Kent Machinist honored for service to union, community
KENT — A Kent man was honored recently by Machinists Union District Lodge 751 for his service to the union and the community.
Robley Evans was this year’s winner of the union’s Bill Johnson True Trade Unionist Award, which is given annually to an IAM 751 volunteer who gives freely of his or her own time without expectation of getting anything in return.
Evans’ “tireless devotion to helping others through organizing and volunteer work inspires many more union members to get involved,” wrote Andrew Dennis, an IAM 751 union steward from Everett who was one of those who nominated Evans for the award.
The award is given in honor of the late Bill Johnson, the former IAM 751 president who created the Machinists Volunteer Program, the union’s community service arm, in 1997.
Evans was cited for his service as former chairman of the volunteer program’s organizing committee, as well as his leadership on the board of directors of the Employees Community Fund of Boeing-Puget Sound, the employee-run charitable giving program at Boeing.
Evans also has been the organizer for the annual “Dog Days” drag racing event at Pacific Raceways Park, which has raised more than $53,000 for Guide Dogs of America since its inception.
Evans is the president of Machinists Union Local Lodge 751-F. He works as a reclamation operator at the Boeing Co.’s Auburn plant.
Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at Boeing, District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents more than 33,000 working men and women at 52 employers across Washington and California.
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