I’m proud to represent nearly 200 workers in Alaska as the business manager/secretary-treasurer of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 1959, District Council 5. One of the most important parts of my job is finding and securing the best work for the hardworking, incredibly skilled industrial coaters, commercial painters, drywall finishers, glaziers and other workers who make our union proud.
Our members, along with all the workers who power Alaska’s economy, are no stranger to difficult, dangerous jobs. Around a fourth of the workers in the state work in the oil and gas industry, and these workers help fuel the entire country. Alaska is fourth in the nation in crude oil production. There are around 80,000 jobs in the petroleum industry in Alaska, generating more than $5 billion in wages annually. But workers in our state…
