May 16, 2012

Hello, everybody! Well, I have to admit, I’m relieved that the nominations are over now. Boy, were there ever a lot of people at the meeting! In fact, there were more people  there on Monday night than I can remember in 15 or 20 years. So I’m guessing that at least half of us have never seen that many folks at 10^th and Harrison. So, like I’ve said many times now, if nothing else it shows that everybody is interested and everyone cares what happens.

As I sat inside the hall, before, during and after the meeting, I was struck by a fact that sometimes I forget, and that is that every single one of us that were at the meeting share a deep, deep bond. Sure, there are plenty of personalities that clash, as you would expect in such a group, and there will always be a few of us who don’t get along on an individual basis, but the bottom line is that we are all brother Ironworkers. And as brothers (and sisters) we share one common denominator: we need our local, and our international, to thrive and to be strong, in order for us as individuals to thrive.

Not only do we need the Ironworkers to remain strong, and to get much stronger, but we need for all unions to gain members and market share. We cannot be out here on an island, trying to fight off the Republican attacks on organized labor. That means that we have to do everything in our power to get things turned around.  That means that our membership needs to be much more active politically, at the national level, yes, but maybe even more importantly, at our state, county and city levels. We need to communicate to our friends and neighbors the importance of unions and work to change public perception. And, perhaps most importantly, we need to be the best at what we do. We have to be the best trained, the most skilled and the most productive workers that there are.

Albert Einstein said that a problem cannot be solved from the same consciousness from which it was created. That means that we have to change with the times. Blueprints aren’t really blueprints anymore, they are drawn by computers. We pull out our phones and take pictures of the problems on our jobs and email them to engineers for solutions. We abate lead paint, rather than weld and burn through it. No company could be competitive and stay in business by trying to hold on to their antiquated methods because “we’ve always done it this way.” As a union we cannot afford to do that either, or we will become extinct.

Challenges await us at every turn of the road, and I think that I, Jimbo Riley, and those we have asked to run for office with us, can, with your help, meet those challenges. The work ethic that we have shown on the job will be the same work ethic that we bring to elected office. We will work tirelessly for you and with you to make the Ironworkers grow and thrive, today and in the future.

May 1, 2012

“If we keep doing what we’re doing, we will keep getting what we’re getting.”

“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

“Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

Membership in the Ironworkers peaked in 1980-81 at around 181,000 members. Our membership now is around 121,000 which is the lowest it has been since about 1950. Union membership overall was around 28% in 1979 when Jimbo Riley and I began our apprenticeship. Today it is around 8%. We’re losing work to non-union companies, and we are losing the battle of public opinion. Whatever we have been doing has not been working. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll keep getting what we’re getting.”

How are we going to turn this trend around? It is going to take a lot of work, that’s for sure. I believe that we can do it, but it is not going to be easy. And I know one thing for sure; the elected officials of our local cannot change things alone. Whether those officials are the ones currently in office or whether it’s the newly elected (I hope) officers, it is not fair to expect change to come only from them. Real change starts with the members and works its way up. We can no longer afford for our members to be apathetic. If we do not take part in the decisions and direction of our local, and of all unions, we will surely lose out.

I believe that our local is ready to do things differently. I believe that our membership is ready to step up and to become active and to have their voices heard. I hope that if there is nothing else at all that comes from this year’s election, if I and those around me are unsuccessful in our bids for elected office, I hope that this is the beginning of an era when the men and women of our local become active once again. I hope that they press their elected officers to listen, and if they don’t, I hope they raise hell with them. I hope that there will never, ever be another uncontested election. Our elections are our right in a democratic brotherhood. From this June forward, every three years, let’s exercise that right.