WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, recently retired International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106 Business Manager David Wilkinson (on the left) credits Buffalo-headquartered Walsh Duffield Companies for a tremendous job in helping guide the Jamestown-based Building Trades Union’s pension/retirement needs over the years while he served in Union Leadership.  On the right is Walsh Duffield Companies’ Chris Kempton, who serves as its Executive Vice President/Director of Business Development and tells WNYLaborToday.com that it was Wilkinson from whom he learned the value of what Unions deliver to their employers, the industry they both serve, and the community at large.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - I met Chris Kempton, a fellow St. Bonaventure University Alum, a couple of years ago when we were both at Key Bank Arena for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Sub-Regionals that’s held in Buffalo every several years.  And while it was our love of our Alma Mater, our team - the Bonnies, and College Basketball as a whole that dominated our conversation, I soon learned we had much more in common as we talked.

First off, Chris - who serves as Executive Vice President/Director of Business Development at Buffalo-headquartered Walsh Duffield Companies & Strategic Retirement Partners, and I - as Editor-Publisher of our Regional Labor News Media Outlet, WNYLaborToday.com, both serve Western New York’s Labor Movement.

And as we continued to talk, it became apparent that we were also good friends of recently retired and long-time International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106 Business Manager Dave Wilkinson, who also served for several years as President of the Jamestown AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.

We swapped stories about Dave, his 15 years of Union Leadership at his Local, the great job he’d done helping guide his Union and the gains he’d made for the Local’s Membership over the years.  I was aware of it, because I’d reported it: Dave’s hard work had helped Local 106 capture nearly 100% of the Electrical Market in the Southern Tier (Read: IBEW Local 106 & Its Union Contractors ‘Work Together To Capture An Amazing 97% Market Share’ In New York State’s Southern Tier - Ties The Jamestown-Headquartered IBEW Local For First ‘Among All Other IBEW Locals Across The United States’ At www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2020/11/09/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/ibew-local-106-its-union-contractors-work-together-to-capture-an-amazing-97-market-share-in-new-york-state-s-southern-tier-ties-the-jamestown-headquartered-ibew-local-for-first-among-all-other-ibew-locals-across-the-united-states/). 

Dave (Pictured Below/WNYLaborToday.com File Photo), who became a Local 106 Member in 1985, served as the Local’s Business Manager for 15 years – from 2007 to 2020.  The Local represents 175 Active Members and 190 Retirees.

In fact, under Dave’s leadership, Local 106 reached the highest IBEW market share in the country.  And if that wasn’t enough, Dave oversaw a large expansion of the Local’s Training Center and increased Local 106’s involvement across the Jamestown Community.

(WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Kent Joesel, a Member of Local 106 since 2014, is the new Business Manager, Kent has also served as the Local’s President since 2019).

But what I wasn’t aware of was what Dave and his Union’s Trustees had done to strengthen their Member’s Pension/Retirement System and the impact that it had on all of their Members, including Dave himself.

After our conversation, Chris thought it was important enough and took time to pen the following and send it to me:

On behalf of Walsh Duffield Companies and Strategic Retirement Partners, we would like to congratulate Dave Wilkinson on his well-deserved retirement as Jamestown, New York International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 106’s Business Manager. 

Our firms have had the pleasure to provide retirement, health and group insurance consulting services to the different Taft-Hartley Trusts providing benefits to its Members.  

The entire Board under Dave’s leadership learned to understand the long-term nature of providing a benefit package to Members who will not realize such benefits for 30 to 40 years.   

Funding long term benefits - such as a pension plan and health benefits, requires an understanding and an appreciation for actuarial concepts that require balancing the shorter-term needs of Members and management for the long-term security of the Trust Beneficiaries (Local 106’s Members).  

Dave left the current Board and the local Members’ Trust Funds in a strong financial position to meet its future obligations.  

Both Members and management have been well-served in a way that allows everyone to succeed for many years to come. 

In full disclosure, I grew up in Suburban Buffalo, attending local public schools and colleges.  

My family has strong Republican roots which fostered generally Anti-Union sentiments, but I learned through Dave and the Trust Board Members the value Unions deliver to corporations, the industry they both serve, and the community at large.  

It takes companies of any size great resources to attract, retain and manage a total compensation package that is competitive in the marketplace.   

Dave understood how important it was to make the Unions’ corporate partners successful and from this understanding watch how management learned to trust Dave when negotiating with the vendors providing such benefits.  

It’s a partnership we don’t learn about in school or through the media. 

And with the right leadership from both Union and management, it can work. 

As an outsider, I see it working at IBEW Local 106. 

Dave learned how pension plans are financed, how investments work in an Annuity Fund and how premiums are calculated within a health plan. 

Dave worked as hard negotiating with management as he did with vendors. 

He always placed his loyalty first and foremost on the Trusts and the Trust beneficiaries - even when that meant delivering bad news to Members.  

He always looked out for their long-term security.  

I will encourage management to consider Organized Labor as a strategy to attract, train, develop and retain a quality workforce.  

It can create great efficiencies and profitability.   

I hope to continue helping Union Management learn the long-term nature of Employee Benefits (pension, annuity, health and welfare) and the delicate balancing of risk, funding, and taking care of current needs for all stakeholders. 

Speaking with Kempton afterward, Chris said: “I ‘learned the value of Organized Labor and what it can bring to the marketplace, as well as to its Members (by working with Local 106 and Wilkinson).’  I learned ‘it was more of a collaborative relationship’ (between Unions and management) - ‘not hostile, instead of the perception that they always beat the shit out of each other.’  ‘What I learned was to be competitive you had to been value-added - that Labor was the backbone of the company.’”

“I also learned about Dave as a Labor Leader - ‘and not just as’ Local 106’s Business Manager,” Chris continued.  “He knew (his Local) ‘had to deliver value and that he could be just as hard on his Members as he was on management.’  That he had ‘high’ principles ‘to do the right thing.’  ‘He was smart and he made sure to take care of everyone so everyone wins.’  And, Dave ‘took the time to understand the investment, pension and health plans.’”

Wilkinson told WNYLaborToday.com: “I was ‘most impressed with their vetting of individual accounts when it came to how those individual accounts performed.’  ‘There’s always a degree of risk and I wanted the best for our people - and (Walsh Duffield) got us to a high level.’”

“They are a ‘successful’ organization ‘that treated us like we were somebody,’” Wilkinson continued.  “They ‘didn’t push us aside because we were small.’  We had many conversations ‘where we wanted to go because we were dealing with real people with real lives.’  The dialogue ‘was important and it turned into a meaningful’ partnership.  ‘In the end, it was the relationship.’  ‘They were open to us exploring and answering our questions.’  ‘It was a value to our Union and it’s nice to know that they actually learned from me.’”

Because of what Local 106 and its Members have benefitted from through Walsh Duffield’s expertise and assistance, Wilkinson and his wife, Kim (Pictured Below/Photo Courtesy of Kim Wilkinson’s Facebook Page), are now thoroughly enjoying what Dave’s Union retirement has created for them.

Asked whether he would recommend Walsh Duffield to other Unions when it comes to them handling a Labor Organization’s pension, retirement and insurance needs, Wilkinson answered: “I’m ‘ecstatic.’  We're building a condo in the Dominican Republic - ‘and I’m here because of them.’  ‘It’s the truth.’”