Boston shut down
all construction projects, idling a large number
of members in that area. The union’s stationary
locals in the northeast were seriously affected as
well, as many universities in which they were
employed closed and, therefore, required only
minimal on-site staffing.
Members of I.U.O.E. Local No. 132 of Charleston,
West Virginia, employed by Blue Flame Pipeline work
on a project in Middlebourne, West Virginia, in 2019.
The virus also had a major impact on locals
throughout Canada, as most had closed their
offices by March 2020 and their business
representatives and staff were working remotely.
Meanwhile, construction sites around the
country were operating at reduced capacities as
the result of new government regulations and
safety protocols.
By April, after Washington, D.C., city officials
ordered certain businesses to close, much of the
I.U.O.E. international staff was also working
remotely. As the pandemic persisted, by June
the entire Construction Department was
working at full capacity off site as the result
of stay-at-home mandates put in place to curb
COVID-19.
However, the I.U.O.E. did respond to
the crisis to help address the needs of its
membership. During a special meeting on
April 27 held via teleconference, for instance,
the union’s Executive Board, noting that the
nationwide shortage of personal protective
As they each wear a face covering to help protect against the COVID-19 coronavirus during the worldwide COVID-19
pandemic, Outreach Coordinator John Hartwell (left) of I.U.O.E. Local No. 324 in Michigan gives instructions on
operating an autonomous spyder crane to three Detroit Workforce of the Future participants during an event for the
union-sponsored pre-apprenticeship program for high-school students at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on July 21, 2020.
masks was “of major concern,” approved
funding for purchasing masks for all locals’
staff and members.
Meanwhile, the union’s Stationary
Department coordinated with the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
to create a virus response training resource
for members. The PowerPoint demonstrating
the response training specific to the I.U.O.E.
was presented via webinar on April 13, 2020,
with over 100 I.U.O.E. leaders attending.
Two additional webinars focusing on helping
members to cope with stress and hardship
during the pandemic were presented on April
27 and May 11.
The COVID-19 pandemic continued
throughout the year and into 2021, taking
hundreds of thousands of lives across the globe,
including several I.U.O.E. members and retirees
throughout North America. Employment for
the union’s operating engineers did improve,
however; in its western region, for example,
overall man hours for hoisting & portable locals
were near normal for the fall season, although
work for stationary locals was still down as a
result of the disease.
Subsequently, Western Regional Director
Derek Donley expressed the uncertainty of the
times, even as employment conditions seemed
to be improving, during the General Executive
Board meeting of October 8, 2020, when he
concluded his report by stating, “The overall
work picture is up in the air as the nation
continues to battle this health crisis.”
In 2021, as the I.U.O.E. approaches the 125th
anniversary of its founding and, along with the
entire world, continues the fight against the
pandemic, the union remains a diversified trade
organization that represents operating engineers
working as heavy equipment operators,
mechanics and surveyors in the construction
industry and stationary engineers who work
in operations and maintenance in building
and industrial complexes. The I.U.O.E. also
represents nurses and other health industry
workers, public employees in a wide variety of
occupations, and a number of job classifications
in the petrochemical industry.
With its focus squarely on the well-being of
all those members, the union is committed to
fostering its training, organizing and memberwelfare
programs. As such, the I.U.O.E. is wellprepared
to progress beyond the pandemic and
all other challenges – as it always has – and into
its next 125 years.
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