IRON WORKERS

It's one of dozens of union locals that has launched a recruiting blitz to bring in "unrepresented" journeymen and offer paid apprenticeships to the potential next generation of skilled welders.

An Indiana man and former business agent of Iron Workers Local 395 was sentenced today to more than four years in prison for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion. Upon being rebuffed, Williamson then visited the church and attempted to persuade church officials to use Local 395 for the project instead of the non-union workers. At Williamson’s direction, the union members executed a coordinated and brutal assault on the non-union workers, beating their victims with loose pieces of hardwood, punching them and kicking them. The attack left one of the non-union workers with a broken jaw that required several surgeries and prolonged hospitalization. Veach also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion and was separately sentenced to 42 months in prison in September 2020.

The former president of Iron Workers Local 395 was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for his role in organizing a brutal assault on a group of non-union ironworkers in Dyer, Indiana. Jeffrey Veach, 57, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of extortion conspiracy, along with co-defendant Thomas Williamson Sr., 69. Veach resigned as president of Local 395, following his guilty plea in January. Under federal law, Veach will be barred from holding any union position for at least 13 years following the end of his prison sentence. When they were rebuffed, Veach brought rank-and-file members of Local 395 to the construction site later that day.