Heat and Frost Insulators celebrate 100 years

Founded in 1913, Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 celebrated the local’s 100th anniversary May 18 with a gala celebration at the new Radisson Blu hotel adjacent to the Mall of America.

Local 34 members, retirees, family, contractors, international union officers and special guests filled the Radisson Blu’s expansive ballroom.

“100 years. Wow!” said Local 34 president George Kisel, addressing the crowd.
“We’ve recently gone through some hard times,” he acknowledged, “and we got through it. Everybody’s working again.”

“We owe a lot to our 30 contractors,” Kisel added. “They keep us going.”

Speakers included Buddy McCourt, general secretary-treasurer of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers.

“Tonight, while we celebrate,” he said, “take a minute to reflect, thank those who came before us… They fought for everything we take for granted today… They knew there was strength in being combined, so they could bargain for better wages… They brought us the eight-hour day. They brought us unemployment benefits, pensions.”

“We made 100 years through collective bargaining. We made 100 years through relationships with our contractors,” said Keith Christopherson, Local 34 business manager.

Christopherson related some of Local 34’s history. The first contract included wages of eight cents per hour. Hourly wages didn’t pass $2 per hour until the 1960s. Now, he added, the total wage and benefit package is $60 per hour.

Heat and Frost Insulators Local 34 currently has 450 active members and boasts its largest class of apprentices in several years, he said.

“If we stick together, if we support each other, the local will be here another 100 years,” Christopherson said.

Three generations of Local 34 members from the King family took part in the 100th anniversary celebration: Peter I. King, Vadnais Heights, 45-year member; his son Peter R. King, Vadnais Heights, 30-year member; and his grandson Jordan King, North Branch, 6-year member.

Jordan King, just completing his apprenticeship, was honored with a standing ovation at the dinner for winning a recent regional apprentice contest. His younger brother, Brandon King, is now in Local 34’s pre-apprentice program.

The Heat and Frost Insulators trade, said Peter R. King, “gives us a all a very good living.”

“It’s a close-knit group,” said Linda King, Peter I. King’s wife. His son and grandsons, she related, “couldn’t wait to graduate high school and go into the trade. That’s all they ever wanted to do.”

Reprinted from the Minneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation.

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