04/12/2011
UA General President Bill Hite and U.S.
Navy Admiral (ret.) Charles S. Abbot
Scheck Family and employees across the country congratulate William P. Hite, General President of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipe Fitters, Welders and HVAC Technicians. Bill was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from one of the nation's largest and most prestigious military organizations for his advocacy of our nation's retired soldiers. The Military Officers Association of America presented Hite with the award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 12 for leading the United Association's "outstanding initiatives in training and connecting veterans with post-service employment opportunities."
Major General Matthew P. Caulfield, USMC (Ret), said "Hite believes it is a responsibility of the United Association to train and assist veterans in securing a post-military career. Hite seldom addresses the membership without mention of this core value. He insists that veterans within the United Association are featured in trade publications and internal media. He also personally gets involved in the training program for veterans." With Hite's direction, the Veterans in Piping program, or VIP program, was created to provide high-quality training and re-entry guidance to military veterans. Rich Scheck, CEO and founder of Scheck Industries commented, "We look forward to supporting the program and hopefully we'll be fortunate enough to place a Veteran on one of our jobs." Furthermore, Hite obtained inclusion of a "Sense of Congress" provision in the FY 2011 Defense Authorization Bill. The provision encourages participation in apprenticeship programs by members of the armed forces prior to discharge. Previous recipients of the Distinguished Service Award include former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairmen Generals Colin Powell and John Shalikashvili, former Secretary of Defense Dr. William Perry, and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Hite is the only labor leader to receive this award.
Congratulations, Bill, from all your friends at Scheck.