IUEC Members Attended the 2023 North America’s Building Trades (NABTU) Legislative Conference

This week, nearly 100 members of the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) attended the 2023 North America’s Building Trades (NABTU) Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. While in Washington, DC, IUEC elevator constructors and leadership met with dozens of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to voice their support for strengthening our current labor laws, passing the National Apprenticeship Act, and increasing OSHA funding.

President Joe Biden spoke to building trades workers about building and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, crediting the skills they gained by participating in USDOL-registered apprenticeship programs like the conveyance industry’s National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP) along with pre-apprenticeship programs as a critical part of ensuring this work is done right while creating pathways to middle-class incomes for tradespeople and their families.

Speakers including Sean McGarvey (President, NABTU), Marty Walsh (former U.S. Department of Labor Secretary), and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R) (PA-01) – who this week, along with Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) and a bipartisan group of members, introduced the National Apprenticeship Act of 2023 – addressed attendees representing NABTU-affiliated construction trade unions from across the country.

IUEC General President Frank J. Christensen welcomed IUEC elevator constructors from Locals across the country, representing them on the stage alongside leaders of a number of NABTU-affiliated unions. At a private breakfast event, President Christensen spoke to IUEC leadership, organizers, and staff about the progress being made by the union. He talked about the value of the IUEC’s apprenticeship training program, the IUEC’s role in ensuring Americans from coast to coast have access to fulfilling careers with strong wage and benefit standards, and the union’s commitment to investing in IUEC members’ health and safety.

NABTU is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent more than 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Current members include:

  • International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
  • International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters)
  • International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC)
  • International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC)
  • International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
  • Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
  • Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA)
  • International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)
  • United Association – Union of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Techs (UA)
  • United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (Roofers)
  • International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE)
  • International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (Boilermakers)
  • International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (Insulators)
  • International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (IW)
  • The Canadian Building Trades Unions (CBTU)

Each April, members from NABTU-affiliated construction unions gather on Capitol Hill to discuss issues of importance to working people such as protecting Davis-Bacon, supporting project labor agreements, and passing both the PRO Act and the National Apprenticeship Act.

 

 

 

 

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