Many companies are facing job-specific owner requirements regarding the vaccination of employees that will be on site. Attached is a detailed memo from our attorney’s office regarding mandating vaccination. It is a mandatory subject of bargaining and therefore cannot be unilaterally mandated by an employer for your Local 638 employees. Here are a few bullet points to address some of the questions we have received to date. Please let me know if you have any follow up question on this, and we will do our best to get them answered:

• You can mandate vaccines for non-bargaining unit employees (office & management staff), as long as you provide an option for religious and medical exemptions.
• You can ask your union staff if they are vaccinated and ask for proof of vaccination, but you should not ask follow up questions about why an employee is not vaccinated. You can keep track of this information if necessary for sending vaccinated employees to certain customers. Even though this is technically not protected health information, this vaccination information should not be posted or distributed other than to those that need to access to it.
• Based on your customers’ requirements, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to let your employees know that there may be less work opportunities for those that do not have the vaccine. Our attorney believes that would be just cause for termination (as required in the Metal Trades CBA) if it got to the point where you did not have adequate work for some individuals.
• We have reached out to Local 638 to ask if they would consider signing a waiver that gave each individual employer the ability to decide if they want to have a company policy mandating vaccines, but have not yet received a decision on that matter.

Please note: the materials contained in this notice are being provided for informational purposes only and not intended to be the final word on the evolving laws and interpretations with respect to COVID-19 and vaccination guidance. All employers are encouraged to consult their own legal professionals to address any specific employment situations. 

Click Here for Memo Regarding Covid Vaccine Mandate

On January 8th, MCA New York hosted its first Women in the Mechanical Industry Event at Gutter LIC. It was an evening of friendly competition and the start of amazing friendships. We had a great turnout of members from multiple companies and were excited to see the interest in helping WiMi to continue to grow.

Our next event will be in March and we hope to see more new faces!

The MCA’s 9^th Annual Trade Show kicked off with fun giveaways, amazing vendors, and over 250 attendees. 50 lucky attendees left with our Titleist Backpacks as door prizes and everyone who attended was entered into an Associate Member sponsored raffle which included several prizes such as a Go-Pro, $500 amazon gift card, Bose Bluetooth Headphones, an Apple Watch, and an Echo Plus. A 50/50 raffle was also held with proceeds donated to the Steamfitting Industry Assistance Program (SIAP).

The MCA’s 9^th Annual Trade Show kicked off with fun giveaways, amazing vendors, and over 250 attendees. 50 lucky attendees left with our Titleist Backpacks as door prizes and everyone who attended was entered into an Associate Member sponsored raffle which included several prizes such as a Go-Pro, $500 amazon gift card, Bose Bluetooth Headphones, an Apple Watch, and an Echo Plus. A 50/50 raffle was also held with proceeds donated to the Steamfitting Industry Assistance Program (SIAP).

The LaGuardia Marriott squeezed in 30 of our valued Associate Members who in turn were able to show the latest their companies are able to offer to our contractor members. For the first time since its inception, the Trade Show offered break-out Cyber-Security Seminars and hosted a Coat Drive. In true MCA fashion, by the end of the night, we were able to donate close to 30 coats to those in need, as well as, $750 to Steamfitting Industry Assistance Program (SIAP).

It was an evening brimming excitement and opportunity. We have our work cut out for us next year when we host our 10^th Annual Trade Show and we hope to see you there!

It was a tough year! Bad weather in June forced us to reschedule our Annual Outing to September, but fortunately, a brisk autumn day made for a wonderful day.

MCA members came together for a day of camaraderie and fun while raising money for two worthy causes.

Butterflies from Jodie, donate Automated External Defibrillators (AED) to public locations to prevent another tragedy as in the one that claimed Jodie’s life at 21. 100% of proceeds from this organization are given to charity and the MCA was happy to have been able to contribute $42,000 to this life-saving organization.

Established in 1982, the Marty Llyons foundation aims to grants wishes to children who have been diagnosed with a terminal or life-threatening illness. To date, they have granted 7,300 wishes and that number grows every day. The MCA was able to contribute $22,000 to help grant a few more of those wishes.

The MCA would like to express gratitude to all our members who patiently dealt with the rescheduling and complications that came with this year’s Outing. We’re so happy we were still able to spend the day with you and look forward to next year.

MCA New York’s very own Executive Vice President, Anthony Saporito, was honored at the Construction Skills Annual Building Futures Event.

Construction Skills is an initiative that began in 2001 to address training and employment issues in the construction industry. It is dedicated to providing not only a skilled but also a diverse workforce to the industry. By providing communities with access and training they have managed to strengthen our unionized workforce and boast an 80% retention rate.

Davon Lomax, Political Director of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9, was also honored along with J. Philip Thompson, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives City of New York.