APPOINTED — Third District International Representative Frank Muia was appointed international vice president for the district, replacing the retiring Dennis Affinati on Nov. 1.
“The Third District has a history of producing great IBEW leaders, and I am confident Brother Muia will add to that legacy,” International President Kenneth W. Cooper said. “He’s been a valuable member of the district staff for many years and is extremely qualified to step into this role at a critical time.”
The Third District includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Cooper’s request to fill the role reminded Muia of when International President Edwin D. Hill called him in 2010, asking him to serve as the IBEW’s state organizing coordinator for New York.
“It was a complete honor to have then International President Hill contact me for that new position in 2010, and it’s a moment I will never forget”, he said. “This is another humbling moment. I’m up for the challenge, and I accept the appointment.”
Affinati said members in the Third District will have a strong leader in Muia.
“I’m confident I’m leaving the district in good hands with Brother Muia’s appointment,” Affinati said. “I wish him success in the new position.”
Brother Muia (pronounced MOO-ya) was born in Chester, England, and his family emigrated to the United States when he was a 5-year-old. It settled near Albany, N.Y., and the entire Muia family later became U.S. citizens.
Union membership made their transition to America a little easier. Muia’s father was employed by a commercial bakery and was a member of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America. His mother was a longtime New York state employee and AFSCME member. Both are natives of Italy who met in the U.K.
“I was taught at an early age what joining a labor union was all about through conversations with them,” he said. “Seeing what they had by being union members meant a lot.”
“We’re at a crossroads. It’s going to be up to all of us, the direction we take.”
– Third District International Vice President Frank Muia
Their son wasn’t sure what he wanted in a career until taking part in a vocational and technical training program while in high school. Muia spent the first part of the day taking traditional classes, then the rest of it in classes studying to become an electrician.
“Being introduced to the electrical industry at a young age, I enjoyed it,” he said. “I knew it was something I wanted to be part of.”
After high school, Muia graduated from Hudson Valley Community College with an associate degree in electrical construction and maintenance. He began his apprenticeship with Albany N.Y., Local 724 in 1993 and topped out five years later. (Local 724 later amalgamated with two other unions in and around Albany, becoming Local 236 in 1999.)
Muia quickly became a foreman and served on Local 236’s executive committee before then-Business Manager Don Rahm brought him on staff as an assistant business manager and organizer in 2005.
“It was a wonderful experience that I had,” he said. “One of the many things I enjoyed about being an organizer was helping those that did not come through traditional means in terms of being an apprentice.
“Years later, after you helped someone get in the organization, you would run into them and they often would be so thankful and so appreciative about basically changing their life,” he said. “That was really gratifying.”
He had the same experiences when persuading a company to become a signatory contractor, he said.
“You’re showing them the benefits of being associated with a great organization like the IBEW,” he said.
Muia served as New York state organizing coordinator until 2017, when he was appointed as a Third District international representative serving outside construction and utility locals. That experience took him into other areas of the Brotherhood beside inside construction and will serve him well in other key IBEW sectors, he said.
“I’m not a lineman and I don’t work for a utility, but I learned what the issues are,” he said. “I did everything I could to assure those locals’ business managers that we were working to benefit their members.”
A priority in his new role will be building relationships in other important sectors like broadcasting, railroad and manufacturing, he said. Another is ensuring that utility partners keep staffing at the proper level following retirements.
But the biggest challenge may come in an area he knows well: construction organizing. Muia said work remains plentiful across the district, but keeping pace and providing enough skilled workers to meet rising demand will be an ongoing challenge.
“At the end of the day, we can solve a lot of our issues by growing the Brotherhood and growing our membership in the Third District,” he said. “We’re at a crossroads. It’s going to be up to all of us, the direction we take.”
Muia has a bachelor’s degree from the National Labor College. He and his wife, Kelly, live just outside Albany and have two adult children. Muia is an avid golfer who tees off as early at 7 a.m.
The officers and staff congratulate Brother Muia on his appointment and wish him much success in his new position.
