We mourn the loss of Stan Arnold       

The Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council lost one of its “founding fathers” this month, with the June 22, 2013 passing of past secretary-treasurer Stan Arnold.

Mr. Arnold, 90, of Mancelona, served as the council’s secretary-treasurer from 1961-1985, the longest anyone has ever served in that office. And as a leader in the Lathers union, he had a hand in founding the statewide council in 1957.

At a 40th anniversary celebration for the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council in 1997, Mr Arnold said about progress in the building trades: “Forty years ago the only thing we could do for an ill or injured construction worker was take up a collection.”

He pointed to union-won benefits including vacation and holiday pay, work shift premiums, supplemental unemployment benefits, good pension plans, and health and welfare benefits. “Thanks to the collective bargaining process, all that has changed,” Arnold said.

Mr. Arnold told us in 2007 he had to have special “working papers” to work in the Lathers union as a 15-year-old in 1937 –  “and the wages were nothing,” he said.

He was a Marine in World War II, serving at Guadalcanal and other Pacific islands. He also served as a drill instructor during the war. After the war, Stan came home and worked his trade earning $1.72 per hour - “that was good money,” he said. “There was a lot of solidarity then, but it was a way of life,” he added.

His friend Fred Veigel of IBEW Local 252, president of the Huron Valley Labor Council,  said Stan “always meant what he said and was a stand-up guy all the way.”

Stan is survived by wife, Erika; five children, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his wife Virginia and son Robert.

Sporting clays shoot set for Aug. 17

A sporting clays shoot to support the work of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) will be held Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Grand Blanc Huntsman’s Club in Grand Blanc.

Proceeds from the event will help support the USA’s mission “to unite the union community to expand and improve hunting and fishing access and wildlife habitat throughout North America.” The AFL-CIO Building Trades Department and nearly all of its affiliated international unions have signed on to support the work of the USA. Their website is www.unionsportsmen.org.

The title sponsor of the event is the Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Trades of Michigan.

Individuals are welcome to attend, but the event is more geared to attracting sponsors like local unions, contractors, contractors associations and owners. Sponsors are able to bring guests of their choosing, depending on their level of support.

More information about the event is on our Facebook page, the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. Or call the council at (517) 484-8427.