Friday May 23rd 2014
Western International Vice President Vince Engel and I spent Tuesday, May 20th meeting with individuals in Calgary to see if we could convince them to let us do an Energy audit on an existing high-rise, this would entail our expert going in and detailing all the missing insulation, breached firestopping and insulation that was no longer efficient. We would then present them with a detailed report on the cost to replace the insulation as well as how much energy in gigajoules was being wasted and the amount of Co2 gases in tons that are being released into the atmosphere as well as the actual savings they would have, as well the time frame for them to recoup their original investment. Overall, the meetings went very well with good opportunities to promote mechanical insulation and build relationships with government and industry leaders. The meeting Craig Watt, Executive Director, Premier’s Southern Alberta Office was very positive, and we were impressed with Mr. Watt’s knowledge about energy, and he had good questions after the power point/deck presentation. Watt will facilitate additional meetings with the Alberta Energy and Infrastructure ministers, and the current manpower shortages in Alberta provided a good opportunity for us to describe the importance of apprenticeship training to provide the necessary experience for apprentices to become journeymen. Watt also suggested that we consider having a full-time marketing/development professional expand our communications efforts.The meeting with Param Sekhon, Director, South Region Infrastructure, and Infrastructure Alberta was also positive, as Mr. Sekhon is responsible for the new builds in Alberta. He was also impressed with our presentation and was also encouraging the use of energy audits to promote our energy efficiency work. The meeting with Lloyd Suchet, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, BOMA (Building Owners Managers Association of Calgary) went well, as we was very well prepared for the meeting, and while he did not have any specific recommendations, he did state that he would share our interest in performing energy audits with his BOMA committee members. The last meeting with Tom Dixon, Business and Trade Development Sector, Calgary Economic Development was not positive as Mr. Dixon was distracted and not focused on our presentation.
Yesterday May 22nd the Business Managers for the various 22 unions met for our monthly Building Trades of Alberta Executive Board Meeting in Red Deer alot of members are frustrated by some of the schedules and agreements that the Building Trades approves, I will let you know that a motion to approve a schedule or agreement is needed and then a seconder followed by discussion on the pros and cons of approving such a schedule or agreement, after everyone has had their say it goes to a vote and the majority rules whether to approve or deny. In todays enviroment with us competing for work against CLAC, Merit and the open shops the Building Trades agrees in is better to get us onto sites previously closed to the unions and increase our market share and then show them the advantages of using our skilled workers. We met for the entire day and discussed numerous issues including RSAP and hopefully I will have some good news to report in the near future.
Monday May 12th, 2014
Here are the results of the applications for union membership!
Glenn Harder – 1st year permit, 384 hours, still employed, Accepted
Rodney K. Lewis – JM permit, previous member, 10,312 hours, Still employed, Accepted
Michel Viau – Transfer, JM Local 58, 290 hours, still employed, Accepted
Dennis S. Robert – 1st year permit, 1875 hours, previously accepted, Accepted
Sean Keable – Transfer, JM Local 95, 7150 hours, still employed, Rejected
Donald J. Epp – Transfer, JM Local 95, 2110 hours, no missed time, Accepted
James McFadyen – Transfer, JM Local 95, 1969 hours, still employed, Rejected
David Rondeau – Transfer, JM Local 95, 6978 hours, still employed, Accepted
Lawrence Wehyee – 3rd year permit, 5838 hours, still employed, Accepted
Kyla Hawco – 1st year permit, 349 hours, no missed time, Accepted
Jessica Kacklin – 1st year permit, 681 hours, still employed, Accepted
Pierre Maguet – 2nd year permit, 2,167 hours,, Accepted
Dylan Worsell – 1st year permit, 517 hours, still employed, Accepted
Kofi Boakye- Yiadom – 1st year permit, 618 hours, still employed, Accepted
Denis Robichaud – Transfer, JM Local 58, 5,852 hours, still employed, Accepted
Timothy Bailey – Journeyman C, 620 hours, Held over until June meeting
Grizzie Arku – 1st year permit, Held over till June meeting
Gordon Wolfe – 3rd year permit, 1,326 hours,still employed, tentatively accepted
Vicent Wishmwn – Journeyman, 2435 hours,still employed, tentatively accepted
Darrel Stock – Journeyman, previous member, 20,989 hours, previous member, tentatively accepted
Bradley Lewis – Transfer Local 95, 577 hours, still employed, tentatively accepted
Congratulations to all our new members, please contact the Union hall ASAP to make final arrangements.