United Association Special Representative Larry Bulman, a 4th Generation UA member, was appointed in August by President Biden to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC). The United Association continues to play a central role in shaping the future of our industries and the legislation that impacts our membership.

This advisory council was established to provide recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Labor to evaluate and improve the nationwide workforce and labor market information systems – an essential component of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which helps grow and strengthen workforce training, like the United Association’s gold-standard registered apprenticeship model.

“I am incredibly humbled to be given the opportunity to provide an essential voice shaping the future of workforce training and development: that of the men and women who perform the important work of building and maintaining our great nation,” said Brother Bulman. “The United Association is home to the best trained and most highly skilled craftspeople in the mechanical industry, and our voice is critical to improving and expanding workforce training initiatives.”

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act was first signed into law by President Obama in 2014 and is “designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.”

Brother Bulman, who was initiated into the United Association in September of 1987, will bring his decades of experience and the perspective of all United Association members to this essential committee.

“When the United Association gets involved in politics, we win more work for our members and solidify our standing as the most influential voice in organized labor,” said Russ Breckenridge, Director of Legislative and Political Affairs for the United Association. “Brother Bulman will continue to bring that voice to the highest levels of government in his work on this important committee.”

Founded in 1889, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC (UA) proudly represents more than 369,000 highly skilled journeymen and apprentice plumbers, pipefitters, pipeliners, sprinkler fitters, welders, and HVACR service techs in the US and Canada. The UA is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).