Local 110 is sad to announce that Member Eamon Farrelly passed away June 21st, 2020. Brother Eamon has been a Local 110 member since November 1977.
A private service will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Brother Eamon may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Local 110 Officers, Staff and Members extend their deepest condolences to all of Brother Eamon’s Family and Friends.
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
Good day Union Family
The last number of weeks the Local 110 office in Calgary and Edmonton have been closed, except for those individuals that make an appointment with restrictions in place. This has included completing the COVID 19 screening paperwork and having your temperature taken with a thermal camera.
As the Province of Alberta moves forward in their reopening, we are looking forward to reopening our offices as well. Currently, we are planning to reopen the offices on Monday July 6th. However, some of the PPE that has been ordered, to ensure the health and safety of our staff, is not yet installed. If the contractor cannot complete the work before July 6th, the opening date will have to be pushed back to accommodate the work.
The next step would be to restart monthly General Membership Meetings. Of-course we will be following Government restrictions at that time. However, current direction from the International office all meetings have been put on hold until further notice. Once we receive the go head Local 110 will commence with monthly meetings again, but there has been no word on when that will be. The Local has had Socially Distanced and Zoom Executive board meetings to conduct business as this situation continues.
In the end the Health and Safety of our Staff, Members, and Officers is the first priority and we will follow the regulations and error on the side of cautions until this pandemic is over.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
Good day Union Family
Recently you have been seeing calls on our dispatch page for Hazardous Material Handler Helpers and Mechanics. This designation was originally Asbestos Remover in the International Constitution and Bylaws but was changed at the same time as Asbestos Workers was changed to Allied Workers, due to the inability for some members with this designation to find health insurance in the United States. In most cases these workers are not Insulators, they are Asbestos Abatement Members and under the International Constitution and Bylaws they have a different designation, membership card, and per capita tax.
A number of years ago Local 110 started up Local 110A for these workers. The focus of 110A was Commercial Asbestos removal, unfortunately this did not live up to the expectation and 110A became a shell with no membership. In early 2019 one of our Signatory Contractors (AlumaSafway) came to us about the possibility of doing a two year long Asbestos Abatement project for a Client in Central Alberta. This is a full demolition of the plant and could lead to more work as there is a total of five plants slated for demolition in the next few years.
It was clear from the start for a Unionized Contractor to compete in this market they could not pay Insulator wages. The market for Asbestos Abatement Workers in Alberta sits between eighteen dollars per hour on the low side and twenty-five dollars per hour on the high side. After months of consultation and meetings the final rate for a Hazardous Material Mechanic is twenty-eight dollars per hour on the cheque with a total package of thirty-three seventy-five, and a Hazardous Material Helper is twenty-one fifty on the cheque with a total package of twenty-six sixty. Also, in the agreement if Insulators are utilized as Foreman or General Foreman, they will be paid at Insulator rates. Any Insulators working rope access will be paid the insulator rate with a five dollar per hour rope uplift.
In the end the agreement was signed April 2020 for a term of three years for all demolition work for this client. Since, Asbestos Removal is not part of registration bargaining, each project, contractor, or client will have separate agreements that may have variations to the terms and conditions. These agreements are specific to decommissioning and demolition of plants that require Asbestos Abatement. This is not for ongoing maintenance projects that require Asbestos Abatement. These agreements help to secure new work without taking away from our current Mechanical Insulator Agreement terms and conditions.
This is a market that the Union has allowed to be taken over by alternative workforces and this is a small step towards building a workforce and pushing back. It was not the intention that our current Insulator members would be manning these projects, but with all the issues currently it is an option for work if a Member chooses.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
Good day Union Family
As we all know there are only a few issues that are more polarizing in this Local than name hires and more specifically Foreman name hires.
Currently, under the Provincial Construction Collective Agreement there is the ability for a contractor to hire by name any person who will be engaged as a Foreman. There is no maximum number of Foreman a contractor can have on a project, and there is no specified length of time a member has to be a Foreman after a name hire. The only stipulation on the crew size is, there will be one Foreman for the first three Employees and can supervise up to fifteen, and one Forman for every fifteen employees thereafter. This was put into place to stop companies from having jobs with no Foreman or having massive crews with only one member being a Foreman. However, we know times have changed, in most cases a large crew for a Foreman would be ten people.
The Local is well aware that we have contractors that abuse the Foreman name hire process. As a Union we follow up on the Foreman name hires to ensure that they are paid Foreman rate and not put down to Journeyman once they complete orientation. In most cases the contractors make sure it is not obvious that they never intended to have the member as a Foreman, but when they do grievances are filed and are usually resolved by the member being made a Foreman. This has also been a huge issue at bargaining for the next Provincial Construction Collective Agreement.
No matter what side of the conversation you fall on everyone understands what some contractors are doing isn’t “right”, but it is not a violation of the Collective Agreement. So, in the end the people that have the power to stop the contractors that are abusing the Foreman name hire is our members. If our members don’t accept Foreman name hires when they know it is questionable that they will be Foreman. If members stop calling soliciting name hires. Then the contractors will be forced to change their process.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
Good day Union Family
I know a number of our members look forward to the yearly NABTU Trades Women Build Nations Conference. This year the conference was scheduled October 2-5 in Washington DC. Unfortunately, I have just received official notice through our International Office from NABTU that the 2020 Conference has been canceled.
When I receive more information, it will be made available.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 110
Local 110 is sad to announce that Member Rudolf Hermann passed away May 31, 2020. Brother Rudolf has been a Local 110 member since October 1968.
Service has already been held. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Brother Rudolf may be made to the Alzheimer Society.
Local 110 Officers, Staff and Members extend their deepest condolences to all of Brother Rudolf’s Family and Friends.
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
To Whom it may concern
Recently it has come to our attention that an individual Mark Scott has made a number of racist and inflammatory comments on social media, while at the same time claiming to be a member of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 110. Although Mr. Scott attended training with our Local and worked less than a month with one of our signatory contractors as a Permit Worker, Mr. Scott is not and has never been a member of our Local. Currently we are taking legal steps to have Mr. Scott cease and desist representing himself as a member of our organization.
Local 110 is an organization made up of members from virtually every country in the world. We have all come together to improve working conditions, health and safety, benefits, occupational health and ultimately provide a better quality of life for ourselves and our families through collective bargaining. There is no place for racism, intolerance, hate, discrimination, or harassment in our organization, and any member found to be engaging in these kinds of activities will be dealt with through the Local 110 Bylaws/Code of Conduct and the International Constitution and Bylaws.
As individuals and as a Union, we must be leaders and stand up against racism, hate, and intolerance and work against those in society that seek to divide us as a community. Bringing light to these issues and having the difficult conversations that will come because of it, will only make us stronger as a Union and as a community.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
Good day Union Family
The International has shipped to Local 110 cloth masks for the members. There are being provided for your safety from the International during this time of COVID 19. These are not medical grade masks and do not replace proper PPE.
Any current Local 110 member can come to the Edmonton Union office and pick up their masks. Please call when you arrive at the building, and they will be brought out to your vehicle. Masks will be shipped to Calgary shortly for distribution and I will update the members when they are available.
If you have any questions, comments, or queries please contact the Edmonton Union Hall.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
May 14, 2020
Good day Union Family
As our Province starts to remove the restrictions that are in place for the COVID 19 pandemic, some business, are starting to reopen to the public. Fortunately for us the WOW Center at Synergy Respiratory & Cardiac Care is starting to see members to complete their Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT). This is going to be a slow restart with limited spots available with the majority of spots set aside for our members on Fridays.
With the up to date PFT members receive the yearly Health Spending Account from the Health and Welfare plan. This year the Health Spending Account is four hundred dollars and can be used for additional benefits or to cover the copayment portion of a service. Members will still be provided the Health Spending Account if they complete the PFT through their own doctor as long as documentation is provided to the Health and Welfare plan that the test has been completed.
The true value of having the PFT completed through the WOW Center is the accessibility of the testing information in the future. Member of our Union have completed thousands of PFT’s and Spirometry tests over the years, some of these tests have allowed for early intervention and have shown progression of different lung diseases. Unfortunately, these tests were almost impossible to obtain when it came time to fight with WCB for proper compensation due to industry exposures. The reason for this is medical records are only held active for about 15 years in Alberta and then they are usually sent to document storage. Once in document storage it is almost impossible to find the records and after a period of time the documents can be destroyed. With the partnership with Local 110 and Synergy Respiratory & Cardiac Care our members records are being retained with the doctor’s office indefinitely so they can be accessed when needed. Also, Synergy Respiratory & Cardiac Care provides the doctors that Local 110 utilized for expert testimony when we are fighting for member benefits with WCB. So, having an ongoing relationship with these doctors can be beneficial if you have issues with WCB coverage in the future.
In solidarity
Kevin Lecht
Business Manager
The Officers and Staff are sad to report that Member Blaine Zotzman passed away May 10, 2020. Blaine has been a member of Local 110 since 2004 but had been working through the Local for a number of decades prior. His last job with the Local was Jacobs at Syncrude in 2015.
There will be no service for Mr. Zotzman, and in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Cross Cancer Institute.
Local 110 Members, Officers and Staff extend our deepest condolences to Blaine’s family and friends.