As the mercury began to dip earlier this fall and furnaces cranked up in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, a near tragedy drove home the importance of the community service partnership between Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Locals 539 and 455 and the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association.

William “Bill” McCarthy, president of the AFL-CIO Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation (MRLF), is recipient of the 2012 United Way’s prestigious Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award. As president of the MRLF and member of UNITEHERE! Local 17, McCarthy has dedicated his life to the pursuit of social and economic justice for workers and their families.