Edward C. Sullivan, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, praised the Boilermakers on Day 4 for our past leadership and called on our union to continue fighting to preserve what organized labor has won over the years.

“The Boilermakers have always been in the forefront of advancing the cause of working men and woman and that commitment continues today,” he said. “The hard work that Newt Jones and his team are doing sets a high standard for others to follow.”

Sullivan cited the work of IVP Joe Maloney (Western Canadian section) for his innovative work to establish the Helmets to Hardhats program while serving as BCTD secretary-treasurer, noting the program “continues to open doors of opportunity in our industry to thousands of returning vets.”

Sullivan said the Building Trades are working to strengthen the industry. In a reference to the unions that recently split from the AFL-CIO, he said that the Building Trades are far better off united, and he expressed a hope that those unions would return at some time in the future. He added that the BCTD’s recently started national tripartite program, patterned after the successful Boilermaker program, is helping to protect the construction labor industry. He cited such recent initiatives as the BCTD’s multicraft centralized drug and alcohol testing, similar to the MOST program, which has been making Boilermakers more competitive since the 1980s.

Sullivan also addressed other key issues impacting the Building Trades, including Davis-Bacon protections, the reform of multi-employer pension plan rules, and illegal immigration. He concluded his address saying, “Now is the time to respond with everything we've got to save a century of progress from being destroyed. We are looking to the Boilermakers to be the outstanding leaders in this fight.”