Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades
Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...
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Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 103 Shawn Russell, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the apprenticeship and outreach plans for the Local. Russell also talked about his journey to joining a union and the challenges faced when organizing in the Southern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southeastern Illinois regions.
Following the pandemic, the Local’s apprenticeship program didn’t see the same amount of applications compared to previous years, but Russell says there has been a resurgence in applications this year. Local 103 has focused on recruiting more women and minorities into the union. So far, Russell said they haven’t succeeded in increasing the number of women in the union, but they won’t give up on their efforts.
Organizing in Local 103’s area has proven to be difficult, Russell said. Despite being able to offer steady work, better benefits and better pay, the efforts haven’t always been successful. They have seen more success in recruiting individuals compared to organizing non-union contractors. Russell believes many workers they approach are interested in the union, but they don’t always join due to personal attachments to current employers.
Growing up with a family in the roofing industry, construction was always something that Russell felt connected with. This led him to seek out the Ironworkers following his time in college. While he has remained involved in his community throughout his time in the union, Russell now wants to find a way to help lead his community in a different way. He is now running for a City Council seat and with the support of other local unions, the Ironworkers and others, Russell hopes to win the election this November.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
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