International Operating Engineer - Fall 2017

Labor Notes
Fair Contracting Group Gathers, Callahan Named to Board
THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE for Fair
Contracting (NAFC) recently convened
their annual conference in Nashville,
TN. NAFC is a labor-management
alliance of fair contracting
organizations, contractors, and labor
unions committed to promoting
fairness in public construction
contracting across the nation.
Member Spotlight
In Vietnam, He Fought With His Back to the Wall
Local 139 retiree dedicates ‘transition wall’ for Wisconsin veterans
The conference focused on
prevailing wage surveys and
enforcement, health and safety
in the construction industry, and
infrastructure financing. In attendance
were the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa
Foundation for Fair Contracting (IIIFC)
and compliance staff from various
IUOE Locals who administer other fair
contracting foundations.
MARYBE MCMILLIAN BECOMES
the first woman to lead the North
Carolina labor movement after being
unanimously elected President of
the North Carolina State AFL-CIO
during the 60th Annual Convention in
September.
McMillian grew up in Hickory,
North Carolina. She became involved
with union organizing as a student and
is passionate about organizing workers
in the South. MaryBe frequently speaks
to groups around the country about
the importance of building a strong
labor movement in the South. She is a
member of IUOE Local 465 in Durham,
North Carolina.
“I look forward to working with our
affiliates to build the movement we all
want – one that is constantly growing,
that is both big enough and bold enough
In addition, General President
Callahan was recently invited to join
the group’s board of directors. The
board includes representatives from its
member fair contracting organizations,
contractor organizations, and labor
unions. In accepting the board
position, Callahan said, “I am honored
to set the agenda and drive our politics,
that is unafraid to hold our politicians
and our own leaders accountable – a
movement with the power to change
this state and this nation,” McMillian
said after the election.
to join such a distinguished group
of construction industry leaders.
NAFC has an important role to play in
guarding against any further erosion of
fair industry standards and fighting to
get back to a more level playing field.”
North Carolina’s Labor Fed Elects First Woman President
[above] IUOE Local 465 member MaryBe
McMillian was elected President of
the North Carolina State AFL-CIO in
September 2017.
[article & photo]
NC State AFL-CIO
ON JANUARY 8, 1968, Army Sp4c.
Gary Wetzel had his left arm blown
off on a Vietnam battlefield. His
subsequent heroism earned him the
Medal of Honor.
Far away in time and location,
on July 7, 2017, the retired Local 139
member served his country yet again.
Using a wheelchair and crutches to
maneuver and to stand, the 70-yearold
helped dedicate a “transition wall”
that memorializes all veterans while
inspiring service to country. The wall
symbolizes the rocky road veterans
typically follow as they exit the military
and re-enter civilian life. It also marks
the main entrance to the Gary G.
Wetzel Way nature trail, built for
disabled veterans in 2016, mainly by
Local 139 apprentices who themselves
were veterans.
The wall stands in a tranquil forest
clearing near Camp American Legion,
a place where Wisconsin veterans
have been coming to rebuild their lives
since 1925. It begins as a pile of strewn
boulders, turns in a different direction
and becomes a series of gabion baskets
filled with smaller stones, changes
to mismatched types of building
materials, then turns into a uniform
brick wall before angling off to a wellorganized
conclusion.
The wall is living monument that
will evolve, said American Legion Post
139 Commander Mike Burt. Already,
some veterans have inked the names
of fallen commrades onto the stones
in the baskets, although writing on the
wall proper is not permitted.
“It’s going to be growing and
growing,” Wetzel said. “It’s about life,
not death. I’m proud as a peacock to be
here. God bless America.”
[above] Plaques in the wall recount Gary
Wetzel’s heroism and list the organizations,
including Local 139, that sponsored
the adjacent nature trail bearing
Wetzel’s name. [below] Daniel Seehafer,
commander of The American Legion Department
of Wisconsin, invites all present
to touch the wall as part of its dedication
ceremony. [left] Wetzel returns a salute
from Seehafer.
[article & photos]
Dave Backmann, IUOE Local 139
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
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