IFPTE Leaders Join Metal Trades Department Affiliates in Charting Course for Future of the Industry

This week dozens of leaders from International unions representing a broad swath of jobs across the metal trades industry convened in Las Vegas to develop a plan to ensure that private and public investments in the sector create reliable, good-paying union jobs. "First and foremost, our mission is to speak out for the vital role that union workers play in the metal trades industry," said IFPTE International President Matt Biggs. "I"m honored to be here with our Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson to make sure that IFPTE has a place at the table and that the interests of our members are advanced at every opportunity.  We commend the Metal Trades Department, including MTD President, Jimmy Hart, for standing in solidarity with IFPTE and all the unions of the department."

Secretary-Treasurer Henson rallied the delegates during her keynote address on the opening day of the conference, saying, "We need to be bold, be fearless, take chances, encourage one another, build unity and lift one another up!" Noting the conference's theme of The Metal Trades: A Salute to Women in Labor, Henson cited former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's best known quotes: "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception."

IFPTE Local 121 Treasurer, and former longtime Western Federal Area Vice President, Ben Toyama, also represented IFPTE and Local 121 at the conference.  Brother Toyama offered comments about the importance of building on the Metal Trades Department's record of serving union members within the industry. "At Naval installations in Hawaii and across the country, IFPTE has worked with its partner unions in the Metal Trades Department to speak and work collectively on behalf of our members," said Toyama. "This year's conference marks a milestone in that history, as we stand united within the Metal Trades Department in our commitment to seizing the opportunities that increased investment in the industry creates for our current and future members."

The Metal Trades Department is a trade department of the AFL-CIO. It was chartered in 1908 to coordinate negotiating, organizing and legislative efforts of affiliated metalworking and related crafts and trade unions. Today, seventeen national and international unions are affiliated with the MTD. More than 100,000 workers in private industry and federal establishments work under contracts negotiated by MTD Councils.