Beyond these bills, I am very proud of the work we have done in the West, with my business managers, International Reps, and staff. I am fortunate to have such a great team to work with, and all of them truly care for our members and show up every day to fight for them.

Together, we have secured work in new sectors and traditional sectors. As usual, it is our norm to have either feast or famine in construction, and fortunately, we are headed into the good times. We have several new data centers that are going in all over the West, new lithium projects, hydrogen plants, carbon capture, nukes, and many more. These projects, along with the refineries, will take thousands of additional Boilermakers that we will need to recruit and train. On our ISO side, we have also reinvested in the Boilermakers organizing in the West to grow our union. In the last year, our organizers have successfully organized Trojan Battery in Southern California, Dopplemeyr/Bart Connector in Northern California, and Mountain Cement in Wyoming.

They are working at several other facilities to bring more members into our union. We are about to have a vote at another NAASCO yard located in Washington State, Siemens in California, and we have several other sites that we are currently building numbers for, so we can go for a vote to give these new members a better way of life. As I have said many times, I feel the ISO is our future. While we will always fight for construction jobs, we need a solid base to help us through the lean times that we always have in construction. We have ten full-time organizers and a full-time recruiter in the West so that we can grow our presence in shipyards, rail, manufacturing, and any other shops that involve our skills. Although our pension is doing okay, adding to our membership is an important goal to ensure that our pension has more members working than retired. When that happens, we can lower the retirement age back to 55 and add all the other benefits back to where we once were.

Three years ago, I became aware that our then-president, along with some of his confidants and family members, was involved in the misappropriation of Boilermaker funds. The moment these disgusting acts became clear to four of us IVPs on the Executive Board, I, along with then-IVP Simmons, IVP Fultz, and IVP Stadnick, moved to remove then-President Jones. It took several court hearings and the hiring of lawyers at our own personal expense, but we were successful in removing him from office and from the Boilermakers. We then cooperated with federal officials as they investigated and ultimately indicted Jones and several co-conspirators. As you likely know, the trial is finally over, and we now wait for sentencing in September. This was a very difficult time, but there was no other choice than to act aggressively to protect the membership and their assets.

I never expected this to happen at the Boilermakers, but I want to assure you that as soon as we became aware of the misappropriations, we acted swiftly. We are fortunate to have a leader like President Simmons ready and able to step in and lead our union. President Simmons has worked tirelessly to steer the Boilermakers through this crisis while also growing our union. President Simmons, like me, worked in the field for a long time. I believe that our years working side by side with our Brothers and Sisters have given us a deep respect for our members and how hard they work, and we both carry that respect with us and allow it to inform all of our actions on the Executive Board.

I have been doing this for a long time, and I would be honored to serve one more term to finish the work I have started and adequately prepare for new leadership in the West. Be assured that there is no predetermined succession in the West, and if I am re-elected, I urge anyone willing to work hard for the members to work closely with me in the upcoming years to see if this office is right for them.

I am a Boilermaker; it is who I am. My life would have been so much less without this union. I have a moral obligation to ensure that others can experience the same throughout their careers and lives. I have been truly blessed with the career I have had and the privilege of representing our members. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at tombaca62@gmail.com. 

I look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas, and I humbly ask for your vote to re-elect me as International Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.

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In solidarity,