New leadership takes reins at Hoisting Engineers 513

By ED FINKELSTEIN

Publisher

Two third-generation veteran members of Hoisting Engineers Local 513 have taken over the leadership reins as of April 1 after President/Business Manager Pat Kammer was asked to join the International Union’s organizing staff.

Tim Sappington is the union’s new president/business manager. He is a 35-year Local 513 member.

Sappington, a third-generation member in the union, for the past eight years was the administrator of the union’s nationally-recognized Training Center in Silex, MO. He was elected to lead the local by the union’s Executive Board.

Dan Bottoms is the new Training Center administrator. A 32-year Local 513 operator, also a third-generation 513 member, served as an instructor at the school for the past 13 years. He will now take over Sappington’s role at the school.

Kammer, a 25-year Local 513 member, will be the organizer for the International Union of Operating Engineers in the Southeast Region and serve as an assistant to the regional director on special assignments. The region encompasses 11 states and the District of Columbia. He will be moving to South Florida.

PROUD UNION HERITAGE

Sappington speaks proudly of his union heritage that has given him the insight and determination to lead Local 513. His grandfather, JB was a 50-plus year operator (deceased) and his dad, Carl, is a 65-year retired member “who is still going strong,” Sappington says with pride.

And the union commitment doesn’t stop there: his brother Carl Jr. is a 37-year Local 513 member and son Tim Jr. is an 11-year member of Stationery Engineers Local 148.

Sappington’s career started as a grading equipment operator. After working 20 years in the field, he was asked to become an instructor at the training center, where he taught for eight years until 2009 when he was promoted to become the school’s administrator.

“The union has been an integral part of my life, from my grandfather and dad to myself. Our families were raised by belonging to this union. Rest assured, with the help of our members, our officers and business agents, I’m going to put in 100 percent to keep Local 513 heading in the right direction to benefit our members and their families,” Sappington stressed.

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL

Bottoms, who became a Local 513 member at the age of 18 as an apprentice and became a qualified equipment operator, said one of the hardest things he had to do was go back to school to learn how to become an instructor.

“After serving as an instructor for the past 13 years, this is a whole new ballgame for me, a big change. The challenge for me is to continue to grow what is without question the best training program for operators in the country. We train great apprentices who become top producing journeymen on the job for their employer and can make a living to support their family,” Bottoms said.

Like Sappington, he too is a third-generation Local 513 member. Grandfather Roy was a 50-year member (now deceased) and Dad Harold is a retired 56-year member “enjoying his retirement.”

Local 513 has jurisdiction in the 58 counties in the eastern half of Missouri and the city of St. Louis. They have offices in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau and Jefferson City.