Iron Workers Local 167

Iron Workers Local 167

Iron Workers Local 167 operates a multi-employer Taft-Hartley pension fund from its Memphis union hall and training center. James Cole serves as Business Manager and Financial Secretary-Treasurer, and Doug McCain is President and Apprenticeship Coordinator. The fund is affiliated with the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. It derives its capital from collectively bargained employer contributions tied to hours worked by union members across the Memphis metropolitan construction market. The fund's investment strategy, per Altss research, concentrates on buyout strategies, indicating an appetite for private equity commitments rather than a substantial liquid-public-market posture. While specific fund commitments are not publicly itemized, Taft-Hartley plans of this structure typically allocate through funds-of-funds or direct commitments to middle-market buyout managers, with sector exposure heavily weighted toward real estate and infrastructure—asset classes that align with the membership's trade. Partner contractors such as Midwest Steel, Inc. have worked on major local projects, including the Memphis Pyramid, underscoring the fund's embedded position in the region's built environment. The fund's assets are held across vehicles including the Ironworkers Local 167 Welfare Plan and General Fund, domiciled in Memphis and Goodlettsville, Tennessee. It participates in the Memphis Building and Construction Trades Council and the Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council, and it works alongside IMPACT, a joint labor-management trust, to expand market share for union ironworkers and signatory contractors. No recent capital activity or deployment figures are publicly disclosed. The fund's structural differentiator is its Taft-Hartley multi-employer design. Unlike a corporate pension, trusteeship is split evenly between union and employer representatives. This governance model requires consensus on manager selection and creates a built-in pipeline of plan participants who are also the local workforce building regional commercial and industrial projects.