‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Takes Sheet Metal Worker on Bow Hunt for Elk
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On this week’s episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” Lee Hengsteler, a member of Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 359 in Arizona, gets to realize a dream he’s had since he was 6 years old: He heads to Montana to hunt elk.
The show airs on the Sportsman Channel at 8 p.m. EST and PST every Thursday.
His bow hunting expedition was made possible when his wife, Neva, applied to the show on his behalf. Says Hengsteler:
People like me don’t win things like a guest shot on a nationally televised show, but Neva insisted on applying for me. I have one heck of a wife.
The award-winning “Brotherhood Outdoors,” Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing series pairs union members with renowned outdoorsman Tom Ackerman for a guided hunting or fishing trip in North America or the opportunity to show off their skills by taking Ackerman to their own favorite hunting or fishing sites.
You can click here to apply to be a guest on “Brotherhood Outdoors.” Says Hengsteler: Read the rest of this entry »
Sheet Metal Workers Go for the Gold Platinum
When it comes to actually implementing green technologies, the building trades unions are in the vanguard. In St. Louis, Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 36 is seeking the highest ranking, LEED Platinum, from the U.S. Green Building Council for the local’s new 95,000-square-foot headquarters and training center building. (LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.”)
The new building features 357 photovoltaic panels, which will provide most of its power, as well as toilets flushed by a rainwater-collecting system. The roof is planted with sedum, which reduces heating and cooling costs and filters airborne particulates. Three geothermal heat pump systems provide heat and air conditioning for the training center offices, while a fourth geothermal heat pump system “will be used in the classroom to teach future technicians how to maintain and install the emerging technology,” according to a statement issued by Local 36, whose building also houses the union’s International Training Institute for the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Industry (ITI).
Dan Andrews, training coordinator for Local 36, says the building’s value goes beyond its immediate environmental impact. In the Local 36 statement, he explains:
It’s a living lab. The building itself is a training entity. I walk people through the building to show them how a LEED building is built.
Sheet Metal Worker Hunts Mississippi Flyway for Waterfowl
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Tonight’s episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing television series, features Philadelphia Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 19 member Doug Bachman. The show airs at 8 p.m. EDT on the Sportsman Channel.
Tonight, Bachman and show host Tom Ackerman embark on a waterfowl hunt in the northwest Missouri portion of the Mississippi Flyway between Missouri’s Squaw Creek Wildlife Area and Smithville Lake.
Bachman says he heard about “Brotherhood Outdoors,” which gives union members the opportunity to join Ackerman for a quality outfitted North American trip of their choosing through the SMWIA’s magazine The Journal.
Bachman has been hunting and fishing since he was four years old when his grandfather began taking him on outdoor adventures.
ALPA’s Moak, AFT’s Johnson and SMWIA’s Nigro Named to AFL-CIO Executive Council
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The AFL-CIO Executive Council welcomed three new members today: Airline Pilots (ALPA) President Capt. Lee Moak, Lorretta Johnson, executive vice president of AFT and Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) President Joseph Nigro. The Council also honored three retiring members at its annual August meeting, held this year at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md.
Johnson chairs the AFT Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel program and policy council and started her career in 1966 as a teacher’s aide at a Baltimore elementary school. She served as president of the Baltimore Teachers Union’s paraprofessional chapter for 35 years.
Moak joined ALPA in 1988 and is a former Marine Corps fighter pilot and Delta Airlines B-767 300 ER captain. A 22-year veteran at Delta, he served three terms as the chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council (MEC), which represents the more than 12,000 Delta pilots. He was elected ALPA President in October.
Nigro comes to the Council after being elected SMWIA president July 1. He served his apprenticeship from 1969 until 1973 in Boston and held several offices in SMWIA Local 17 before beginning his tenure on the international level as assistant to the president in 1999. He was elected SMWIA secretary-treasurer in 2006.
Recently retired SMWIA President Michael Sullivan, former ALPA President Capt. John Prater, and AFT Vice President Laura Rico are retiring from the Council.
Sullivan, who led the SMWIA since 1999, “has gained a well-deserved reputation as both a progressive firebrand and an organizational problem-solver,” the Council said in a statement.
55 Students Graduate From National Labor College
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Bridget Benjamin was unemployed for the entire two years she attended the National Labor College (NLC) and wasn’t sure from day to day where the money was going to come from for tuition. Dennis Miller balanced a full-time job, a family of four and traveling across country for classes at NLC.
Despite these obstacles, Benjamin and Miller are now college graduates. Last weekend, they joined 53 other union members who received degrees during NLC’s 13th commencement.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka paid tribute to the graduates, saying:
Today, the labor movement confronts challenges everywhere we turn.
That’s why it’s important that we have graduates who understand the world that we live in and how to effectively respond to these challenges.
SMWIA President Sullivan Retires; Nigro to Assume Top Post
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Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) President Michael Sullivan will retire July 1 after leading his union for 12 years. Altogether, Sullivan served 28 years in the SMWIA national leadership, as secretary-treasurer and vice president before his election as president in 1999.
At the helm of SMWIA, Sullivan confronted difficult issues head-on. He brought the union’s National Pension Fund onto sounder financial footing. On the political stage, Sullivan strongly stood for accountability on the part of politicians—including those who are considered allies of working families. Sullivan also established strong relationships with employers and industry groups.
Transport Worker Wins Seidman Prize
The Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund has awarded its sixth annual Bert and Annabel Seidman Prize for Advancing Social Policy to National Labor College (NLC) student Gary Schaible. The prize, and its accompanying $3,000 honorarium, encourages NLC students to research and analyze social policies that affect the older population.
A member of the Transport Workers (TWU) from Lewisville, Texas, Schaible received the prize for his senior project entitled “Retirement? Not In This Lifetime: How Retirement for Aircraft Mechanics Is Becoming a Dream of the Past.” Runners-up were Craig von Collenberg, Carl Simons and Nicole Baker, all members of the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA).
Schaible’s paper discussed the ongoing struggle to secure a dignified retirement and addressed an issue to which every working American can relate. Specifically, he mentioned how easily defined-pension benefits and jobs can evaporate in this era of uncertainty.
Volunteers from Building Trades Rehab Homes for Those in Need
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AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer profiles the work of Building Trades union members in Sacramento repairing and rehabbing homes for seniors and low-income families.
The Sacramento Sierra’s Building and Construction Trades Council frequently fields requests for volunteer work. Recently, working with Rebuilding Together, an organization that rehabs houses for seniors and low-income homeowners, they took their skills to Del Paso Heights.
The council was initially approached by Sandy Sheedy, a Sacramento City Council member from the area. Sheedy is a longtime supporter of the labor community, and when she asked, they responded with a resounding, “Yes.” Says council Business Manager Matt Kelly:
The Building Trades are always happy and quick to participate in community service projects. Rebuilding Together gives our members the opportunity to use the skill sets they use at the job site every day to help those most in need.
The project involved a pair of homes with a variety of serious issues, including out-of-code electrical and mechanical problems, roofing, kitchen repairs and more.
Walker’s Wisconsin Bank Pals Can’t Hide from Workers
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This is a cross-post from Mary Bottari of the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch. Bottari reports on yesterday’s protest at a shareholders’ meeting of the Scott Walker-connected M&I Bank of Wisconsin. Be sure to check out the video from the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) on the demonstration here.
On Tuesday, the shareholders of Marshall and Ilsley (M&I) Bank of Wisconsin “voted” to give $71 million in bonuses to failed executives as part of an acquisition deal. “Voted” may not be the right word, since CEO Mark Furlong opened and closed the meeting within the span of five minutes, allowing no discussion and no questions from the dozen or so shareholders in the room. Furlong has apparently learned Robert’s Rules of Order from his friend Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the rest of the gang in the Wisconsin Capitol.
Furlong fled to New York City to get away from the Wisconsinites who had been badgering him with uncomfortable questions. Questions about those embarrassing bonuses, the $1.3 billion in unpaid TARP bailout funds, and the even more embarrassing $54,000 in campaign contributions to Wisconsin’s newly elected governor. Recently, the bank posted its 10th consecutive quarterly loss of $142 million. The bonuses alone would cover half this loss if they were retained. Read the rest of this entry »
Walker’s Attacks on Workers Creates Surge of Interest in Unions
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on workers’ freedom to bargain has spurred more workers to consider joining a union. In response to a surge of interest on the part of non-union sheet metal workers across Wisconsin, the Sheet Metal Workers’ (SMWIA) launched a new campaign this week to make Wisconsin Open for Workers again.
This renewed interest among private sector workers in joining a union comes in the wake of mass protests against Republican governors like Walker who want to blame and punish public employees for state budget shortfalls caused by Wall Street speculation.
An advertisement in today’s Wisconsin State Journal is the first in a series of opportunities SMWIA is providing for workers seeking to address their concerns at work. In addition, a new radio spot with information for interested workers is on the air across the Madison area. Both urge readers and listeners to call1- 866-210-4534 and/or visit www.wisconsinopenforworkers.org to take the first step towards forming a union.
Marc Norberg, a Wisconsin native and assistant to SMWIA President Michael Sullivan, says:
We are throwing a lifeline to working families in Wisconsin. Workers across Wisconsin, fed up with being scapegoated for the failures of their elected leaders and Wall Street, are taking matters into their own hands and are seeking union representation. People want dignity and respect at work, fair treatment, and the ability to provide for their family’s futures.
