RAYTOWN, Mo. — As a part of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades’s (IUPAT) “One Union, One Family, One Fight, Building Union Power” campaign — which the international union launched in August 2025 — IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams visited IUPAT District Council (DC) 3 in May to meet with its members on job sites.
IUPAT began phase one its Building Union Power campaign with IUPAT DC 36 in Southern California with a mission for its leaders to introduce themselves and connect with its members at district councils across the U.S. and Canada and to provide workers with a background on IUPAT.
“We started in LA, [and then] San Diego — just being able to engage our members and give them the history of our organization is something special. And it’s been received very well,” IUPAT General Vice President for the Western Region Mike Gutierrez said in a social media post on Aug. 11, 2025. “It’s something that needed to be done a long time ago, and I’m glad we’re moving in that direction and educating and building power with our membership.”
The union began phase two of its campaign in May 2026, honing in on organizing and building trust among its membership. A few elements, which IUPAT DC 3 Business Manager Secretary Treasurer Joey Flickner shared, were present during Williams’s visit with the local.
“They’re trying to get out and talk to members; there was a disconnect from the last election between the members and the union,” Flickner said in an interview. “Union interest is up across the country; more and more people want to be involved with the union, but don’t know how to — the more active we are, the stronger we are.”
Throughout the time he spent with IUPAT DC 3, Flickner shared that Williams visited a couple of its job sites and listened to its members — including lending an ear to workers’ concerns and complaints, which Gutierrez emphasized has remained at the forefront of the Building Union Power campaign.
“Phase two of Building Union Power is where we can reconnect with our membership; try to win their trust over, organize them from the bottom up, building relationships once again — something that we’ve lost. And something that we definitely need to be more active with or be a part of,” Gutierrez said in a social media post on May 19. “Trust is what we need in order to build a stronger and more powerful union; we’re there to try to hear their concerns or any issues they may have at the job site, with the district council or at their local.”
Along with visiting its district councils and member relationship building, Flickner shared that IUPAT will host a Building Union Power summit from Aug. 10 through 14, which Flickner, IUPAT DC 3 directors and six IUPAT DC 3 rank and file members — who have completed required Building Union Power training — plan to attend.
Located in Las Vegas, Nev., this summit will take the place of IUPAT’s traditional leadership conference for 2026.
“We haven’t done something like this on this level,” Flickner said in reference to the Building Union Power campaign. “We’re seeing this [outreach] from several construction trades; on social media, we see the Laborers out talking to members, doing the same thing. This is what it’s about; on our social media, we interview members about what the union’s meant to them — how it has changed their lives, that’s what we’re trying to get out to everyone.”
“We’re trying to build a better union movement not just across our trade, but all trades across the country,” Flickner said in an interview.
Julia Williams — a Kansas City native — is a reporter and digital producer for The Labor Beacon. A University of Missouri School of Journalism alumna, she previously served as the editor-in-chief of The Northeast News before joining The Labor Beacon staff.
Williams’s grandfather was a Claycomo Ford Motor Company retiree and avid UAW Local 249 supporter, allowing her to understand the union difference from a young age.
In her free time, Williams enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to see her friends and hanging out at home with her cat, Greta. She loves a good cup of coffee, seeing local, live music and shopping secondhand. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to bring her knowledge of journalistic integrity to the Kansas City union community — giving union and labor workers a voice, while holding people in powerful positions accountable.
