Ryan is a proud third-generation, 15-year member of Steamfitters Local 420, following in the footsteps of his father, Joseph, who retired in August 2010 after 37 years of service. Ryan’s grandfather, John “Mickey” McMahon, was a refrigeration/HVAC mechanic after serving in the Army.

 

After graduating in the top 10% of his class from Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill with a 4.0 GPA, Ryan went on to play collegiate baseball at Gwynedd-Mercy University, where he served as team captain for his junior and senior year before graduating Magna Cum Laude with a 3.83 GPA, and would begin working on permit as a Gas Distribution Helper before being initiated as member of the Local Union in July 2009.

 

Ryan entered the apprenticeship in 2010 and graduated in 2015 with numerous UA and NCPWB Welding Certifications for Stick and Tig Welding, an NCCCO Rigging and Signaling Certification, as well as the Thomas J. Dugan Award for maintaining the highest GPA, which he shared with fellow classmate Corey Sabo.

 

Ryan went on to work in both the commercial and industrial fields as a Fitter, Welder, Foreman and Steward, where he gained invaluable critical path experience Rigging and Welding 100% X-Ray on massive projects like Mariner East 2 at Energy Transfer’s Marcus Hook Terminal, which was the largest project in the country at that time. Ryan gained a plethora of Welding experience on X-Ray work from uphill Stick Welding 6010/7018 to Tig Welding on carbon steel and stainless-steel projects, Department of Transportation work, and Welding 6010 downhill on commercial work. From early on in his career Ryan actively

participated in picket lines, labor walks, political rallies and local elections, and he routinely attends union meetings and quarterly finance meetings.

 

In June 2019, Ryan was elected as a member of the Executive Board and dutifully served until his election to Business Agent in June 2022. In March 2021 he enrolled in Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations Labor Leadership Skills Certificate Program, which included Union Representative Training, Negotiation Skills, Costing Out a Contract, and Effective Communication Skills. He graduated in August 2021 with a 4.0 GPA. In 2021, Ryan was elected to represent the Local as a Delegate to the 40th UA Convention.

 

Ryan has had the honor of serving the Local and its membership in various capacities over the last several years, including being on the By-Laws Committee, Gas Distribution Negotiating Committee, Gas Distribution Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, and as Chairman of the Negotiating Committee for the Meenan Oil Upper Darby Contract. He was also part of the Local Union 420 leadership team, serving at three Pipeline & Gas Distribution Conferences and at Local 798 Stewards School in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

 

After successfully being elected to the position of Business Agent in June 2022, he was assigned the territory covering 18 counties for gas distribution work, five counties for mainline pipeline work, and he oversaw the contract for the Meenan Oil Upper Darby Division. In his first term as Business Agent, along with the Business Manager and Assistant Business Manager, Ryan signed nine non-signatory distribution contractors to the Local’s statewide Pennsylvania Addendum to the National Distribution Pipeline Agreement, and signed two non-signatory distribution contractors nationally to the National Distribution Pipeline Agreement. He is currently working on signing a 10th non-signatory distribution contractor to the Local’s statewide Pennsylvania Addendum.

 

Ryan played a pivotal role, with the help and support of the Business Manager and Assistant Business Manager, in building an overall stronger tripartite relationship and partnership with the union’s good Signatory Pipeline and Gas Distribution Contractors, as well as the Gas Company Allies, which has set the Local on course to begin growing its market share on blanket contract work; as well as steel pipe and plastic pipe bid award work. The Local’s total annual manhours being reported to the UA in recent years for gas distribution work averaged 22,150 hours; however, due to Ryan’s commitment to diligence, the Local’s total manhours reported to the UA for gas distribution work in 2024 grew substantially to 130,751.15 hours (Steel Hours: 99,137.50 and Plastic Hours: 31,613.65).

 

Ryan was instrumental in thinking up the need for a registered five year Gas Distribution Apprenticeship Program, and he is serving on the Gas Distribution Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, which is currently working on setting up a five- year curriculum, getting standards approved by the state, and establishing wage charts with the goal of making the plastic package more attractive for members. He was also influential in negotiating a successfully ratified three-year plastic package contract increase for the Local’s Gas Distribution Helpers, despite the contractors attempting to put a wage freeze into effect.

 

As the Chairman of the Negotiating Committee for the Meenan Oil Upper Darby Division, Ryan negotiated a successfully ratified three-year contract, which included the largest wage increase that our Local 420 techs have enjoyed since the Meenan Oil Upper Darby Division was organized into the Local. He ensured that 10 language changes were implemented, which gives Local 420 techs at Meenan Oil Upper Darby more solid contractual language and improved their overall total package with benefits such as increased personal holidays, extra vacation time, standardized wage charts and rates for each classification, higher standby pay, and boot allowances.

 

Ryan once again humbly asks for your continuing support and trust in him and the rest of 420 United in the upcoming June 7 election. He will use this continued support to fight for and represent the members, as well as to continue to grow and protect the Local Union’s market share in the pipeline and gas distribution sectors and the entire jurisdiction for many years to come. It has been an honor for Ryan to serve the Local and its membership as Business Agent and he looks forward to the opportunity to continue to work hard daily in a job that he truly loves.