Happy Memorial Day
Remember and Honor our Fallen
The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, is proud to have so many members who served in our Nation’s Armed Services. And we are proud to support our military through the work we do.
On behalf of the MTD staff, executive council, and members, I wish you a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. While my family and I enjoy our long weekend, I will not forget to take time to remember those who lost their lives so that we are free to live ours. I invite you to do the same.
Stay safe and healthy. God bless you. God bless our fallen soldiers and God bless America.
Metal Trades Department Announces Partnership with Employee Benefit Systems Union College Benefit Program
The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO (MTD), is proud to announce its partnership with Employee Benefit Systems Union College Benefit (EBS) program to offer our Metal Trades Council members college tuition discounts on more than 50 programs.
“We are delighted to offer this union benefit to our members and their families that wish to pursue higher education,” said Jimmy Hart, MTD President. “This unique opportunity offers our union families a chance to follow their dreams for personal or professional advancement by helping them secure affordable tuition at a network of colleges and universities. The EBS Union College Benefit is also a great resource for veterans interested in fully online programs.”
Union members and their families can earn a certificate, associate, bachelors’, or masters’ degree while attending school part-time or full-time. EBS has a network of colleges and universities offering programs in a myriad of studies.
Programs include business administration, criminal justice, human resources management, organizational leadership and management, and more.
The EBS Union College Benefit is part of the EBS family of benefits. The benefit is powered by through EDUTrust Network, a system of carefully selected colleges and universities. The program has been crafted for adult students and offers more than 50 online programs. Upon enrollment, all students will receive a personal admissions experience with a college or university admissions counselor, career counseling, financial aid counseling, and more. Veterans interested in utilizing the program will work with the dedicated Veteran Team at the college or university to ensure that they select a program at which they can use Veteran benefits.
For more information or to begin your journey, visit www.EBSunioncollegebenefit.org/MTD.
Hart Keynotes VPP Region X Safety Conference
In early May, President Hart spoke about the challenges of addressing safety in the workplace at the VPPPA Region X Safety Conference.
The Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association, Inc., (VPPPA), the premier global safety and health organization, is dedicated to cooperative occupational safety, health and environmental management systems. VPPPA is a member-based association, supporting worksites across the U.S. in their efforts to receive and maintain VPP status.
For over two decades, the association has provided its members a direct link to OSHA, DOE and similar agencies within state-plan states and continues to offer a support network for participants from a wide variety of industries. The association works closely with OSHA, OSHA state-plan states, DOE and the Department of Defense (DoD) in the development and implementation of cooperative programs within the agencies.
In his Keynote address, President Hart noted that while the metal trades membership have a very good safety record, especially considering the employees we represent work with hazardous materials in some of the world’s most harmful and toxic environments, the department and its councils strive for nothing less than zero injuries on the job.
Citing the need to make safety a habit in order to affect change, Hart relayed the incremental change technique widely used across our Councils and employer worksites as an effective first step to better safety policies.
Throughout his speech, Hart called on participants to join the department and its councils as partners in creating safe and healthy work environments for all workers. He discussed the need for open communications and stressed that all workers should feel comfortable speaking out if they see anything they feel jeopardizes their safety on the job.
“We all want to get home safely at the end of the day,” Hart said. “To do that, we have to control the hazards at the end of the day the same way we did at the beginning of the day: communication, planning, and focus. If you do that, you can head home to your loved ones knowing you did your best to reach the zero injury goal.”