Recently, the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 4 celebrated their 125^th anniversary with a dinner and dance at Boston’s Omni Seaport Hotel. Members, families, and friends of Local 4, along with leadership from IUEC international offices, building owners, company owners, and individuals from IUEC Locals across the United States and Canada – gathered together to celebrate this important and remarkable milestone.

Formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in February of 1899, Local 4 now has over 1,250 elevator constructors working at IUEC signatory companies including the nation’s largest and most recognizable names such as TK Elevator, Kone, Otis, Schindler, Mitsubishi, and Fujitec – along with smaller independent elevator companies like Stanley Elevator, Atlantic Elevator (North and South), 3 Phase, and Metro Elevator New England.

Business Manager and Financial Secretary Pat Sampson told ElevatorInfo that Local 4’s jurisdiction covers a lot more than most people think – not only the greater Boston region, but from the tip of Cape Cod all the way up to Maine and New Hampshire, and extending about 45 miles west to Interstate 495 in Massachusetts.

“There’s just a certain vibe you get from working in the city of Boston – the city of champions as some people like to call it – as opposed to anywhere else,” said Tim Morgan, an IUEC National Organizer who served as the Business Manager of Local 4 from 2019-2024.

Because of the strength of their education program, their unwavering dedication to jobsite safety, and a culture of craftsmanship and professionalism, Local 4 members have been the top choice for building owners and managers to install, service, maintain, repair, and inspect elevators and escalators in Boston and beyond, performing “about 98% of the work here,” said Doug Cullington, President of Local 4. “We believe in unionism, safety, and training, and that’s what keeps us strong.”

“No matter where you’re going in the streets of Boston you run into an elevator constructor you get a hello. It’s the best group of men and women in the industry,” said Dave Morgan, a Local 4 member and former Business Manager who is now the Executive Director for the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP). “Family is a lot of things, you know, and the brothers and sisters of Local 4 make up a great family.”

While many elevator constructors from Local 4 who have held leadership positions at the Local have become leaders at the international level, all maintain that sense of pride in where they came from.

“I’m a Local 4 Boston Elevator Mechanic first and foremost. That’s the core of who I am,” said IUEC Regional Director Kevin McGettigan. “Local 4 and this international is very, very strong. It has a commitment to its membership, and everybody needs to celebrate that commitment, and we all need to support each other. You need help from your friends? That’s what we are. We’re your friends.”

Tim Morgan spoke about how past leadership in Local 4 set a high standard that remains a core part of the culture of the Local to this day. “I obviously had the best mentor – my father (Bob Morgan) – and what I like to call the dream team of leadership – Eddie Sullivan, Frank McGettigan and Larry Graham. Moving on, I think the leadership that followed was just an extension of them because everybody held the same standards and the same qualities moving forward. So Steve Sampson, Kevin (McGettigan), and even my brother, Dave Morgan…I was just following what I was taught from those gentlemen.”

IUEC General President Frank Christensen, IUEC General President Emeritus / AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades President Emeritus Ed Sullivan, and former US Secretary of Labor / former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh were all featured speakers. People attending the event enjoyed live entertainment from a nine-piece orchestra, a 360-degree photo booth, and the Boston Bruins’ own Todd Angeli singing the National Anthem.

Ed Sullivan was a keynote speaker at the event. He joined IUEC Local 4 in 1964 as an elevator mechanic, working as a construction mechanic and service adjuster for 17 years. He then became the Business Manager of the Local in 1981, and in 1996 moved on to international leadership positions in the IUEC including Assistant General President and General President before accepting a position as President of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. During his tenure at AFL-CIO, he started the Helmets to Hardhats program, which helps United States military Veterans transition to careers in the building trades. He was also a founder of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, a nonprofit organization with a mission “to unite the union community through conservation to preserve North America’s outdoor heritage.”

During his speech, Ed Sullivan read a poem called “The Caretaker” by Murray Kempton, which exemplified his thoughts on what it means to be a union leader. “Not the owner of an institution, (but) the caretaker of a tradition,” he said. “The union doesn’t belong to you. It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to all of those that belong to it … I think basically that’s what I tried to do, live my life like that, live my job like that. And I that’s what they’re doing today… the principles that they have. And that’s what I think has made the union what it is today.”

He continued, “I’m incredibly proud and grateful for the lifelong friendships that I made through Local 4, and I’m incredibly proud that we helped make the IUEC the best labor union in the entire world,” he said. “I’m proud to be here at this celebration. I was at the 90th and the 100^th anniversary… I’m proud of what they do here.”

IUEC General President Frank Christensen was also a featured speaker at the anniversary.  He congratulated the Local on their longevity and success, and thanked Ed Sullivan for being a mentor. “If I’m ever going to look at a labor leader, somebody with honor that they have pride for…he took me under his wing in the early 90s,” he said. “He’s always somebody I look up to, always somebody I ask for advice.”

Marty Walsh, former US Secretary of Labor and former Mayor of the city of Boston, spoke about Ed Sullivan as not only “a labor leader, but he’s more than that in this country. He means a lot for the labor movement.”

An important labor leader with Boston roots himself – and the founder of the Building Pathways pre-apprenticeship program – Marty Walsh has had a long-standing relationship with Local 4. He spoke about their strength and the importance of honoring history and the people who made it possible for them to be the successful, long-standing organization that they are.

“Any organization that starts, and 125 years later is stronger than it was when it began, is a success,” he said. “You think about the importance of this Local union…the benefits you have, the healthcare you have the pension you have, the working conditions you have… we’re standing on the shoulders of individuals who started this Local union, and the people that were there in the beginning days fighting for all of the things that didn’t exist when this Local was created. It’s our obligation as union members, as union families, to continue that and pass that torch forward.”

Local 4 President Doug Cullington agreed.  “Local 4 has been around for a really long time,” he said. “It goes all the way back to our retirees, our founding members, our founding brothers and sisters that worked hard in the trade. We believe in a good work ethic. We believe in a good product. And with that work ethic, it continues through with the officers and the local. And we believe that everything that we’ve done in the past is done the right way and proper, and we’re bringing that right through to future.”

While in Boston, we also had the opportunity to speak with Steve Sampson, who served as Business Manager from 1999-2003. Today, in his retirement, he works as an instructor for Local 4’s NEIEP apprenticeship program, where he passes on his technical expertise as well as his leadership experience to apprentices just beginning their careers in the trade.

“I was very fortunate, as a Business Manager, when we had the 100th anniversary here in Boston – I thought that was just spectacular, all of the members and their families getting together and just having a wonderful time and being appreciative of the Local for what they’ve done for us. And now we come to 125th anniversary… these members today are so lucky to have such a great union, and to be able to celebrate its 125th anniversary. It’s just amazing.”

Congratulations, Local 4. In the words of Marty Walsh, “let’s keep kicking ass and get another 125 years of this union in this country.”

“I would say they’re the best in the industry,” said Tony Polotto, Senior Director of Construction and Quality Assurance for the University of Notre Dame, speaking about the IUEC elevator constructors who install, maintain, repair, and inspect the university’s vertical transportation equipment.  “The mechanics that we get – the technicians and the workmanship that we get from the organization – is top notch.”

Established in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is located in South Bend, Indiana. It has grown to encompass almost 200 buildings with 11,000,000 square feet under their collective roofs. Tony told us that on a typical day during the school year, there will be about 8,500 students and 5,800 employees somewhere on the university’s grounds. And while the football stadium holds 80,000 spectators, it’s not uncommon for 150,000 visitors to show up on game day to tailgate and enjoy the campus and the camaraderie with their friends and family.

“The University of Notre Dame historically has completed about $100 million in construction per year. I think by the last count we have over 254 elevators on campus that consistently need to operate. So the elevators are widely used – not just for passengers, but freight, and also day-to-day operations,” he said.

Between the campus, grounds, and football stadium, the elevators at the University of Notre Dame move hundreds of thousands of people every year. It’s critically important that Notre Dame’s vertical transportation equipment runs smoothly, reliably, and above all, safely. Ensuring consistent, reliable service for students, faculty, athletes, and staff through the historic buildings on campus is essential, so the university has made ongoing preventive elevator maintenance a priority.

“There are several buildings on campus that only have one elevator. If it goes down and we have a special needs person in that building, (there are) consequences to that. So the elevator program – to make sure that they’re in good functionality and there’s a good program for maintenance and a good program for renewal and replacement, is top priority for the university.”

Working with an IUEC-affiliated company, a reliable maintenance control program (MCP) was simple to set up and implement.

“We visit each elevator out here every month. Some of them we visit twice a month,” said Randy Soper, a service mechanic at Notre Dame University and member of IUEC Local 44, who services and maintains the elevators on campus. Randy has been working on the university’s elevators since 2019, so he understands how important it is to keep the conveyance equipment up and running for the students, faculty, athletes, staff, and visitors who rely on it every day.

“The sooner you can catch a problem before it becomes a problem where someone can be stuck, the better off it is,” he said.

Bethany Wilson, another IUEC service mechanic out of Local 44, has worked with Randy on the elevator systems at Notre Dame. She shares Randy’s commitment to making sure the people on campus can go about their day without worrying if they are going to be able to get to where they need to go.

“The riding public doesn’t have to worry about it. You can go up to an elevator, you can push a button, and it just works. The doors open, they close, and you feel safe riding it, and you are safe riding it – and that’s because the work is completed by union elevator constructors who are and do it safely,” she said.

Safety is always a top priority for IUEC apprentices and mechanics. From the beginning of their apprenticeship at the industry’s most rigorous and respected training institute – the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP) – to the time they are mechanics enrolled in NEIEP’s wide selection of continuing education courses online or in-person, to the ongoing safety training companies affiliated with the IUEC provides, the focus is on doing their work efficiently and safely.

While visiting Notre Dame, we also had a chance to catch up with Randy Kinder, who attended Notre Dame in the 90s and was a running back for the legendary Fighting Irish before moving on to positions with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, where he was a member of the Packers’ NFC Championship team in 1997.

“I got here as a freshman in 1993. I played football here and ran track for a year. I left here after playing football for four years and went on and had a very short but exciting career in the NFL,” he told us.

After leaving the NFL, Randy went on to build a new career in the investment industry. He worked for more than 20 years for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, and today works for Entrust Global. As an Executive Board Member of Holtz’s Heroes, a charitable organization founded by the University’s football alumni, he still visits the Notre Dame campus often. We spoke at length about his experience there as a student athlete, and about his reverence for his alma mater.

“I learned a lot here, and the things I learned at this university I’ve taken with me everywhere and they still hold true,” he said. “You’re expected to be excellent both on the field and off. It’s not about being perfect, but about continuing to seek perfection, continuing to seek excellence. That’s something I learned definitely here on the campus of Notre Dame.”

He continued, “There’s a level of excellence and expectation that is live on this campus, the work that the elevator constructors do, that all of the workers on this campus do, is key and paramount to making sure that level of excellence is always there… at places like Notre Dame, you just take for granted how well things go. You take for granted that the dining hall is going to be operating the right way so that you can grab food at any point after a late practice where it may be. You take for granted that when you walk into your building you can get up to your dorm.”

Tony told us he is pleased with his experience working with IUEC mechanics, who he considers an important part of the Notre Dame community. “They are true Notre Dame people… they’re top-grade mechanics that have been at this university for a long time. They have wonderful camaraderie and relationships with all the other contractors, our building managers, and our supervisors.”

“Their technical skills are amazing,” he continued. “I can’t remember the last time we had a failure with an elevator, new or renovation, that they couldn’t quickly address. And it’s the reliability of knowing what you’re going to get, and, basically, not having to worry about what’s behind the curtain.”

On May 15, IUEC Local 82 hosted its third annual Safety Stand Down event at the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

“Safety Stand Down is a moment to take a time out and talk about safety,” began Eric McClaskey, Safety Director for the International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC). “It’s for us to put down the tools, get with the employers, get with our members, and take that moment to discuss safety in the workplace.”

The event is a joint venture between the international office of the IUEC, Local 82 in Vancouver, and IUEC-affiliated elevator company employers. “It shows that both the companies and the union are on the same side when it comes to safety,” said Ben McIntyre, an IUEC National Organizer in Canada.

IUEC elevator constructors from greater Vancouver and across British Columbia showed up to listen to the featured speakers and visit tables staffed by IUEC-affiliated company representatives and manufacturers of safety equipment for the industry. From those who worked in modernization to repair to new construction and maintenance, elevator constructors who were probationary apprentices all the way to veteran mechanics gathered together to listen to the same message.

Mike Funk, Business Manager of Local 82, was pleased with the turnout for this year’s event. “It’s our third annual one. We started out small. My one rep Tyler Dunlop came to me and asked about getting something to do with safety. It started out just in the back of our one office. We had a food truck, a few vendors, the companies, and it’s just grown.”

As IUEC’s Director of Safety, Eric McClaskey is responsible for ensuring that the membership gets home safely every night. This includes ensuring elevator constructors are following their company’s safety policies, that they’re being provided with the proper PPE and equipment to work safely in their job each and every day, and that various codes and standards that are out there that protect workers are followed throughout the country.  He spoke on behalf of the IUEC Safety Department along with Assistant Director of Safety, Dave Griefenhagen and Josh Josoff, the IUEC’s Director of Codes and Standards.

As Assistant Safety Director, Dave’s primary focus is helping to develop local area safety committees (which are labor management safety committees) to encourage and educate on the safety policies of IUEC signatory companies on the job sites. Josh Josoff works with the development of the codes and standards that regulate elevators, escalators, moving walks, and other conveyance equipment across North America, Canada, and the United States.

“This year, our Safety Stand Down message from the employers was based on pre-job planning, Eric told us. “Of course, it was General President Christensen’s message to the membership to lead it off.”  Video messages from IUEC General President Frank Christensen, Canadian Premier David Eby, Canadian Minister of Labour Harry Bains, and leadership from IUEC-affiliated companies emphasized the importance of working safe

“We had two guest speakers that had horrific workplace injuries that occurred to them, and they told their stories,” he continued. Mark Johnson, who was injured in an accident involving a woodchipper, and Jack Thomas who was injured by a conveyor belt at a recycling facility, spoke about how their on-the-job injuries permanently affected their lives.

After watching presentations by the injured workers, Anne Kirkland, a Maintenance Supervisor for TKE, told us that it’s important for people who work in professions like the elevator trade to remember that workplace injuries impact more than just the person who gets hurt. “It’s not just their story. It’s a story of their loved ones. This did not just affect the one person that was injured. It affected their entire families and support systems,” she said.

Dylan Angus, the son of IUEC Elevator Constructor Ross Angus, who lost his life in an accident in 2021, spoke about his family’s experience after his father’s death. Today, Dylan has dedicated his life to improving safety on the jobsite as a Construction Safety Supervisor for TKE in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Chris McIntyre, Program Director for the Canadian Elevator Industry Educational Program (CEIEP) also attended the event, along with CEIEP’s Assistant Director, Dan Vinette. ElevatorInfo recently put out a story about CEIEP, the largest trainer of elevator constructor apprentices across Canada, coast to coast.

“CEIEP has taken great advances to improve safety starting with our 24-hour safety course. We’ve introduced the CEIEP Safety VR, which allows all new hires to the industry to access the machine room, car top, an elevator pit in a safe and controlled manner before their first day of employment,” he said.

“CEIEP is really where it starts, right?” said Dave Griefenhagen. “The education of safety starts from the day the apprentice steps on the jobsite, and CEIEP is where that’s captured.”

Major IUEC-affiliated elevator companies KONE and TKE had a strong presence at the event. “This is the second year I’ve been involved,” said Jennifer Mitchell, Maintenance Supervisor for KONE Elevators. When asked why it was important for her to attend, she told us “I’m just trying to learn how to keep my team as safe as possible. I want them to go home safe every day to their family, their friends, and make sure nobody gets hurt on my watch.”

Companies that develop and sell safety equipment used by elevator constructors in the field also had tables set up. We visited with Mike Hurley from Wurtec elevator and talked with him about the equipment he was demonstrating at his table. “We have wire rope, travel cable, we’re kind of a one-stop shop for the elevator industry. We’ve got mechanics that are coming around and checking out our wares and hopefully seeing something that might help them in their day-to-day jobs that would make it safer,” he said.

Darrin Porch, founder and CEO of SafeRise, spoke to us about how the hoistway protection equipment his company developed can create safer jobsites for elevator constructors. “SafeRise was founded with the focus on bringing engineered, reusable safety solutions to the construction industry,” he said. “I was very honored to be invited as a vendor to come here and be a part of this. We are looking to grow into Canada, so this was a great event to get to meet a lot of people here. And the event really focused on putting safety at the forefront for the workers. The IUEC does a great job of doing that and keeping that focus there.”

“The dangers are always around us and it only takes a split second for you to become one of the statistics,” said Ward Dicks, National Coordinator for the Canadian Market Recovery Fund in Canada and the Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund in the US. “I have a son in the trade, and I want to make sure that he gets home every day safe, just like every other brother and sister in Canada and the US. It’s the whole thing about changing the way we think about safety.”

Eric McClaskey explained how events like this don’t just benefit mechanics and apprentices who work on vertical transportation equipment, they benefit elevator companies, elevator customers, and the riding public:

“When we focus on safety in a stand down arena like this, we take that time out to think about safety. When we get back to the job site, I think that it goes right back to the type of work you’re performing. At the end of the day, when you’re in construction and you’re focused on the task at hand and putting out a top-notch piece of equipment that is safe, tested, and ready to go for the riding public, safety just leads right into that mindset. It promotes higher quality work, too. If you’re working safe and you’re not rushing and not cutting corners, it provides a safer product for the riding public.”

“Over the years I’ve seen this city grow so much it’s unbelievable – the area we’re currently in right now, they’ve cleaned it all up and now you see modern buildings all around,” said John O’Connor, a lifelong resident of the Washington DC area and Business Manager for International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) Local 10, which represents the vertical transportation industry’s best-trained and most highly-skilled elevator mechanics and apprentices in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

In the last ten years, the southwest area of Washington DC has experienced rapid growth and development. Once a blighted industrial area and site of a decommissioned power plant, today the Anacostia Waterfront Development Zone is experiencing a construction boom. Among the buildings under construction is the award-winning¹ Stacks building – described by developers as “an energetic multi-use development in DC set in the heart of the iconic Buzzard Point district²” – which comprises three condo towers equipped with 18 elevators. All of these conveyance systems are installed by and will be serviced by elevator constructors from one of the IUEC’s most well-established and respected affiliated companies, TK Elevator.

“This is a start of a very big project,” John continued. “A lot of these streets in the Stacks job are going to be themed streets – like on one street it’ll be like walking down a street in Italy, on another, walking down through a street in Germany… it’s a lot of retail space, office space, childcare – you name it, it’s here.”

When the ElevatorInfo Media Team visited the site last spring, we had the opportunity to speak with Marty Walker Jr., a Construction Manager for TK Elevator, who supervises operations on the job. Another longtime resident of the area, he described the rapid growth of the up-and-coming southwest waterfront district.

“There’s a lot of development. This is a condominium complex – around us you’ve got Audi Field, the soccer stadium, behind us – you’ve got the DC Wharf, which is a couple of blocks down on the waterfront – so really, this whole Buzzard Point southwest is being redeveloped,” he said. “(There are) a lot of condominiums, a little bit of office, really the whole southwest waterfront of DC is being revamped. There’s lot of construction going on, a lot of work opportunity… probably the biggest development area in the District of Columbia over the last five to ten years.”

Marty took us through the site and showed us the state-of-the art equipment his team was installing. “This is a machine room-less traction elevator – so the machine is in the overhead as opposed to in a machine room at the top above the elevator shaft itself, and then the control system is in a room that’s up on the rooftop landings.”

In cities like Washington DC space is at a premium, so installing new, modern equipment was an excellent choice for the building’s developers – and TK Elevator had just the equipment they needed. In addition to maximizing the building’s available space, the belt-driven traction elevators being installed will provide a smooth, quiet ride for the people who will live in, work in, and visit the building once it’s complete.

As with every IUEC jobsite we’ve visited, mechanics and supervisors alike were vocal about safety being a priority for the skilled elevator technicians installing vertical transportation equipment.

“When I come in, the first thing we do is come and check that all the barricades are up,” said Tom Sorzano, Construction Foreman on the project. “If (hoistway) netting is not up, we have to put that up, and then when our guys get here, we’ve got to make sure that every day they have all the material they’re gonna need … all their safety supplies and PPE (personal protective equipment) – gloves, glasses, hard hats – (and that) all of our lifelines are installed, making sure everybody’s safe.”

Tom stressed that safety isn’t just about communicating with his team of elevator constructors, it’s also about communicating with the people from other trades such as carpenters, steelworkers, and electricians who work alongside them.

“Communication in general is huge,” he said. “Keeping everybody on the same page, focused, making sure we have power, making sure the building is getting drywall around the frames, and (people are) not working above us – it’s constant communication with not only my people, but other trades, too.”

To ensure the job is done well and done safely, projects as big as this one require all of the elevator mechanics and apprentices on-site to hold the appropriate certifications necessary to do their work. Because TK Elevator is an IUEC signatory company, making sure elevator constructors are up to date with the certifications they need is as easy as making a phone call to the Business Manager, who will set up their training courses.

“A lot of these projects require certifications,” Marty said. “I can count many times where I’ve reached out to Local 10 and John (O’Connor) about welding, sig rig, forklift, certifications – and they’ve conducted the classes at Local 10. That basically removes the barrier from us from having any issues with providing manpower to these projects, because a lot of these projects do have strict requirements for certifications.”

As IUEC members, all Local 10 elevator constructors have access to the industry’s most comprehensive training through the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP). There are classrooms and a welding lab on-site at the hall in Lanham, Maryland, just outside the city, as well as satellite classrooms for students who live further out in the Local’s jurisdiction. All have access to NEIEP’s online courses as well.

The ANSI-accredited Certified Signal Person and Rigger Levels 1 and 2 (CSPR-1/2) certification course, along with OSHA 10, Arc Flash Safety, SAIA Scaffolding, and American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED, are all part of NEIEP’s required apprenticeship curriculum. Welding, Forklift, and Aerial Lift certifications are available to mechanics as continuing education offerings. All can be earned by apprentices and mechanics with no additional out-of-pocket costs, as they are covered by the IUEC’s education benefits.

As John O’Connor said, learning this craft isn’t easy – but as the IUEC recruits the best and brightest elevator apprentices and mechanics in the industry, he has confidence in the new members coming in who will be the future of the skilled elevator trade. “I learned it, just like these guys all learned it, our members are learning it, and these probationaries are going to come up the same way.”

Marty, who worked together with Local 10 as part of the interview and onboarding process for new apprentice elevator constructors, spoke of his excitement about opportunities for growth within the trade and growth in construction in the southwest DC area. “Driving up South Capitol Street in the last three, four, five years, there’s been a lot of redevelopment. Just the amount of peripheral impact, these types of projects and types of development have created have brought a lot of employment opportunity – without a doubt…you can see how jobs like this and jobs in the nearby areas are creating that opportunity.”

¹ https://thestacks.com/files/NAIOP_DC_MD_Awards_Release_Final.pdf
² https://thestacks.com/