Union Muscle

By KELLY B. GARRETT Eagle Staff Writer

March 24, 2009 Last Updated: March 24, 2009 04:22 PM Special Sections

United Autoworkers Local 3303 members, who work at AK Steel, spent time repairing the Swinging Bridge in Butler for the 2008 Weeks of Caring.

Volunteers glad to offer expertise

Unions have long been a part of Butler County’s community landscape.

And for a long time, volunteering has been a part of union memberships.

Bob Thomas, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades, head of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 5 and a representative of the Butler County Labor Council, said when he doesn’t have a volunteer project for the union members, “they are usually coming to me with ideas.”

If they aren’t, Kathleen Treme is. She is the AFL-CIO Community Service liaison for the United Way of Butler County.

Treme says the county should be proud of the number of union members who participate in volunteering projects.

“It might be a phone request for man-lady power or for their expertise,” she said. “We can find expert advice on subjects ranging from electrical and plumbing to building issues from our labor volunteers.

Five years ago, “Christmas In May” became an annual event for county labor volunteers.

Treme said projects were completed with donated materials from suppliers. Volunteers completed projects such as: building handicap ramps, repairing railings and replacing entry doors for senior citizens, replacing faulty plumbing, repairing a concrete ramp for a nonprofit agency, pouring a concrete floor for a shelter in a park, and building a bathroom with a shower on the first floor for a handicapped man who had been unable to climb the steps to the second-floor bath for several years.

Treme said the unions and trade councils have donated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to low-income residents and senior citizens and installed them.

Volunteers will hold the third annual Steeler Tailgate Charity Open this year. That is a golf outing that ends with donated time from union volunteers as prizes.

Thomas said the members are willing to donate time and materials, including their construction expertise to the community and people who need a little help.

About a year ago, many trade union members worked on the Community Health Clinic of Butler County, which is between Butler and East Butler. They built offices and rooms in the former Wise Business Forms building.

Ken Baldauf, an electrician with IBEW 5 and the county labor council, said he is usually at the “top of the pipeline” when it comes to volunteer projects.

“If someone comes in with a volunteering idea, I’m the one who gets on the phone,” Baldauf said.

Two years ago, unions helped with Butler High School’s house donation. That involved students building a house to be donated to a needy family. Baldauf arranged for the Steighner Crane Service to help with the move.

“Volunteering has always been a part of the business, a neighborhood thing,” he said. “Almost everyone participates. I mean of the more than 3,500 union members in our area, I’d say only about 2 percent don’t volunteer to do anything.”

4 American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local Union 21044 Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF)4 Butler County United Labor Council4 Butler and Venango Counties Building & Construction Trades4 International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Local Union 17494 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local Union 54 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local Union 19574 International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers (BAC), Local 94 International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Local Union 664 National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)4 Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA) Local 5264 Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professional (PASNAP)4 Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA)4 United Association of Plumbing and Pipe Fitting (UA), Local Union 474 United Auto Workers (UAW), Local Union 33034 United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), Local Union 9224 United Steel Workers (USW), Local Union 8894 United Steel Workers (USW), Local Union 6346-254 Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), Local Union 102J4 Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), Local Union 11404 Western PA District Council of Laborers (LIUNA), Local Union 323.FOR HELP:To ask for union volunteers or to suggest a project, call Kathleen Treme at the United Way of Butler County, 724-285-2260.