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 - 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. POSTMASTERS – ATTENTION: Change of address on Form 3579 should be sent to: International Operating Engineer Mailing List Dept. 1125 17th St., NW, 3rd Floor Washington, DC 20036 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40843045 Canada Post: Return undeliverables to P.O. Box 2601, 6915 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A9 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 Russell E. Burns, First Vice President James M. Sweeney, Second Vice President Robert T. Heenan, Third Vice President Daniel J. McGraw, Fourth Vice President Daren Konopaski, Fifth Vice President Michael Gallagher, Sixth Vice President Greg Lalevee, Seventh Vice President Terrance E. McGowan, Eighth Vice President Randy Griffin, Ninth Vice President Douglas W. Stockwell, Tenth Vice President Ronald J. Sikorski, Eleventh Vice President James T. Kunz, Jr., Twelfth Vice President Edward J. Curly, Thirteenth Vice President Charlie Singletary, Fourteenth Vice President Got Big News ? from Your Local We want to hear about it. trustees Kuba J. Brown, Chairman Brian Cochrane, Trustee William Lynn, Trustee Joshua VanDyke, Trustee Barton Florence, 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 HAPPY NEW YEAR, Brothers and Sisters. I hope you all had a safe and joyous holiday season. The state of our great organization is strong and growing stronger every day. I am proud to announce that at the close of 2018, our International membership has grown to 395,000 members. That marks a nearly 10 percent increase from the economic downturn we endured a decade ago. This growth is no accident. The diligence and hard work of our organizers at the Local and International levels has been critical to steady growth across the board. By visiting worksites, holding off-hour meetings, and making thousands of home visits, they have introduced our union to a new generation of Operating Engineer. Those efforts will continue as we rise to meet demand. And IUOE members are in demand like never before. Our contractors have increased their hiring for qualified Operating and Stationary Engineers and our Locals have answered the call with the safest, most efficient hands in the business. Our high training standards make IUOE members the first choice among owners, contractors and building management companies. Those skills and knowledge have been taught through our network of first-class Local training programs, and now expanded through courses at your International Training Center. There is a reason that Operating Engineers are sought by every major contractor and facility owner throughout North America. That reason is quality. Any honest owner will tell you that they prefer the best-trained individual operating or maintaining their multimillion dollar investment. And hands down, those individuals are always Operating Engineers. Our skills are in high demand in both Canada and the United States, but we still face serious threats to our livelihoods. The latest came via a thoughtless government shutdown that affected more than a million federal employees and contract workers, including scores of Operating Engineers. Although direct employees will receive back pay, contract employees who were locked out of work have not received the same guarantees. We will continue to fight until Congress and the White House provide back pay to every single worker and contractor who was forced to go 35 days without a paycheck. IUOE members in Canada will also be keeping an eye on politics this year. A Federal election is scheduled for October, and our locals will once again work to mobilize members in every Province to elect a pro-worker majority government. Four years ago, we ramped up our political activities to help elect a proworker, pro-infrastructure Prime Minister. Since then, our activism at the Federal level has helped bring back worker protections and strengthen collective bargaining rights. We pressed for more energy infrastructure and supported the Government’s purchase of a major pipeline project that was about to be abandoned by the private sector. We also engaged the Government on several major trade deals to protect our jurisdiction. Whether we like it or not, elections matter and have a major impact on job creation, fair wages and our rights to organize and bargain collectively for Operating Engineers everywhere. We must continue to engage on every front to keep our momentum going. [James T. Callahan] The improved economy and increasing demand for skilled Operating Engineers are creating opportunities to capture an even greater market share. In addition to prioritizing new organizing, we will continue to work closely with Helmets to Hardhats to offer our veterans an opportunity to enter our trade. We have also stepped up our outreach and commitment to boosting the number of women in our trade. For many years, we have supported the annual Women Building Nations conference, which is organized through the Building Trades. I am proud to announce that we are also developing our own group focused on women within the Operating Engineers. I have appointed Linda Hamilton from Local 132 to head up that effort. Linda is a 23-year member and currently the dispatcher for the local. She is constantly advocating for women in the trades and improving opportunities in our craft. We are honored to have her bring that commitment to the International level. Overall, our union is in the strongest position it has been in more than a decade. Work hours and job placements are up for H&P, Stationary and Pipeline hands. Our investments in training and organizing have scaled up to meet the high demand. Our great organization is poised to maximize our opportunities and conquer every challenge that lies ahead. Have a great year. Work safe. 4 INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER WINTER 2019 5
