Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 32

Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 32

Heat & Frost Insulators & Allied Workers Local 32 is the Highland Park, New Jersey-based local of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, an AFL-CIO-affiliated union. The local operates a pension fund for its members, alongside a welfare fund, both governed by the building-trades model of jointly trusteed multi-employer plans. The funds are distinct legal entities from the union itself, with fiduciary boards composed of union and contributing employer representatives. Principal officer Derek J. Vergari serves as Business Manager, while Jeremiah Farmer acts as Business Agent and a key political action contact. The pension fund's investment strategy is heavily concentrated in direct real estate and private equity, with public records indicating a buyout-oriented posture. The portfolio includes direct property holdings such as the union hall and training center on Cleveland Avenue in Highland Park, and a welfare fund office in Hopatcong. The welfare fund maintains a separate asset base from the pension fund. Assets associated with the Broadway Verona Corporation and union-owned vehicles suggest a practice of holding both operational real estate and investment properties within the fund's structure. The geographic focus remains centered in New Jersey, consistent with the local's jurisdictional territory. The fund's close affiliation with the International Union and the North American Building Trades Unions (NABTU) embeds it within a network of labor-affiliated capital pools that often co-invest in infrastructure, real estate, and private equity. The Asbestos Workers Welfare Fund Local 32 in Hopatcong operates alongside the pension fund, though the two are legally separated. The union also administers two scholarship funds: the Dr. Irving J. Selikoff Scholarship Fund and the Florence Bernard-Alta Miller Scholarship Trust Fund, both vehicles for member benefits that sit outside the pension's investment mandate. The union's partnerships with the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council and the Working Families United for New Jersey coalition reflect coordinated labor advocacy that can influence the regulatory environment for the fund's portfolio. The structural differentiator for Local 32 is its position within a federation of building-trades labor funds that collectively represent significant institutional capital. Unlike a corporate pension, this fund's governance is jointly trusteed, binding labor and management fiduciaries to a shared investment policy. The direct-ownership model — holding real estate through entities like Broadway Verona Corporation — gives the fund a dual identity as both an allocator and a direct operator of physical assets, a configuration common among trade-union locals but rare outside organized labor.