Possible legislation and new energy technologies both threaten and offer opportunities for Boilermakers in the Western States Section. At the 2025 Western States Tripartite conference April 28-29 in Napa Valley, California, Boilermakers, owners and contractors delved together into the region’s political and energy environment, new work opportunities and initiatives to address Boilermaker manpower and other challenges.— Jul 3
Boilermaker work has evolved over more than a century from the union’s roots in steam-powered locomotives to shipbuilding, refineries, nuclear power plants, the latest pollution mitigation technologies and more. And while Boilermakers themselves have also evolved with industry changes, they’ve remained constant as the dependable, go-to welders, riggers and fabricators that steep the union’s history.— Jun 27
Joe Asher from Local 106 (Cincinnati, Ohio) is sandwiched between two generations of family with union pride: his United Mine Workers Association father and his daughter, Chasity Asher, the newest union member in the family. For Asher and his daughter, being stanchly union is all in the family.— Jun 27
In the 1940s, the Boilermakers' union, along with other unions, faced pressure to end their auxiliary lodge systems which segregated Black members into separate locals. It’s important to note that while not all unions were segregated in the 1940s, the majority were, mirroring wider society.— Jun 26
