Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the Heat and Frost Insulators (HFIU).
Name of Union: International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers
Mission: Assisting members in securing employment, defending their rights and advancing their interests and through education and cooperation, raising them to that position in society to which they are justly entitled.
Current Leadership of Union: James P. McCourt serves as general president, first having been elected in 2015. McCourt is a second-generation pipe coverer who began his career with Asbestos Workers Local 6 in Boston in 1976. He received his mechanic's card in 1980 and served on the executive board of the local from 1982-1984. McCourt was president of the local from 1985-1987. In 1997, he was elected international vice president of the New York-New England States Conference. In 2001, he was elected by the General Executive Board to serve as general secretary-treasurer and was elected by the general convention to serve in that position three subsequent times.
Gregory T. Revard serves as general secretary-treasurer.
Current Number of Members: 30,000
Members Work As: Experts in mechanical insulation, fire stopping, infectious disease control, asbestos and lead mitigation, sound attenuation, and specialty fabrication.
Industries Represented: The construction and maintenance of commercial, industrial, medical, bio-technical, governmental and educational facilities, among others.
History: In 1903, the Pipe Coverers Union Local No. 1 called for a national convention, which would establish what, the following year, would be named the National Association of Heat, Frost and General Insulators and Asbestos Workers of America. At the convention, the delegates adopted a constitution and A.J. Kennedy was elected the organization's first president. In 1910, American Federation of Labor President Samuel Gompers signed the charter of affiliation for the Insulators across the United States and Canada.
Joseph A. Mullaney was the second, and longest-serving, president of the international union, holding the position from 1912-1954. In 1938, the Insulators became formally affiliated with the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL. Both World Wars boosted the need for workers with the skills of the Insulators and Asbestos Workers, the latter of whom were crucial in the reconstruction of the U.S. naval forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
After World War 2, membership in the Insulators boomed as locals opened apprenticeship programs. The industry was driven by the unprecedented expansion of national infrastructure in the 1950s and beyond. In the 1980s, as the link between asbestos and cancer was confirmed, the Insulators fought to gain acceptance of the facts and to enact and enforce regulations to minimize exposure to carcinogens.
Current Campaigns: The Professional Craftsman Code of Conduct promotes job site excellence and customer satisfaction. The Labor Management Cooperative Trust promotes the heat and frost insulation industry, particularly mechanical insulation, fire stopping and hazardous waste remediation.
Community Efforts: The Insulation Industry International Apprentice and Training Fund specializes in providing the highest-skilled and best-trained workers in the industry. The Insulators Tissue Bank seeks to improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of asbestos-related conditions, including mesothelioma. The annual Master Apprentice Competition has tested the skills and rewarded the best of the best HFIU apprentices for 18 years.