September, Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month, is an excellent time to make sure union families know that cervical cancer is preventable and most union health plans cover the technologies to prevent it.
For young men and women growing up in southwestern Pennsylvania coal country, the job options boil down to working in the coal mines or working in the state prison. Third-generation coal miner Travis Hartley says "Anything less than union isn't good enough."
It's a deceptively dangerous business, this job of fighting fires. There's the heat, of course. The dangers of floors and ceilings collapsing, of steam burns from too much water in the wrong place at the wrong time, the dreaded flash-overs that give an attentive firefighter perhaps three seconds to escape the inferno that follows. But those are the visible hazards, the gross aspects of a multidimensional assault on the human body. It's when the invisible poisons begin to work that firefighters need help the most -- and until the state steps in to lend a hand, Pennsylvania's firefighters have only each other to rely on.
Bob Yeager was accepted into the IBEW Local 5 apprentice program three months ago. In that short time, he already understands the value of IBEW membership. Bob said, “When you get in a union, it’s like a brotherhood. It’s the way to go. The union is always there for you.”
Pittsburgh has many bridges crossing over its three rivers, but the North Shore Connector -- a subway extension planned for completion in 2011 -- is the first to cross under, connecting downtown with the ballparks. Take a video walking tour of the work under construction. Video by Randy Lyman.
