April 2005 IBEW Journal
Lloyd Ross Mourned
L.U. 688 (em,i,t&u), MANSFIELD, OH—Lloyd Ross, 97, passed away in November 2004. Lloyd was our business manager from 1950-1968, and was very active in many volunteer organizations until his death. He will be missed.
Service awards were presented at our 2004 Christmas meeting as follows: For 25 Years—Don Carroll, Richard J. Davis, John Elswick, Dick Hannan, Chris Matthewson, William. "Mack" Meginness Jr., Bob Murphy Jr., Dan Mutchler, Ted Stake, Fred Blackwell, Charles Osborne and Rodney Smith; 30 Years—Charlie Bonsell, Randy Wallace, William Bagley, Doug Dickerson, Mike Fisher, Jim Garrison, G.G. Sawyer and Greg Williams; 35 Years—Dana Blasberg, Fred Claus, Danny Converse, Gary Kohl, Dave Phillips, Jack Rush, Dan Schertzer, Bruce Simmermacher, Jim Stuart, Grover "Skip" Wilkinson, former business manager Jim Tackett, Charlie Vandevorde, Gene Bechstein, Ron Moore and Walter Urschitz; 40 Years—Bill Hoover, Jim Hughes and Ron Stuart ; 45 Years—Kenny Naylor and Don "Pete" Tate; 50 years—Dick Hagerman, Burt Kelley, Darwin Schultz, Bob Sloat, John Yetzer, Larry Beighle and Bob Geary; and 55 Years—Fred Baldauf, Lennie Brewer, Paul "Squire" Hillman, Bill Schertzer and Wendell Van Houten
In the July/August issue I reported in error that Nick Tolar and John Sheets had received service awards; however, both members were deceased. Also, Paul Delong had received his 35-year award, not Bob DeLong. My apologies for the omissions.
John Kline, P.S.
Defending Workers’ Rights
Local 702 Ozark Border Electric Cooperative line crew who helped to restore power to thousands of consumers in the aftermath of the hurricanes. |
L.U. 702 (as,c,catv,cs,em,es,et, govt,i,it,lctt,mo,mt,o,p,pet,ptc,rtb,rts,se,spa,st,t,u,uow&ws), WEST FRANKFORT, IL—Local 702 would like to thank all of our members who have been active in the ambulatory picketing of Cole Electric. You are making an impact that is benefiting the employees who work for Cole.
As of this writing, we have 78 members on Book I for inside wiremen. With the proposed work, we hope to clear Book I this summer.
Charges were filed with the Illinois Department of Labor against Verizon concerning the "One Day of Rest in Seven" Act. Verizon equates the members loaned to other states, members off due to lack of work and no maintenance of their outside plants as mandatory overtime. The fight continues.
The Bush agenda for changing Social Security is a hot topic; however, let us not forget the Bush team has been working hard for years to undermine the protection of workers’ rights.
Stay informed by attending your local union meetings.
Marsha Steele, P.S.
Spring Construction Season
L.U. 704 (catv,em&i), DUBUQUE, IA—At this writing, it is hard to picture the spring construction season with all the snow cover but it will come.
At press time our $30 million Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino expansion is moving slowly because of harsh winter weather. Completion is still scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. Two of our local contactors, A&G Electric and Morse Electric, are doing their best to make this time-line a reality. An accomplishment realized with this project is that all trades are being paid their prevailing wage.
A second project underway, also on the Dubuque Greyhound Park property, is the Hilton Garden Inn. This hotel is scheduled for completion by Labor Day 2005.
Local 704 welcomes two new contractors: ARK Electric Company of Edgewood, IA, and Viking Electric Company of Decorah, IA. Congratulations to Local 704 organizer Matt Elliott and all others who worked to sign these two contractors to a union agreement.
Our work situation remains slow, with approximately 15 percent of the local on Book I. Here is hoping for an early break in winter weather conditions, so we can get all our local members back to work.
Ron Heitzman, P.S.
Code Classes Offered
Local 716 Bus. Mgr. John
E. Easton Jr. (right) and
NECA representative
Cliff Henderson sign
Code of Excellence
document. Local 716
has adopted the Code
of Excellence for all
jobs and for all members. |
L.U. 716 (em,i,rts&spa), HOUSTON, TX—Spring has finally made it to Houston, TX. We still have many wiremen on the Book and we hope for work to break. Thanks to other jurisdictions that have put our members to work.
Our Code of Excellence program is up and running, and numerous members already have gone through the class. We encourage all members to be Code of Excellence trained.
We are also offering Code Update classes for the 2005 Code, which will satisfy the requirements for our state license renewal.
I encourage all members to register and vote. We are also encouraging members to run for office in their communities. The need for rank and file members to sit on school boards, city councils, etc. cannot be overstated. I make a personal appeal to our membership to join with me and expand our use of our various committees. We all must pitch in to move labor in a positive direction.
Again we participated in the Houston St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 12, the same day as 716’s 93rd anniversary of our charter. In order to build our ranks in Houston we have to secure our ranks. Please get involved with our labor movement.
John E. Easton Jr., B.M./F.S.
Picnic Success in January
L.U. 728 (em,i,rts&spa), FT. LAUDERDALE, FL—Even though our holiday picnic is usually held in December, we had a great turnout of union members and their families in January. It was sunny and in the 70s. Steve Geisler and crew did a great job in providing fried turkeys for those attending. As has become a tradition, the members donated canned goods to the Central Labor Council Food Bank, and after stocking that a truckload was donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Thank you for your generosity.
By the time you read this, we will have participated in the first boat flotilla picket coordinated by Jim Weldon in cooperation with the AFL-CIO and many other locals throughout the tri-county area. The issue of Social Security privatization is high on our list of priorities during this legislative session. When you can’t penetrate the enemy from land, picket by sea. What better way to spend a February day in South Florida and make a positive impact?
Beverly J. Curphey, P.S.
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