Pete Ielmini, the Executive Director for the Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Federal Mechanical Insulation Act being introduced by Congress. Ielmini shared details about the funding impact of the bill and other initiatives including the Insulators' efforts to promote suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
The Federal Mechanical Insulation Act of 2023 was introduced into the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. Ielmini previously discussed the act and how they made it a simple and short bill. If approved, the bill would require energy audits on federal buildings every four years. If these audits show a loss of money in a building, and it’s found the building does not have mechanical insulation installed, it will be installed.
The costs related to the bill should be mentioned in this legislation. However, Ielmini said that repairs and installation would be covered under a maintenance contract. This ensures an energy conservation product will be installed with the taxpayers' money. With the idea of the bill being a common sense piece of legislation, they would use already existing funding to help in the installation of mechanical insulation.
In recent years, the Insulators Union and the LMCT have been promoting suicide prevention and mental health awareness. In a current initiative, the LMCT has created poker chips with the 988 suicide prevention hotline printed on the chip. The goal with these chips is to continuously spread them to your peers and get out the message to protect those with thoughts of suicide. Now, with the help of two mental health companies, the Insulators Union has created a mental health assistance program for members to seek assistance and find resources.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.