Welcome to the Fall edition of Road Warriors!
It’s safe to say that we’re in the thrust of a national conversation about labor.
The issues dominating the news cycle this year have been labor strikes. When the President of the United States becomes the first to join a picket line in Detroit and entertainment takes a hiatus so that writers can negotiate fair compensation, it’s safe to say that we’re in the thrust of a national conversation about labor. The UAW fight in Michigan strikes at the heart of precisely why union representation is so critical to workers’ economic well-being. As electric vehicles become more commonplace, battery production for them needs to be built by a unionized workforce whose jobs are kept safe through this innovation transition.
In our cover article, Ryan Stanton, Executive Director of the Long Island Federation of Labor touches on this very idea as he discusses the importance of transitioning the skills of our utility workers through the evolution of clean energy, particularly offshore wind. This kind of thoughtful leadership takes into account where technology is heading while looking out for the workers who make it all possible.
In this issue, Road Warriors takes a deep dive into Long Island’s Labor Unions. Beyond our cover article featuring Ryan Stanton’s trajectory into union leadership, we meet the labor leaders of Long Island’s premier building and construction sector: John Duffy, Tom Gesualdi, George S. Truicko III and Anthony Villa. Assemblyman Michael Durso talks BOCES and its value in teaching the trades to our youngsters and getting them into a career track that can afford middle-class lifestyles; Terri Alessi-Miceli and Victoria Ryan tackle non-profits with a focus on the HIA-LI’s contribution to Long island’s business economy and United Veterans Beacon House’s newly launched veteran housing initiative; PW Grosser offers up a discussion on the development of treatment systems to address emerging and legacy contaminants; finally, Robert Bill & Associates gives us an update on cyber liability in labor management.
As always, we thank you for the work you do for Long Island’s roadways and infrastructure. We look forward to the rest of 2023 and remind everyone to stay safe out there!
Thank you,
Jaime