Headline News

NEWS RELEASE

Newton B. Jones, President of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers, AFL-CIO and CLC, said the union “will seek a constructive dialogue for the future of clean coal” with President Obama’s nominees to head the EPA and DOE.

Obama announced March 4 that Gina McCarthy is his choice as EPA Administrator and Ernest Moniz his pick for DOE Secretary. The nominees both face Senate confirmation hearings.

THIS YEAR, REGIONAL tripartite conferences will again draw leaders from the Boilermaker, contractor, and owner communities together in a mutual effort to identify and resolve issues within the Boilermaker construction industry. Similar in function to the annual general tripartite conference hosted by MOST, the regional events have a sharper focus within geographical areas of the country and the specific challenges those areas present.

JAMES A. PRESSLEY, International Vice President-at-Large for the Industrial Sector and the Boilermakers’ Chief of Staff, retired effective Feb. 1...

Rating agency charged with fraud

ANGRY ABOUT THE loss in value of your pension fund during the 2007-2008 economic collapse? You should be. A suit filed by the Department of Justice Feb. 4 places much of the blame on Standard & Poor’s for committing fraud in the way it rated subprime mortgage securities.

THE UNION MEMBERSHIP rate was 11.3% in 2012, down from 11.8% in 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which released updated figures Jan. 23. This decrease in union membership highlights the painful fact that people are working harder but are making less and less.

One area that saw a significant loss was in the public sector. There are nearly 400,000 fewer union members, from teachers in the classroom to police and firefighters that keep us safe. In manufacturing, the jobs that have returned so far are largely low-wage, nonunion jobs.

IN LATE OCTOBER, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast...

Unions vow to fight on

IN WHAT IS broadly seen as a defining moment in Organized Labor’s struggle against anti-union forces, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed two right-to-work bills into law Dec. 11, making Michigan the 24th state to enact RTW legislation.