Laborers 459’s Oller elected president, Operating Engineers 520’s Goldschmidt vice president of SW Illinois Building & Const. Trades

By CARL GREEN
Illinois Correspondent
Collinsville, IL – The Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council elected new leaders at its January meeting that Executive Financial Secretary Totsie Bailey said will bring some youthful enthusiasm to the Council.
Eric Oller, business manager of Laborers Local 459 in Belleville for six years and already serving as vice president of the Council, was elected president, replacing longtime Operating Engineers Local 520 Business Manager Ron Kaempfe, who has retired.
Chad Goldschmidt, president of Local 520, based in Pontoon Beach, was elected vice president.
Bailey moved up from Council president to executive financial secretary last June, replacing longtime executive financial secretary Dale Stewart, who retired. Oller was elected vice president at that time to replace Kaempfe, who moved up to president.

TAKING ON A LARGER ROLE

Oller said it’s an important opportunity to take a larger role with the Council.
“I appreciate the honor of taking Ron’s place and working under Totsie,” he said. “The Building Trades is a very important thing to keep moving forward, and we’ve got a good group of leaders who are really dedicated and interested in doing just that.”
Bailey said Oller and Goldschmidt represent a new generation of leadership that should keep the Trades Council vital in years to come.
“We’ve got to stay in the game politically, or they’ll eat us alive,” he said.
“Chad’s a young guy,” Bailey said, already looking to the future. “He’s a go-getter.”