Brothers and Sisters,

UA Local Union 393 Plumbers, Steamfitters, and HVACR Service Technicians has a long, proud history of representing workers in our industry — a history that extends back to the founding of our local in 1904. It is a history of member engagement, member involvement, and member activism that continues to place our local as an important leader within our local labor movement. But even as we, as a membership and an organization, do our collective part in fighting for good, family sustaining, working class union jobs, there is a broader trend in our economy that is pushing the opposite way causing an ever increasing gap between the have’s and the have nots and making it harder for blue collar people like ourselves to realize the American Dream.

Each day, our region is minting new fortunes and launching new companies, yet the aforementioned income gap between high-wage and low-wage workers is a staggering $92,000 a year. Working families built this thriving community, but we’re now struggling to continue to live and work here.

That’s why we’re fighting to keep good, quality jobs at home. We’re the soccer coaches. The Boy Scout leaders. We pay taxes here. We shop at local businesses. We graduated from local high schools. Many of us served our country in the armed forces. So when a developer breaks ground on a new project in our community, we deserve the opportunity to work on that job and demand a fair wage for our labor.

That’s why we’re fighting to elect labor friendly leaders. We need allies on city councils, school boards and boards of supervisors. We need people who understand that the lowest bidder on a project doesn’t always come at the lowest price.

That’s why we’re fighting for fair contracts with our employers. To mitigate the fact that our work is often hard and dangerous work that takes its physical toll on our bodies, our knees, on our backs. Good contracts are not only about negotiating good, family supporting wages, but also better working conditions, strong safety measures and the ability to retire one day with dignity.

We’re part of building an economy that works for all working people, including working class people like ourselves and not just a handful of executives.

Bill Guthrie
Business Manager, UA Local 393