For over one hundred years, the Heart of Illinois Iron Workers have
been building part of the Midwest, bolt by bolt, beam by beam. Each day,
our hard working men and women enjoy the unique pride they feel when
looking at a skyline they helped to create or a building they helped to
build. It is a sense of pride that they can show their families the
accomplishments they have helped create. Ironworking is a way of life,
unlike most American professions, where our members enjoy an unusually
high quality of life. While most Americans spend their days in stuffy
offices or stressful retail environments, our ironworkers are high in
the sky with the sun shining on their faces and the wind blowing through
their hair.
Since 1907, when we received our charter, it has been our mission to
make sure that everyone goes home safely to their loved ones every day.
Along with completing a job safely without any lost time accidents, we
make sure that the job will be completed on time and under budget for
our contractors. We secure, by all legal and proper means, adequate
wages, working conditions, and opportunities of employment. We also
encourage our members to give back to the community and exercise their
right to vote. We provide families with decent healthcare, wages, and
pensions with the help of our contractors through the labor-management
cooperative. In order to be able to have those benefits, it is up to the
Iron Worker to provide 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay. With the
training we provide through a 3-year apprenticeship and journeyman
upgrading classes, we are considered one of the hardest working skilled
trades.
We would like to thank you for visiting our website, and we hope that
you have found it helpful and useful. If you have any questions or
concerns, or you think that you have what it takes to be an Iron Worker,
please feel free to contact us; and whether you wish to learn our craft
or you have many years of experience outside of the local union, if you
share the same values and commitment to our craft, we would be proud to
have you as a brother or sister Iron Workers.