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Bank of Labor ushers in century of service with new headquarters For nearly 100 years, Bank of Labor shared a tower office building with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers in Kansas City, Kansas. That historic partnership shaped the bank’s identity and strengthened the commitment to union values. When the original building was sold, the bank faced a pivotal decision: how to honor that legacy while preparing for the future. Bank of Labor’s new headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas, reflects that commitment. The build-out was completed by union labor, reinforcing the principles that have guided the bank since its founding in 1924 under the leadership of the Boilermakers. This move wasn’t just about changing addresses, it was about creating a space that empowers employees to collaborate, innovate and deliver solutions for the next century. It’s a headquarters built for progress, without losing sight of the values that helped the bank prevail even when other labor-created banks closed. “Bank of Labor is growing to make labor stronger. Our new headquarters reflects that mission where we work hard for hardworking people,” said Bill Miller, Bank of Labor Chairman and CEO. “We’re proud to continue a tradition that began over a century ago and to carry it forward for generations to come.” The new office features highly functional spaces that foster teamwork and efficiency. From open work areas to technology-enabled meeting rooms, the design supports the mission to union members and their families with excellence. Beyond aesthetics, the headquarters integrates advanced digital banking capabilities, cybersecurity measures and remote collaboration tools to ensure unions nationwide can have solidarity leveraging secure, innovative financial solutions. The move also reflects a commitment to sustainability and employee well-being. Natural light, ergonomic workstations and collaborative zones create an environment that promotes productivity and health, while reinforcing the bank’s values of progress and care for its people. Bank of Labor remains deeply connected to the labor movement as a union-owned and represented bank in all 50 states. As Bank of Labor looks ahead, it is focused on consolidating labor’s capital to strengthen the movement through treasury, lending and trust solutions tailored for unions with the added responsiveness from an organization with shared values. Despite industry headwinds in 2024, Bank of Labor maintained a solid capital position, grew its balance sheet and increased book value per share, reflecting its resilience and commitment to labor. The organization is supported by teams located near customers in the field nationwide and by the teams at the headquarters in a space built by union hands to serve union families. “We’re proud to leverage union talent on our banking teams and in our building projects,” said Bank of Labor President Bob McCall. “This new headquarters strengthens our ability to serve unions in all 50 states, helping to launch the next century of service with even greater impact and results.” — Apr 24
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The Boilermakers’ Campaign Assistance Fund The Campaign Assistance Fund (CAF) is the Boilermakers’ federal political action committee (PAC). Because federal law doesn’t allow unions to give candidates money from dues or general funds, CAF is how Boilermakers voluntarily support pro-worker candidates for federal office. CAF is funded by voluntary contributions from members, retirees and their families, never from dues. In federal elections, business PACs and wealthy individuals outspend labor by more than 20 to one. Many candidates also spend from their own personal wealth and benefit from corporate spending. CAF helps level the playing field by pooling small voluntary contributions from members. Even a few dollars a month helps ensure working people have a voice in Congress on issues like jobs, pensions, energy policy and worker protections. CAF contributions are used to support selected federal candidates and when appropriate, state political parties. The LEAP Executive Committee makes decisions based on recommendations from the Government Affairs department, who looks at factors such as a candidate’s voting record and position on worker issues, chances of winning and other factors. All CAF donations are voluntary. Members can choose to give more, less, or not at all without pressure or consequence. Contributions are used for political purposes and giving is not required by local lodges. Contributions are not tax-deductible. Many locals use a voluntary political checkoff plan. This works like dues checkoff where members authorize a small payroll deduction that goes directly to CAF. Check-off works because small amounts add up over time. Once enrolled, members typically stay involved, and that creates steady support for worker-friendly candidates. Members must always sign an authorization form before any deductions begin. CAF is effective and gives Boilermakers a collective political voice. Small voluntary contributions help support candidates who stand with working people and ensure our issues are heard where decisions are made. — Apr 23
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New State Legislative Program powers political influence The Boilermakers' new State Legislative Program launched this year. It’s building tangible influence at the state and local level, across every sector, so that decisions shaping Boilermaker work always include Boilermaker voices. Right now, a member’s statehouse may matter more than Congress. Energy permitting, project approvals, prevailing wage protections, labor law and economic development decisions are a significant portion of what affects Boilermaker jobs. Many times, these are decided at the state and local level. And at that level, one motivated Boilermaker with relationships can change outcomes in ways that are simply not possible at the federal level. That’s what the State Legislative Program is all about. It works in tandem with local lodges—both Construction Sector and Industrial Sector locals. When a member sees an issue in their community or state that is poised to affect jobs, they can contact lodge leadership or the designated political representative at their union hall. If the local determines the issue needs to be addressed, leadership then contacts Legislative Coordinators to design a plan to tackle the issue. Industrial Sector Operations Executive Director Don Hamric wants ISO lodges to understand the importance of political engagement. “For union leaders in the Industrial Sector Operations Division, political engagement is not optional, it’s how we defend our members jobs, provide a safe work environment, strengthen our bargaining power, and ensure working families have a voice in decisions that shape our industry,” he said. The State Legislative Program is supported by a team of seasoned Boilermakers who have deep experience in government affairs. These Regional Legislative Coordinators are important resources. Their job is to support local lodges in building relationships, navigating state and local politics and implementing a plan to influence the political machine where it’s needed. It’s a role Tim Jefferies helped pilot in the Western States some months ago. Bill Mulconnery, a 38-year Boilermaker and former Business Manager, covers an expansive territory stretching from the Great Lakes to Texas. Bob Hutsell, former L-169 (Detroit) Business Manager, supports that region, helping build Boilermaker presence across the Great Lakes. And L-154 (Pittsburgh) Business Agent Shawn Steffee contributes to the program's efforts in the Northeast. "Why wouldn't we be involved?” said Mulconnery. “These are the people making the laws we live under every day. These are our jobs, our benefits, our families." An area RLC is a resource for local lodges and can help identify the key legislators, connect with the state Building Trades Council or state AFL-CIO, and accompany lodge leaders to their first meetings with elected officials. RLC’s keep informed on what’s moving legislatively and help lodges strategize and strengthen Boilermaker influence at every level. “You don’t have to figure out the state and local landscape alone,” said Director of Government Affairs Bridget Martin, who spearheads the program. “If you’re hearing concerns about overtime pay, collective bargaining threats, potential plant closures or jurisdictional disputes, inform your RLC. They’ll tell you where to go and what to do when you get there.” This program is in its early stages, but the results already speak for themselves. In Wisconsin, when members faced the loss of funding for shipbuilding, which meant the loss of jobs, they chose to fight it through a letter-writing campaign. It was worker-led, specific to their community and sent directly to decision-makers in Washington. In California—a state where the pressure on Boilermaker refineries and power plants is constant—Boilermakers have earned a seat on the governor's advisory committee. Not by waiting to be invited, but by showing up and staying there. "You want to know why California hasn't shut us down yet?" asked Jefferies. "Because we showed up. We built the relationships. We got on the committees. It works. And if it works here, it works anywhere." Another example of the importance of getting involved in state-level politics happened in the Northeast. Pennsylvania State Senator Joe Pittman said it best when he introduced Steffee at a recent public event: "The members of this union won't have to pack suitcases to go to a job. They'll pack lunchboxes." That moment was the culmination of a years-long effort by Steffee, Local 154 and Pennsylvania’s building trades to protect Boilermaker jobs in the state by defeating RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. As president of the South Central Building Trades Council, Steffee helped ensure Boilermaker priorities weren’t just represented; they helped drive the agenda. The results are already visible. Hundreds of Boilermakers are now working closer to home on major power generation projects across Pennsylvania that would have gone elsewhere just a few years ago. "I was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Steffee said. “My family, my grandchildren, everybody lives here. I want clean air and clean water. I also want a job. I think we can get both." That's exactly what the Boilermakers' new State Legislative Program is designed to make possible in more states and across more sectors. The program was born from a simple but powerful observation that the decisions that matter most to Boilermaker members don't always stay in Washington. They come home. "The reason this State Legislative Program was started was because we needed to take the issues we have in Washington, D.C., and bring them back to the states," said International President Timothy Simmons. "Every time a senator or state representative goes home, I want them to see a Boilermaker somewhere to remind them that everything they do in D.C. or at the statehouse affects the real, rank-and-file members of this union," he said. "We have got to let the politicians know that if they don't vote for us in D.C., they are going to see us at every ribbon cutting, every time they shake a hand and every time they kiss a baby. We are going to show these congresspeople that we are strong; that we are represented." Resources: Find your Building Trades Council: nabtu.org/about-nabtu/official-directory Find your state AFL-CIO: aflcio.org/about/leadership/state-feds-clcs Contact the State Legislative Program: [email protected] Get involved in a letter-writing campaign to save our shipyards: www.saveourshipbuilding.com — Apr 22
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TVA outage shows power of partnership The relationship between the Boilermakers who work Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland Fossil Plant outages and their employer, TVA, is just about as symbiotic as the Cumberland River and its iconic surrounding valley itself. It’s a partnership. A lot of households and businesses count on Cumberland City’s two coal-fired units to reliably produce 1,250 megawatts (each) of power at peak. So, TVA depends on the highly skilled and trusted Local 455 (Muscle Shoals, Alabama) Boilermakers to man their twice-a-year outages and make sure the units are ready-to-go ahead of the peak usage seasons. And Boilermakers rely on the work the regular, steady TVA spring and summer outage gigs provide. “The relationship between TVA and the Boilermakers union continues to be strong, and they have been essential, especially during outages,” says Tammy McMillan, Outage Manager for TVA at Cumberland. “With their craftsmanship, we can get a lot of work done in the planned outage timeframe.” The fall 2025 outage, for example, was 75 days from shutdown to restart and included boiler work, module work, precept work and work in the condenser. For construction sector Boilermakers across the U.S. and Canada, it’s nothing too exotic. “They bring in boiler inspectors to determine the scope of work that’s needed for the boiler, whether the tubes need to be pad welded or cut out and replaced…and the Boilermakers work the punch list on what needs to be done in the boilers,” explains International Rep Mitch Brown, noting the plant runs 24/7 at max capacity during the peak summer and winter electricity months. During the planned outage, the units are taken offline and worked on one at a time. “They’re changing out the baskets and SCRs, and they’re at the scrubbers and doing the work on the lining of the cans,” Brown says. It’s all pretty standard outage, turnaround and maintenance work. But it’s also the kind of work that’s bread and butter for Boilermakers—and especially coveted for those who live nearby—and TVA has plenty of it. Allen Bieda, a 25-year L-455 Boilermaker who lives a short drive from the Cumberland plant, appreciates the chance to work close to home. Like most Boilermakers, he has known all too well in his career what it’s like to travel for work, missing birthdays and important family moments so he could chase the work, wherever it was. “Being with TVA, it really helped out. I’m home every night,” he says. He knows he’s lucky. Good-paying jobs are hard to find around Cumberland City. He can ultimately thank his father-in-law for encouraging him to check out the apprenticeship program at the union hall after he completed his service in the U.S. Army. Bieda, who grew up in California, came to the area after being stationed in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee. “I love it here. I met my wife here. We have family here; so, it’s definitely where I want to be,” he says. Brown says the site is the backbone of this area. “There is nothing here but these jobs,” he says. “If you live in Stewart County, Tennessee, or if you’re a transient construction worker… or you work on the riverboat or you work in the cement industry or you work in construction hanging wallboard, it’s because of the jobs at this plant.” The TVA was founded during the Great Depression, in 1933, by Franklin D. Roosevelt under the United States’ New Deal to address the severe economic hardship in the Tennessee Valley area. The region faced widespread poverty, frequent flooding, lack of electricity and poor agricultural conditions. As a federally owned corporation, TVA sought to modernize the region by building dams for flood control, generating affordable hydroelectric power, improving navigation on rivers and promoting agricultural and industrial development. TVA was one of the most ambitious, impactful government programs of the era and resulted in bringing electricity and infrastructure to rural areas, stimulated economic growth and improved quality of life. Today, including the Cumberland Fossil Plant, TVA’s energy-generation portfolio includes three nuclear plants, four fossil plants, 17 natural gas plants, one diesel generator site, 29 hydro plants, nine solar energy sites and one pumped storage hydroelectric plant. And it’s growing. TVA provides electricity to about 10 million people across Tennessee and parts of six other adjacent states. Just down the road from the Cumberland Fossil Plant, Boilermakers are building a new natural gas plant set to produce 1,450 megawatt of energy—enough to power about 840,000 homes. The original plan was to retire the coal-fired plant, but now both power-generation sources are needed to keep up with increased energy demands driven by data centers and artificial intelligence. “The needed power resources are probably higher than expected, and coal plays a big part in providing that power,” says Jason Sills, TVA Senior Manager, Outage. “Coal is not dead.” It’s an important part of TVA’s energy portfolio, and it’s reliable. But it has been unfairly labeled as “dirty.” “Which is not the case at TVA,” McMillan says. “We have emissions controls on all of our equipment here. So, what’s actually coming out of the stack is nothing more than just steam—and it’s clean. I explain it like I do to my grandkids: That’s clean clouds we are producing here. Just clean clouds coming out of the stack. It’s nothing more than just clean steam.” In addition to being integral to the TVA’s reliable energy portfolio, Brown points out coal is a readily available natural resource. It’s also woven throughout the area’s economy—and other Boilermaker industries. Emissions control byproducts like fly ash go into cement; slurry is dried into gypsum used in the sheet rock and agricultural industries. “What I really like about coal is the jobs it provides,” he says. “You’re producing electricity, you’re providing the maintenance, you’re producing jobs for the cement industry, you’re producing jobs for the wallboard industry. You’re providing jobs for the riverboats and the tugs bringing the coal in—which most are built by Boilermakers. Then you’ve got the coal mines and the men working in the mines. And then you’ve got the heavy mining equipment Boilermakers make at Komatsu (Local 158, Peoria, Illinois). It’s just a domino effect on how many jobs this one site [Cumberland Fossil Plant] creates.” The Boilermakers union and TVA have worked together since the beginning. “They know the skilled craftsmanship the Boilermakers provide, and they trust the Boilermakers to get the job done right the first time,” says Jeff Campbell, International Vice President-Southeast Area. The Southeast Area Boilermakers don’t take their relationship with TVA for granted. “TVA is the lifeblood of L-455. That is predominant work,” says Edwin “Tres” Howard, L-455 Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer. “We have smaller jobs elsewhere, but District 57, which L-455 is part of, we’re set up to handle the TVA sites.” That’s a good thing, because according to Matt Faulkner, TVA’s director of labor relations, the surge in energy demand is also creating a demand for skilled labor. At the recent Boilermakers Construction Sector Conference in Marco Island, Florida, he said workforce availability is one of TVA’s greatest challenges. One of the ways TVA is meeting the challenge is by increasing apprenticeship by asking their contractors and craft unions to staff work at 33.3% apprentices. For the Boilermakers, it’s working well. At the fall outage, where Howard says the ratio was closer to 45% apprentices, journeymen overwhelming reported positive experiences with the apprentices. “That’s how apprentices learn to be good Boilermakers, so it worked well here in Cumberland City,” he says. “They’re doing great, and I heard no complaints.” It starts, he says, with steady recruiting and solid training from lead instructor, Zach Hamilton. “So, we’ve got a lot of new apprentices already having the skills for the jobsite,” he adds. “It’s needed, because there’s a lot of work coming up. TVA’s talked about the speculative manpower needed for the next several years, and there’s a lot of new building going on.” That’s good news for apprentices like L-455 third-year apprentice Ayden Maldonado, who worked the outage last fall. “It’s a lot of intricate, critical stuff we do,” he says. “A lot of pressure behind the welds and very expensive is something goes wrong. This has taught me how to work safely; how to do things the right way. We have a sense of urgency with a lot of things, but above that is safety and doing things correctly.” Gaining practical experience on jobsites working with mentor journeymen provides the perfect setup for success for apprentices like Maldonado—and for a cycle of success for the Boilermakers. And if Cumberland Fossil Plant outage is any indication as a model, the immediate and long-term future looks bright for the Boilermakers and TVA. “Our relationship with TVA is more like a partnership, and with the energy renaissance that’s coming and all the work TVA has coming in the future, that partnership is going to continue for a long time,” says Campbell. — Apr 16
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Boilermakers named Tradeswoman Heroes Two Boilermaker women were recently honored with NABTU Tradeswomen Hero Awards Alison Wilson from Local 684 (Norfolk, Virgina), has more than 35 years of service in the shipyard industry. She has built a career rooted in skill, integrity and unwavering commitment to others. In a right-to-work state, Wilson has spent decades standing up for union values. She believes in fairness and protecting her coworkers. Journeyworker Megan Solis out of Local 92 (Los Angeles) has dedicated 18 years as a Boilermaker and throughout her career has exceeded expectations with her drive and dedication. After graduating as an apprentice, Solis then went on to become a certified welder, certified rigger and a union steward. To nominate a Boilermaker sister as a Tradeswoman Hero Click Here — Apr 14