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Officers Elected

L.U. 254 (ees,em,mo,rts&u), CALGARY, AB, CANADA—The past few months have been very busy at Local 254. Our unit elections were held in May followed by Executive Board elections in June. John Briegel was elected to another term as business manager/financial secretary. Our Executive Board is composed of Cliff Shirriff as president replacing the retiring Ted Lee, Carter Woloszn as vice president, Gordon Ogilvie as treasurer and Jim Bleaney as recording secretary. Our sincere thanks to John Bronius for his many years of dedicated service as treasurer.

Marc Beauchesne, a Local 254 member employed as an operator at the TransAlta Sundance plant just outside of Edmonton, was driving to work just before 6 a.m. on May 30 from his home in St. Albert when he spotted a fire in an apartment building. Being one of the first people on the scene, Marc assessed the situation and then entered the 12-suite building alerting the residents on each floor. St. Albert firefighters praised Marc for his actions; everyone was safely evacuated from the building.

Jim Bleaney, R.S.

Reser Stadium Project

IBEW Local 280 Cherry City Electric crew at the Oregon State University Reser Stadium project.

L.U. 280 (c,ees,em,es,i,mo,mt,rts &st), SALEM, OR—After nearly four years of record unemployment the Pacific Northwest work picture is showing signs of life. With many projects this past summer, including a major re-model of Reser Stadium, home of the Oregon State University Beaver football team, Local 280 members have enjoyed full employment with calls going to Book II as well. Cherry City Electric employed 50 wiremen at the peak of construction on the Reser project. EC Company has started work on PeaceHealth River Bend Hospital in Springfield; this $370 million state-of-the-art medical facility will peak at around 75 electricians next summer. With another new hospital to be built in Salem and many other projects slated as well, 2006 looks to be a good year for the members of Local 280.

The Limited Energy Technicians members ratified a three-year Sound & Communication contract, which features a 3.5 percent raise for each year of the contract. After six months of bargaining, a contract was also reached for the Pope & Talbot recovery crew, retiree health care being the major issue. College football season is under way—go Ducks and Beavers!

Dennis D. Caster, B.M./F.S.

90th Anniversary Picnic

L.U. 294 (ees,em,i,rts,sap&u), HIBBING, MN—Our local elections are done and officers were sworn into office in July.

Newly elected officers are: Pres. Lyle Thronson Sr, Vice Pres. Larry Johnson, Treas. James Petroskey, Rec. Sec. John Kukkonen and Bus. Mgr./Fin. Sec. Scott Weappa; Executive Board members David Baier, Kyle Nagler, Don Gustafson and Gerard “Chip” Manka; and Examinig Board members Steve Shevich, Dan Murden and Duane Lorenz.

Our 90th anniversary picnic was a smashing success with a great turnout and many volunteers helping.

Hopefully with the arrival of fall the work picture will be good for everyone. Be union, buy union!

Scott Weappa, B.M./F.S.

Work Looks Good

Local 300 E-Board members presented resigning Bus. Mgr.Timothy J. Watkins (fourth from right) with a plaque in appreciation for his service to the local. From left, newly appointed Bus. Mgr. George H. Clain; E-Board members Jim Genovesi, Richard Dodge and Ed Rivers; Construction Organizer Leigh Girouard; E-Board member Cary Fox; Watkins; and E-Board members J. Cushing, J. Crawford and Dan Cline.

L.U. 300 (govt,i,mt&u), MONTPELIER, VT—Things are finally looking up for our construction unit. With the increasing market share in the small-to medium-sized job market, along with some larger projects in our jurisdiction, work looks good for quite a while. Another factor helping the situation is the Vermont Yankee refueling shutdown. We thank the local unions that offered our “out of work” members employment during our slow times. We look forward to returning the courtesy.

Officers and members of Local 300 thank former Bus. Mgr. Timothy J. Watkins for his 18 years of loyal service and leadership. Bro. Watkins resigned his position July 1, 2005, to pursue other endeavors. Throughout his career, Tim held a wide range of positions within the local. Starting out as a talented young wireman, his hard work and vision carried him through the ranks and into the challenging position as business manager/financial secretary. Tim’s leadership and guidance will be missed. We wish him the best of luck in his new path.

Congratulations to newly appointed Bus. Mgr./Fin. Sec. George H. Clain, the former assistant business manager. Bus. Mgr. Clain in turn appointed inside journeyman wireman Jim Reck assistant business manager.

Reminder: Get involved! Attend union meetings!

Jim Reck, P.S.

Tribute to Veterans

Local 306 conducts picket of nonunion contractor site. From left, front row, Cindy Colley and John Zevenbergen; back row, Derek Brown, Mike Bodish, Dave Terrill, Bud May and Julie Narzisi.

L.U. 306 (i), AKRON, OH—Despite cheery news from the Federal Reserve, our area economy is on hold and our members and families know first-hand the realities of this situation. Our state Bureau of Workmen’s Compensation engaged in questionable investment schemes and lost about $250 million. The BWC put its own “spin” on the story stating it was only 1.5 percent of the total $14.5 billion in assets and that no tax dollars were lost. A quarter billion dollars of funds for injured workers is gone and we’re not to get upset?

The war goes on and the number of WIA/KIA keeps growing. We welcome the new veterans into the roles of the VFW and DAV as well as our Brotherhood. A platoon leader taught me a poem from veterans of Lord Marlboro’s troops after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. I offer it for all veteran brothers and sisters:

God and Soldier we adore
In time of danger—not before.
The danger passed and all things righted,
God’s forgotten and the Soldier slighted!

Our annual picnic held at Dover Lake Park was a great success. Thanks as always to our Social Committee.

We mourn the loss of Bros. Stafford Jamison and Harold “Rusty” Ratchford.

Attend a NFPA 70E class on Arc-Flash/Arc-Blast and stay out of your local hospital burn unit!

Robert Sallaz, V.P./P.S.