L-154 BM Ray Ventrone accepts the first C.W. Jones MOST award. L. to r., IP Newton B. Jones, Ventrone, D-BHPD Charles A. Jones, and MOST Administrator Bill Palmisano.
MOST conference honors lodge for training performance
THE FIRST-EVER Charles W. Jones Award for high performance in MOST programs went to Local 154 (Pittsburgh) during a presentation at the 26th annual MOST tripartite conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Oct. 5. L-154 BM Ray Ventrone accepted the honor on behalf of the lodge.
The award is named after the late Boilermakers' International President Emeritus, who passed away in 2010 after a remarkable career with the Boilermakers spanning more than 60 years. C. W. Jones led the effort to establish the national MOST labor-management trust fund in 1989 and vigorously pushed its expansion over the years. MOST stands for Mobilization, Optimization, Stabilization, and Training. It is the premier safety and training fund in the building and construction trades industry and includes 17 distinct programs to ensure manpower availability, safe work practices, and skills training. The Boilermakers union and the National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers (NACBE) are the founding organizations and share equally in its operation and management.
The Charles W. Jones Award is a statue depicting a 1930s-era Boilermaker holding a rivet gun. The first award is the prototype statue, made from multiple layers of powdered stainless steel and metal coatings. Molds will be made from the prototype, and future statues will be cast in silicon bronze. IP Newton B. Jones and D-BHPD Charles A. Jones jointly developed the concept for the statue.
Criteria for future awards will be based on local lodge performance across seven MOST programs: OSHA 10/30, Common Arc welding certification, substance abuse testing, scaffolding, steel erection, rigging, and leadership.
