Now is the time to recruit new members and organize new industries, contractors and employers. Now is the time to research new Boilermaker work opportunities and stay on the cutting edge of technology.
It is an honor and privilege to have been elected by the International Executive Council as the International President of our union, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve each and every member of this distinguished organization.
It is no secret that the past 18 months have not been pleasant for our union as we address the consequences of past mistakes. I want to reaffirm that the International Executive Council is continuing to work together as never before to ensure fiscal responsibility, foster transparency and make certain all Boilermakers are provided the service they so deserve. We have worked hard over the past months to implement new systems and accountability while focusing on new efforts to educate, recruit and organize, and we will continue to make necessary changes focused on service to members as our top priority.
But now is not the time for just words. Now is the time to press forward. Now is the time to recruit new members and organize new industries, contractors and employers. Now is the time to expand into new Boilermaker work opportunities and regain lost marketshare.
I am calling all Boilermakers to action. We need you to get involved. We need you to go to your union meetings and let your voices be heard—tell us what we can do to better serve you. Be the change you want to see in our union.
Every union Boilermaker needs to focus on recruiting and organizing. It is the duty of each and every Boilermaker to recruit and train two new members: one to replace you when you finally lay down the tools of your trade and enter into your well-deserved retirement, and another to grow the organization. Our union’s future and the future of our pensions depend on it.
Boilermakers are, and will remain, the most versatile, skilled and hard-working crafts-persons our nations have ever seen. The rich history of our union reminds us of how Boilermakers in the United States and Canada worked to expand our respective nations with steam locomotives and went on to power our nations with steam-generated electricity while building the largest fleets to supply and protect them. We will not let adversity stop us.
I will not promise the path forward will be easy, but we have faced storms before. Our union holds 144 years of dedication and unwavering unionism, and I look forward to seeing what we accomplish in the next days, months and years ahead. We are Boilermakers, there is nothing we cannot do, and we will come out of this stronger.
