Boilermakers Local 169

Union Meeting

Our next membership meeting will take place on February 13, 2026 This meeting will be at the IBEW Local 275 Union Hall. The address is 140 64th Ave N, Coopersville, MI 49404

Please make every effort to attend your monthly membership meeting!

Member, Russell Lewis

Russell Lewis passed away on Christmas morning after a long battle with glioblastoma. Please keep his family in your thoughts during this difficult time.

Family and friends may gather for visitation at the Heeney-Sundquist Funeral Home, downtown Farmington, on Friday, January 2, from 3-7 pm.
Russ’s funeral mass will be celebrated Saturday morning, January 3, at 10:00 am (gathering after 9:30 am) at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 23615 Power Road, Farmington.

www.heeney-sundquist.com/obituary/russell-lewis

Congratulations to Theo Wunder

Theo Wunder has gotten 1st Place in the Boilermakers Local 169 Scholarship Competition. The deadline was extended to September 30. He has started his first year at Lake Superior State in June 2025. He is studying Fisheries and Wildlife Management with a concentration in wildlife. Congratulations and good luck Theo!

Labor Day Picnic and Parade in Detroit

Labor Day Parade and Picnic in Muskegon

Boilermaker Dinner Dance Pictures

The pictures are ready for all to view. Please download to keep the pictures you want. They will be accessible until 06/30/2026.

hannahkortephotography.pixieset.com/boilermakerslocal169/

Boilermakers Urgent Action Alert

Boilermaker energy jobs at risk in potential TVA privatization!
Please click the following link to learn more and information about contacting your senator.

mailchi.mp/a2662660b06f/the-ibb-update-issue-5031651?e=736d4c147b

Boilermakers Local 169 Scholarship

The Annual Scholarship Golf Outing on June 20th was a huge success! A big thank you to Business Agent Don Fajardo for all his hard work. Together with our vendors, Boilermaker locals, and signatory contractors, we raised the funds needed to sponsor our annual Scholarship contest. Please remember, current dues paying members children are eligible and must be graduating from High School this year and heading to college. They can apply for the Scholarship by answering an essay question and getting it back to the hall by August 15. The essay question can be found on our website and is as follows. What can the Democratic or Republican party do to benefit union workers? The scholarship contest awards $3,000.00, $2,000.00, & $1,000.00 for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place.

Apprenticeship Program

Beginning May 1, 2025 the Great Lakes Apprentice Program will begin taking applications online. Please visit the apprentice section of this website, and make sure you meet all the requirements. Then click on the link following the requirements or come back to this section and click the link or scan the code.

www.glabap.com/application/

2026 Monthly Union Dues

The monthly dues will stay the same for the 2026 year. The current cost is $55.85, the hall accepts checks, money orders, cash and credit cards.

2025 Spring Graduates
Great Job!

Area 2 Labor Day Parade and Picnic

Area 1 Labor Day Parade and Picnic

Area 1 Picnic

Area 1 picnic was July 27, 2024. It was a great time for all, especially kids. The pictures were provided by Jared Pedrys, a big thank you goes to Jared. We would like to also thank Jamie and Jake Ratliff for the organizing of the picnic and Doug Webster for Bringing his smoker and smoking some delicious meats for everyone!

Attention all members that use Rite Aid Pharmacies

All rite aid pharmacies will be closing in the next few months through the state of Michigan and Ohio. Please click on the attachment to learn more about what pharmacies participate and will help in the relocating of your prescriptions.

Letter to members rite aid closing in MI. and Ohio

Great Lakes Apprentice Competition

Congratulations to Shelby Bartee who recently competed in the Great Lakes Area, regional apprentice competition. While Shelby did not place in the competition, we are very proud of her efforts and her dedication to her craft and her Local. Shelby is the first woman from Local 169 to compete in the contest and did very well. Way to go!

High School Welding Invitational

On May 17, 2024 we had the 19th High School Welding Competition, we had 18 schools in attendance. High School juniors and seniors are welcome to compete. this year the winners were;
1. First place and team champions were from Wexford – Missauke Tech.
2. First place for the written score test was from Saint Clair Tech.
Everyone did a great job, and we can't wait to do this again next year!

Important Industry News

As our industry continues to evolve during this transitional time, recent actions point to what appears to be the next expansion of Boilermaker construction. Recent developments at the Pallisades Nuclear Plant and the Department of Energy’s 6-billion-dollar investment to reduce Americas carbon footprint brings promise and much needed manhours to our Local and our Brotherhood. Please click the link below to learn more about the job opportunities created by President Biden to “ Transform Americas Industrial Sector.”

Bob Hutsell BM/ST

https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-15-billion-conditional-commitment-holtec-palisades

https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-6-billion-transform-americas-industrial-sector

2024 Dinner Dance

2024 Apprentice Spring Graduates

Labor Day Parade/Picnic Area 2

Labor Day Parade and Picnic Monday, September 4, 2023

After a two-year hiatus, the Annual Detroit Building Trades Labor Day Parade resumed. Thank you to everyone that made it out to march and stand up for our work and all unions. Everyone came to the hall following the parade and enjoyed lunch and spending time with other boilermakers and their families.

Congratulations Evan Mahoney

Evan Mahoney took second place in the Great Lakes Area Apprentice Competition in June and advanced to the National Apprentice Competition. This past week he has been in Milwaukee testing for the National Competition. He along with teammate Nick from Milwaukee Local 107 took first place in the team competition. Great Job Evan!

Congratulations to the Fall 2023 Graduate Apprentices.

2023 Picnic Pictures

Area 1 pictures are brought to you by Josh Abalos. Thank you so much for the pictures. If anyone has more, please email them to [email protected]

2023 Scholarship Golf Outing

Thanks to all who participated in our local golf outing with a foursome or hole sponsorship. The money raised goes to benefit our members' children through our Boilermakers Local 169 Scholarship contest. A special thank you to Don Fajardo for his efforts towards making the outing a success, as well as Chelsea, Debbie, Heather, and Lynn.

Evan Mahoney took Runner-Up in the Great Lakes Apprentice Competition

Congratulations to Evan Mahoney who took runner-up in the Great Lakes Area Apprenticeship Competition in Local 237, Connecticut. Evan’s second place finish qualifies him for the National Apprenticeship Competition which will be held in Local 107, Wisconsin. Brother Mahoney represented local 169 well at the competition and we are confident that he will do the same at the National Competition. Way to go Evan!

18th High School Welding Invitational

On Friday, May 19, 2023 we hosted our 18th High School Welding Invitational. There were 44 kids from 15 schools that competed. They all did a great job and represented their schools honorably. We tested them on welding and general knowledge. Our winners are;
Best written Test Score- Joshua Rose (Ida High School)
Best Team Score - Flat Rock High School
1st Place Overall Score - Caleb Cialkowski (Flat Rock High School)
2nd Place Overall Score - John Wallace (Flat Rock High School)
3rd Place Overall Score - Scott Buxton (Ida High School)
Congratulations to all the winners. Everyone did a great job!

2023 Spring Graduating Apprentices

Congratulations to all area 8th period apprentices that become journeymen on March 1, 2023

2023 Annual Dinner Dance

A great time was had by all that attended the dinner dance in Mount Pleasant.

Labor Day 2022 Area 1

Boilermakers Local 169 Charity Golf Outing

THANK YOU!

On behalf of the officers and members of Boilermakers Local 169, I would like to personally thank you for your generous donation to our Annual Charity Golf Outing. With your help, we raised over $7000.00!

Thanks again for your continued support of the Boilermakers Local 169 Scholarship Fund.

Fraternally,
Robert D. Hutsell, Business Manager
Boilermakers Local 169

2022 John F. Ericsson NACBE Safety Award

ICYMI: This year's John F. Erickson NACBE safety award winner is L-169 (Detroit). Congrats also to L-13 (Philadelphia), L-455 (Muscle Shoals, Alabama) and L-92 (Los Angeles) for earning top safety honors in their sections.
A big congratulations goes to all members of Local 169. Safety is our #1 priority and Local 169, proves that time and again.

2022 Dinner Dance

A Great time was had by all who attended our recent dinner dance. It has been a long time since we've been able to gather for such events. I encourage all members to take advantage of these opportunities in the future. Hopefully, the downturn of the pandemic will afford us opportunities to gather for picnics, parades and other activities.

2022 Dinner Dance at the Atheneum in Detroit.mp4

Michigan Redistricting Maps

Michigan Congressional
Chestnut
- https://michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/279/23

Michigan State Senate
Linden
- https://michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/281/23

Michigan State House
Hickory
- https://michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/280/23

Local 169 Film

The following are links provided by Amy Wiser from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers of the short films that were made at Local 169 Training Center

https://vimeo.com/593481265

https://vimeo.com/593464823