Will Attig, Executive Director of the Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about a recent meeting at the White House that discussed the Biden Administration’s impact on union jobs for military veterans and what they can do to highlight the work performed by union veterans.
Attig, who attended the meeting, addressed how the Biden Administration has assisted in helping military veterans find careers through a union. He discussed the effort to help veterans become union members. By entering the civilian workforce, veterans can help address the nation’s labor shortage and give them a good future after they leave the military. Attig speaks from experience, as he served in the military and spent time stationed in Iraq. While in the process of transitioning out of the armed forces, he found a career with the United Association Local 160 Plumbers and Pipefitters in Murphysboro, Ill. He discussed how the Local changed his life and helped lead him down the path where he now helps veterans find careers as members of organized labor.
During the White House meeting, Attig said the discussions turned to the explosion of veteran support groups in unions. These programs have come from AFL-CIO constituency groups and affiliated unions. He explained how the constituency groups help elevate and highlight programs to get veterans and marginalized groups into the union workforce. Attig noted some of the support and transition programs like the UA Veterans in Piping, the International Association of Machinists and Allied Workers Veteran Services and the International Union of Elevator Constructors Veterans’ Assistance Program.
It is not just labor groups that have helped to tear down the walls to support the entry of veterans into union work, but also several federal departments such as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Attig discussed the pipelines available to veterans who enter union apprenticeship programs. He noted this meeting was the first time that the working veterans' group was represented at the White House, and it was the first step to creating a project called Forging Ahead. Attig discussed this program and how it will highlight the stories of union veterans through union support programs.
For more from Attig and the Union Veterans Council, listen to the show above.