KCK-based union execs name new president, but the leader they ousted won’t step down

Two weeks after ousting their president, Boilermakers union executives have sworn in a new one, setting the stage for a showdown as the case goes to federal court next week.

Warren Fairley, who recently retired as an international vice president of the Kansas City, Kansas-based union, will replace International President Newton B. Jones, the executive council announced Wednesday afternoon.

But Jones, who was removed for allegations of financial malfeasance, is steadfastly refusing to step down. He has led the union since his father retired in 2003.

“Pure bullshit,” Jones, 69, said in an email to The Star when asked for comment about Fairley’s appointment.

Fairley issued a statement about his new position.

“Never could I have imagined finding myself faced with this kind of situation when retiring just a few months ago,” he said. “However, I have deep respect for the hardworking members of the Boilermakers Union.”

The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers was established in 1880 and is one of the nation’s oldest unions. It represents about 46,000 workers in the United States and Canada who assemble, install and repair boilers, fit pipes and build power plants and ships.

Union members in the United States and Canada, Fairley said, “risk their lives every day to ensure that we have the energy and infrastructure needed to defend our nations, keep the lights on and our countries moving forward.”

“When I heard of the malfeasance which had occurred within the leadership of the organization, I chose to come alongside the Executive Council to work with them in their efforts to correct these issues,” he said. “I have agreed to come out of retirement, to serve to the best of my ability as president, until the next president can be democratically elected.”

The union holds elections at its national convention, which takes place every five years. The next convention is in July 2026.

Jones is using “every Boilermaker resource” to fight the executive council’s decision to remove him from office, Fairley said.

“This means that there are now legal issues which must be dealt with before the Executive Council, and I can move forward with much needed changes to help the organization return to their principal role, serving its members,” he said.

Fairley said the leadership’s efforts will focus on representing members, organizing, finding and correcting “weak links in the current operations of headquarters and leadership” and “restoring confidence in and upholding the honor and morale of our union and its members.”

“Thousands of Boilermakers have signed petitions that called for the removal of Jones,” he said, “and Boilermakers at job sites around North America are displaying hard hat stickers with an image of Jones and the words ‘NOT OUR PRESIDENT.’”

Fairley is “a humble yet strong leader” who became a Boilermaker in 1990 at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, according to the news release about his appointment. He became the business manager of Local 693 in 1996 and three years later was named an international representative. He went on to head the Shipbuilding and Marine Services Division of the Boilermakers before becoming Vice President of both the Industrial Sector and Southeast States Section.

Fairley retired in February 2023, saying he looked forward to “having an opportunity to serve God and my family in a better way.”

The executive council members declined to comment on Fairley’s appointment, referring to a statement they issued last week.

“We are Boilermakers first and foremost and it is our duty to stand up and protect the highly skilled workers we have the privilege to represent,” it said. “This spring we learned of a material malfeasance from the highest level of our union, we moved swiftly to protect the membership.

“Despite the petty and retaliatory actions of those who stand to profit from the malfeasance, we see this as an opportunity for the rebirth of our union. We are confident that this chapter will end with leadership that rightfully exists only to serve its members.”

The allegations against Jones went public after three members of the union’s executive council — Tom Baca, of California; Arnie Stadnick, of Canada; and Timothy Simmons, of Alabama — signed a decision on June 1 to remove the longtime president from office. The executive council is composed of the union’s five international vice presidents and Jones.

Another executive council member, John Fultz, of New York, was not eligible to participate in the decision because he filed the internal disciplinary charges against Jones. The council’s fifth international vice president, Lawrence McManamon Sr., of Ohio, did not attend the hearing at which the decision was made, nor did he vote to remove Jones.

The executive council found that Jones ordered the union to give his wife, Kateryna, more than $100,000 plus benefits in back pay “for apparently no union purpose while she was living in the Ukraine” and spent more than $20,000 in union funds for flights to Ukraine “to visit his wife and to go to the home which he owns in the Ukraine.”

Jones and his wife also turned in about $40,000 in receipts for meals for them and other family members when at their home in North Carolina — some “quite lavish and expensive” — with no justification for the expenses, the executive council found.

Jones denied misusing union funds and said the executive council had no authority under the union’s constitution to dismiss him.

In a June 6 letter to lodge officers, Jones said he wasn’t budging.

“Let this be perfectly clear: I remain International President, as elected by the delegates during the 34th Consolidated Convention of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers,” he said. “I serve you, the members of this union, not these misguided International Officers.”

The union filed a civil suit against Baca, Stadnick and Simmons, requesting a temporary restraining order to prohibit Jones’ removal. A hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas.

Though the lawsuit was filed by the union, many members say it doesn’t represent their feelings and they want no part of it. Some are planning a rally outside the courthouse the morning of the hearing to support Jones’ removal and the union executives who voted him out.

Jones also has filed internal disciplinary charges against Baca, Stadnick, Simmons and Fultz, saying the four violated the union’s constitution. Last week, the men were sent a notice of an upcoming hearing on the issue. That hearing is to be held Wednesday at a hotel on the Country Club Plaza.

The Boilermakers announced Fairley’s intention to retire in an article late last year in The Boilermaker Reporter. In the article, Jones had high praise for the outgoing officer.

“Warren Fairley has served our Brotherhood as an exemplary Boilermaker brother and leader,” Jones said. “At every turn, he has had our organization at the forefront of his attention and has been counted upon as a trusted leader, union brother and friend.

“It has been a privilege to work with him, and he has certainly made an indelible impact on our union and the greater labor movement during his tenure.”