For UIG, Protecting Unions Is a Labor of Love

It can be pretty tough keeping an independent insurance agency up and running successfully long-term if you’re just in it for the money, according to the leader of a Chicago-based agency that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

“You’ve got to do what you love. You’ve got to be passionate about the people you’re servicing,” said Chris DeCaigny, president of Union Insurance Group (UIG).

As its name suggests, UIG specializes providing insurance products and services to labor unions; 98 percent of the agency’s revenue comes from labor union insurance programs.

With 25 employees who are all members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 1 in Chicago — the oldest local labor local organization in the United States — UIG’s reach is nationwide. It is licensed in all 50 states, concentrating on commercial insurance coverages for the unions it serves. In addition to its Chicago headquarters, the agency has offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

DeCaigny said he realized about 25 years ago that unions were being underserved in the insurance market.

“I was asked by one of my contractor customers to help out their union hall. They could not get any insurance when I met with them. I got to understand what they actually did. The insurance product was not that complicated other than when you got into the professional liability and understanding the notforprofit structure that the labor unions have; we identified that there was a hole in the market,” DeCaigny said.

So, in 1997 he started Union Insurance Group with the mission of serving only labor unions. “Our job is to protect the assets of the organization,” he said. That includes protecting the assets of union members as well as the organization’s leadership.

From an insurance perspective, the needs and requirements of labor organizations are significantly different from the general commercial market, DeCaigny said. “With the labor unions, because you’re dealing with 50 different state departments of labor plus the federal department of labor rules and laws, fair labor standards, etc., we have to be very cognizant of what the rules and laws are in each of these areas.”

The agency has staff dedicated to keeping up to date with local, state and federal rules regarding labor unions, and to developing products to serve the needs of unions wherever they operate.

The Washington Post reported in August 2016 that in terms of membership in organized labor, the United States ranks near the bottom among developed nations, with only about 10 percent of U.S. workers belonging to unions. That’s down from an approximate 20 percent membership in 1983, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By comparison, union membership in Scandinavian countries is nearly 70 percent, the Washington Post reported.

And in recent years some U.S. states, such as Wisconsin, have been actively discouraging worker involvement in collective bargaining. But the fact that the current political climate in the U.S. is not especially favorable for organized labor has not diminished UIG’s business prospects, DeCaigny said.

“We focus on doing our job, which is making sure that the change in the political environment doesn’t put [our union clients] at risk and protecting them from any litigation that may come as a result, whether it’s justified or not. … If the state’s going to go to right to work, we identify what that could mean from a legal, litigation standpoint. We just focus on making sure that the unions are protected,” he said.

Twenty years ago, it would have been easy to take the general agency route, taking any account that came into the office, DeCaigny said. But belief in the progressive approach of labor kept the agency on track.

“We believe in labor. We believe in what they stand for. We fight for them every day, and represent what they need, and protect them,” he said.

That commitment to union values has led to the agency’s support of organizations that labor sponsors. UIG has pledged $1 million to support three national programs in particular — Helmets to Hardhats, which sponsors apprenticeships for military veterans; Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, an environmental conservation organization; and Labor of Love, which supports diabetes research.

In addition to ongoing support for those programs, to honor its two decades of service to unions the agency and its employees are participating in local projects, with different volunteer opportunities each quarter, according to Alicia Fidler, UIG’s vice president of marketing communications.

“Each quarter is sort of a different theme. The first quarter, we worked with Fisher House, which is an affiliation of the Hines Veterans Hospital here in Chicagoland,” Fidler said. Relatives of veterans who are being treated at Hines may stay at Fisher House free of charge while their family member is in the hospital. For its first quarter project, UIG employees provided food and volunteered their time to serve and visit with the families staying at Fisher House.

The second quarter volunteer theme is environmental, Fidler said. Employees will be volunteering at a local wetlands initiative, as well as at an organic farm in the Chicagoland area that has educational programs for children.

In coming quarters, volunteer opportunities will include raising money for prostate cancer research and funds for Easter Seals.

The idea is to allow employees to participate in a variety of events in different capacities during the anniversary year of service, Fidler said. “I think that it’s going so well, we’ll definitely implement it moving forward.”

The agency also will be celebrating its anniversary with one of the programs it supports, the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, which is commemorating its 10-year anniversary this year.

“We’re doing a co-celebration with them at their annual gala, which takes place at the AFLCIO headquarters this summer,” Fidler said.