Local 7 had a busy night on Wednesday, June 28th. At 4 PM they did their annual rededication of their "FALLEN MEMBER" memorial in the union hall parking lot. This year's presentation was in memory of our fallen brothers Adam Simon and Joe McWilliams who were taken from our midst through on-the-job accidents since last year's dedication...
To see the pictures of the FALLEN MEMBER memorial rededication JH  

After convening the meeting at 5 PM, DC President Jay Hurley presented his close friend, Local 7's Gary DeSousa, with a gold Iron Worker ring from the District Council. The ring exemplifies Gary's perseverance and hard work in rehabbing from a life-threatening 1999 fall while working...

To see the pictures of Gary DeSousa JH  

Finally, Local 7's new officers were sworn in and an apprentice class totaling 72 new members was sworn in immediately thereafter...

To see the pictures of the swearing in ceremony JH  

For a MAPQUEST Map of the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home JH 

ACCORDING TO THE BOSTON GLOBE: "When it comes to commercial construction, New England is steel country. Other parts of the country favor concrete, which is more expensive, but here almost all modern towers and tall residential buildings are built on skeletons of steel columns and beams.

But with construction costs skyrocketing, due largely to the rising price of steel, the developers of a new luxury condominium in Providence that will be Rhode Island's tallest building scrapped plans for a steel structure and drew up a new design for concrete. As a result, Blue Chip Properties LLC squeezed two extra floors into a building that didn't need to be any taller.

``The steel price rises day to day," said Minhaj Kirmani, a principal of Weidlinger Associates Inc. of Cambridge, consulting engineers to Blue Chip Properties. ``Nobody can guarantee prices six months down the line...."

To read the entire BOSTON GLOBE story JH  

Local 7 retiree Wally Young has two reasons to be extremely proud. His daughter, Kimberly Cross, wife of Local 7 member Patrick Cross, graduated from Curry College "With Honors." Meanwhile, Wally's son, Daniel, received his PHD in Bio-Medical Science from UMass Worcester. His dissertation was the "Control of cell growth and differentiation within the context of nuclear architecture by the transcription factor RUNXD." (I had a hard time copying this one, never mind understanding it!). Needless to say, Wally has a couple of bright young adults that he should take a great deal of pride in. Congratulations to Wally, Kimberly, and Daniel. 

Atlantic Bridge is rebuilding Route 195 in Rhode Island. Thanks to LU37's Roy Coulombe for sending some great photos of the work...

To see the pictures JH  

Local 7's apprentice class spent a night of celebration at The Stadium in South Boston in honor of their graduating to JIW status. Congratulations are in order to all the graduates and thanks should go out to the teachers, the JAC staff, and the trustees of the JAC for still another successful year.

To see the pictures of the event JH  

Local 7 members showed up in droves to cast their votes for their elected officials for the next three year cycle, as well as to vote for their delegates to the 41st International Convention, which will convene on Monday August 14th in Washington, DC. It was a terrific feeling to see so many old friendships renewed, as well as the activity and presence of so many of the younger members makes for a reassuring feeling that the local is on the right track as we head into the future. Local 7 members in attendance included District Council President Emeritus Joe Quilty; United States Congressman Steve Lynch; and our International's Executive Director of Organizing Bernie Evers.

To see the pictures JH  

For ELECTION RESULTS  JH  

Here's a few more pictures of the Northpoint job in Cambridge, MA that we highlighted on June 5 (below)...

To see the pictures JH  

Thanks to Local 424 President/BA Kevin Byrnes for sending a couple of photos related to things going on in his area. Top left is Local 424 E Board member Jim Doheny doing some community service at the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven. Top right is Kevin (far right) with a gang working on a pre-engineered metal building for CON-QUIP at the Metro North Station in New Haven....

To see larger pictures JH  

Thanks to Local 7 BA Eddie Wright, who forwarded the following photos (taken by Phyllis Holtz of Spaulding & Slye) and Local 7 steward Chet Dwulet, who provided additional information regarding the NORTHPOINT job in Cambridge, MA. Several of the pictures are Zichelle Steel and the rest are BRI. Northpoint is a huge project keeping a lot of our contractors and members busy...

To see pictures of the Northpoint projects JH

The result of our Council's intensive training was obvious in Hartford, CT today when the top apprentices from local unions around the council gathered to compete in all facets of our trade. Welding, burning, rigging, knot tying, optical instrument skills, rebar tying, finish work assembly and an intensive written test were all part of the overall exam. Thanks go out to Local 15, especially JAC Coordinator Rick Monroe, who put so much time in to make this endeavor a successful one. Thanks too to the Local 15 retirees, many of whom showed up to support the young members who were competing. Congratulations are in order for the apprentices also, as just to make it to this competition is something to be proud of. (Winners will be announced shortly, once all the votes are tallied. Pictures of the COLUMN CLIMB will be posted too.)

To see pictures of today's competition JH

Local 7 BA/IA Tommy Shea forwarded some information as to the ongoing activities in Worcester, MA, both from a work standpoint, as well as a personal standpoint...

One example is our members working at Foster Forbes Glass Plant replacing an old furnace. TOMMY's explanation via E-mail does the job more justice than I could: "Attached are the pictures from Foster Forbes Glass plant. The work involves rebuilding one of the furnaces. The first thing that is done is to drain off the molten glass though a pipe. Then you make this huge needle out of 2" pipe with a water spigot attached. Cut a hole in the roof of the building and the top of the furnace and jab the needle into the molten glass near the throat of the furnace and turn on the water. This freezes the glass into a plug at the throat. then the temp of the furnace is lowered to only 1800 degrees and we can work on the furnace and catwalks. Sometimes you wear winter clothes just to keep the heat away from you.You have to wear bandanas under your goggles so the goggles won't seal themselves to your face. (Picture #7 is that of infant Bud bottles. Once nurtured and if handled properly will grow up to hold what Iron Workers like.)"

To see pictures of the Foster Forbes project JH

Meanwhile, members from Aztec Steel remain hard at work on the rebuilding of Route 146 in Worcester...

To see pictures of the AZTEC STEEL job JH  

Finally, on a personal note, member Craig Murray (above left) was recently married; while young  Phoenix Donahue was welcomed into the world by Local 7's Pat Donahue (above right), who just finished his apprenticeship. What better gift than a young son! Congratulations to Craig and Pat!

To see larger pictures of these momentous events JH  

±±±±±±±

McWilliams family joins Local 7 members and officers in the "Draping of the Charter" at Local 7's union meeting...

There weren't many dry eyes in the room when Joe McWilliams' son Danny and daughter Tracie showed up to participate in the draping of Local 7's charter to signify the loss of life within the membership. (It should be noted that Danny is a talented young Local 7 apprentice and will undoubtedly carry on his dad's legacy).Thanks to Local 7 BA/IA Tom Shea for having a camera ready to capture the moment...

To see pictures of the ceremony JH  

Echelon Erectors is setting the precast concrete for the Springfield Courthouse in Western Massachusetts. Thanks to Local 7 BA/IA Fiore Grassetti for sending the photos related to this job; and congratulations to him for his pending re-election, as he is running unopposed for another term as the Springfield area Business Agent/Industry Analyst for Local 7...

To see pictures of the job JH