1 min read

Season 3, Episode 209

Modern Assistance provides mental health resources for union workers

IronWorkers local 7

 

Guest Name:


Michael Hess

Guest Website:


iwlocal7.org

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


Ironworkers Local 7 Business Manager Michael Hess joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the mental health services available for union members through Employee Assistance Programs, including the service they use, Modern Assistance.

Local 7 represents over 3,600 Iron Workers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought mental health recovery to the forefront, especially in the construction industry, where suicide rates are four times higher than average, Hess said. Modern Assistance offers mental health services to help deal with depression, addiction recovery and other challenges through outpatient treatment programs and telehealth services. He added that Local 7’s signatory contractors are involved with the program and have helped to remove the negative stigma often tied to construction workers seeking treatment.

Hess then talked about Local 7’s apprenticeship programs and work outlook, which is booming. He also spoke about the pride of working with U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the former Mayor of Boston who has deep roots with the New England building trades.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


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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