Jim Higgins

Assistant General President James J. Higgins, Jr. started in the IUEC in the late 1980’s with Local 1, New York, working as a helper with the Peelle Company. He moved on to construction work with Fujitec of America and eventually to the modernization department of General Elevator. Jim became a NEIEP instructor in 1993 and five years later, was appointed NEIEP Administrator for Local 1. In this capacity, he established the standards for the Local 1 apprenticeship and training program, which made his transition to NEIEP Director in 2001 a natural fit.

As Director of NEIEP, Jim worked to establish national apprenticeship standards for all of the IUEC local unions in the United States. He proudly served on the National BCTD Training Directors Committee, working side by side with training and apprenticeship representatives from our fellow building trades unions. By sharing ideas and lending support, the committee sought to strengthen the construction industry as a whole by creating a corps of the most highly skilled workers.

While serving as Director of NEIEP, Jim was also the IUEC’s representative on the Helmets to Hardhats Advisory Board. As NEIEP Director it was his job to ensure that our union ranks would be filled with talented, highly trained and dedicated mechanics and the Helmets to Hardhats program was the perfect connection to just the kind of people who would thrive in our trade while serving our union with great distinction. Jim was the recipient of the program’s Tip of the Spear Award, which was given to him for his contributions to Helmets to Hardhats.

In addition to Jim’s on-the-job-training, he has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Villanova University, a Masters of Business degree in business management from Dowling College and has pursued labor studies at Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations.

In June 2008, IUEC General President Brigham appointed, and the IUEC General Executive Board confirmed, Brother Higgins to serve as the IUEC Assistant General President filling the unexpired term of Timothy Smith who retired.

If you would like more information about Assistant General President Higgins, you may contact the IUEC headquarters in Columbia, Maryland.