Recently, members of IUEC Local 7 (Baltimore) in association with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance hosted a Trap Shoot Competition at the Carney Rod and Gun Club in Maryland.

Walt Ingram, CEO and Executive Director, describes the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance as “a union-based organization that works on conservation with union members”. Since 2007, they’ve set up fishing, hunting, archery, and other outdoor activities for union members and their families across the country. They also host benefit dinners to raise money for conservation projects built by volunteer members of the union building trades; these include building public-use fishing piers and boardwalks, archery ranges, bird boxes, and more. All of their projects focus on preserving wildlife habitats, providing access to land and water, ensuring public access for outdoor recreational spaces, and improving infrastructure to make these spaces available to all who enjoy shooting, hunting, fishing, and similar activities.

 

For approximately ten years, IUEC General President Frank Christensen and General Secretary-Treasurer Larry McGann have sat on the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance Board of Directors, providing oversight and direction. President Christensen is proud of the work IUEC elevator constructors and other members of the union building trades have done to support their work in the community. He says, “I think it’s so important that union members are running these projects on their own, volunteering – not only us, but the carpenters, the electricians, they’re all helping out – they’re rebuilding the decks, rebuilding the cabins, bridges, whatever is needed. And after the work is complete, they put a plaque up that says ‘built by union members’.”

President Christensen said being able to give kids from urban areas the opportunity to experience outdoor activities like hunting and fishing is a big part of why this organization is so important to him. “For me, being a city kid – some would say an inner-city kid – to see the kids who never had the chance to go fishing with their first rod and reel, their first fishing pole – it’d make you smile for a day, hey, it might make you smile for a week or year…most kids from the city never get that opportunity which sometimes we take for granted.”

For General Secretary-Treasurer Larry McGann, the highlight of his involvement with the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance is about giving union members the chance to participate in events like the Trap Shoot together with their families. “It’s about family values – not just for the member, but for their spouses, their kids – there are a lot of events they can do together. I came up hunting and fishing, I know how valuable it is to have events the whole family can participate in,” he said.

Jimmy Demmel, Assistant National Director of the Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund (EIWPF) and Local 10 member, joined this year’s Trap Shoot with his son Jack, a fourth-year apprentice in the trade. “I got involved because I hunt and fish with my whole family – my son, my wife, my other son, my daughter – we come up here for the camaraderie, the fun – plus, you’re giving back. We also did a Union Sportsmen’s Alliance project several years ago, building a fishing pier under the new Wilson Bridge with Local 10 and the rest of the building trades. The outdoors is a part of life – being involved with other like-minded tradesmen, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve got a 23-year-old son who’ll come hang out with me for the afternoon if we go shootin’.”

While Union Sportsmen’s Alliance events all have a focus on conserving spaces where people hunt and fish, another goal is to bring together union leadership, union members, their families, and the community. “We engage high school kids, apprentices from union locals, and almost invariably, union leadership shows up – folks who haven’t worked with tools in years all of a sudden will put a tool belt on again, because they’re doing something good in the community and there’s a lot of pride in their craft. And that will show them there is an opportunity for a career – you don’t need to go to college, you can actually get paid to learn as an apprentice, and make a good wage, have great benefits, and 4-5 years later come out as a journeyperson.”

Ingram told us that according to the AFL-CIO, 74% of all active and retired union members shoot, hunt, fish, or recreate in the outdoors, making events like this a natural fit for the IUEC. “Having the ability to connect members who enjoy that – it’s important…this event here today brings all those folks together, having fun, enjoying themselves – they’re building relationships they’ll take back home and use in their work. It might be a Business Manager from DC and a Business Manager from Houston who meet for the first time, and they’ll find that there’s common interest or challenges in their work. Now they have someone who they can pick up the phone and call.”

In addition to being a good time, events like the Trap Shoot have been an important way for union members and leadership from across the country to get to know each other (with some friendly competition, of course). “Events like this one today are good for a whole lot of reasons,” Walt Ingram says. “Union members and leaders meet a lot, but usually over things that are not a lot of fun to deal with – here today, they’re having fun… people are here from all over the country, maybe they haven’t seen some of their brothers or sisters since last year’s shoot. It’s kind of like a reunion – a renewing of fellowship, or making new friends. There are some folks here who have never shot before, and today they’re shooting a shotgun for the first time – so you get to introduce people to the shooting sports.”

In addition to setting up events like the trap shoot in Maryland, the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance organizes a pheasant hunt and plans family camping trips. Through their popular Take Kids Fishing days, they have introduced about 27,000 kids to fishing in the last five years. Ingram says, “these take kids fishing events that are sponsored by the union local – families come, people in the community at large come, it gives them an opportunity to learn about fishing, about conservation, and also about unions. So our take kids fishing events are really powerful, because it impacts the family of the member, and the people who aren’t members at all… if you can get more people involved in fishing and the outdoors, this world’s a better place.”

“We had one of those in Chicago and there was a great turnout,” said President Christensen. “I heard from several guys there – they just couldn’t get the smiles off those kids’ faces. They were just blown away. It’s something you don’t even think about.”

This year, three IUEC Locals received awards from the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance for leading the membership in participation and support. They were:

• #1 IUEC Local 10 (331 members)
• #2 IUEC Local 2 (315 members)
• #3 IUEC Local 18 (281 members)

Trophy winners of this year’s 2023 IUEC Baltimore-Area Trap Shoot included:

2023 IUEC Baltimore-Area Trap Shoot
Team Name	Individual Name	Scores	Team Score	Winners
IUEC Local 7 Team B	Dave	40		HOA TEAM
	Dylan Zepp	42		HOA Youth
	Tom	41
	Wayne	45
	Tim	44	212
Iron Workers Local 5	Luke	35		A 1st Place
	Darryl	46
	Robbie	39
	Dave Dulin	48		HOA Individual
	Matt	35	203
IUEC Local 7 Team J	Lewis	41		A 2nd Place
	Mike	42
	Greg Yohn	47		HOA Senior
	Kyle	27
	Matt	34	191
IUEC Local 7 Team E	Paul	36		A 3rd Place
	Gary	47
	Rick	40
	Jesse	32
	Ghost	32	187
C. Winters/Eberts/IUEC 25	Dan	42		B 1st Place
	Craig	37
	Tyler	33
	Dane	33
	Ghost	32	177
Roofers International	Kinsey	26		B 2nd Place
	Mona Robinson	29		HOA Lady
	Chuck	34
	Chen	46
	Bill	40	175
IUEC Local 7 Team I	Shawn	38		B 3rd Place
	Bobby	34
	Tony	34
	Matt	33
	Ghost	32	171
IUEC Local 7 Team C	Allen	29		C 1st Place
	Bernie	34
	Robbie	40
	JD	19
	Jeffrey	26	148
Buch Construction	Scott	40		C 2nd Place
	Dan	25
	Randall	26
	Ryan	27
	Joe	29	147
IUEC International	Frank	34		C 3rd Place
	Larry	20
	David	15
	Zack	28
	Ryan	45	142
	Jason Danker	41		HOA Veteran

 

 

Because the IUEC is a Charter Union Affiliate of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, IUEC members can join at no cost. When they do, they get a monthly magazine with articles about union members’ involvement in outdoor activities and projects, calendars, info on organized hunting trips, and discounts on fishing equipment and guns. President Christensen hopes to have more IUEC members join soon, saying “we’re going to start getting a push out there and telling them how important it is – not just for hunting and fishing, but for the kids, for the parks – this is the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to show how much the unions are involved and helping out.”

If you are an IUEC member or member of another Charter Union Affiliate who wants to activate your no-cost membership in the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, visit https://www.myusamembership.com/union

A list of upcoming Union Sportsmen’s Alliance events is below:

2023 CONSERVATION PROJECTS & OUTREACH EVENTS
Sept. TBD Marietta Take Kids Fishing Day Marietta, OH
Sept. 9 Kansas City Take Kids Fishing Day Kansas City, MO
Sept. 10 IAFF Chicago Fish with a 1st Responder Chicago, IL
Sept. 10 Roofers Twin Cities Get Youth Outdoors Day Clear Lake, MN
Sept. 17 Boilermakers Kansas City Get Youth Outdoors Day Lenexa, KS
Sept. 23 Spring Hill Campin’ in the Park Spring Hill, TN
Sept. 30 Ryan Helms Memorial Pheasant Reading, PA
Oct. 7 Chicago Family Outdoors Day Chicago, IL
Oct. 14 Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge Pavilion Project Dedication Laurel, MD
Oct. 14 Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge Community Bird Box Build Laurel, MD
Oct. 21 Montgomery Bell Family Campout Burns, TN
Dec. San Antonio BCTC Take Kids Fishing Day San Antonio, TX
TBD SMART Take Kids Fishing Day TBD, MD
TBD Montana Take Kids Fishing Day Helena, MT

2023 SHOOTING TOUR SCHEDULE
*Event names, dates and locations are subject to change
Aug. 26 New England Sporting Clays Shoot North Kingstown, RI
Sept. 9 Roofers Twin Cities Sporting Clays Shoot Clear Lake, MN
Sept.16 Boilermakers Kansas City Sporting Clays Shoot Lenexa, KS
Sept. 23 SMART/Cigna Colorado Sporting Clays Shoot Brighton, CO
Sept. 30 IBEW Southern California Sporting Clays Shoot South El Monte, CA
Oct. 3 OPCMIA Maryland Sporting Clays Shoot Glenn Dale, MD
Oct. 21 BAC N. Kentucky Sporting Clays Shoot Owenton, KY