BUSINESS MANAGER, WADE LOGAN’S CURRENT UPDATE

Sunday, June 2, 1013

 Here are the applicants for the June 15th General Membership Meeting, the door prize will be two season tickets to the Edmonton Eskimos hope to see you there.

– John Laud Anderson, 1st year permit, 1705 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Pierre Maguet, 1st year permit, 650 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Sheldon Sather, 1st year permit, 1094 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Brad Carberry, 1st year permit, 1048 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Peter Wiscombe, 1st year permit, 1346 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Sidney Bishop-Adams, 1st year permit, 962 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Jade Schultz, 1st year permit, 1010 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Brian Deschenes, 1st year permit, 261 hours, May's hrs not posted yet no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Troy Whitford, 1st year permit, 2682 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Kingsley Okerri, 1st year permit, 195 hours, May's hrs not posted yet no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Jarrett MacDonald, 2nd year permit, 3140 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– David Gutierrez, 3rd year permit, 10,969 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Aaron Johnson,  Journeyman permit, 4452 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Rene Genaille,  Journeyman permit, 736 hours no reported missed time, Tentativel accepted

– Levi Gavelin,  Journeyman permit,Organized  by local 110, Tentatively accepted

– Charles Pichette, Journeymen transfer 95, 2375 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Robert Thompson, Journeymen transfer 118, 1801 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Calvin Wiseman, Journeymen transfer 116, 2047 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Gavin Hunter, Journeymen transfer 95, 3389 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Bruce Link, Journeymen transfer 95, 816 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Jason Gale, Journeymen transfer 116, 1177 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Eric Bourdreau, Journeymen transfer 116, 5525.75 hours, Tentatively accepted

– Normand Sequin, Journeymen transfer 58, 7827 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively rejected

– Stephane Comeau, Journeymen transfer 58, 5956 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Alex Wilkie, Journeymen transfer 60, Canadian citizen 7188 hours no reported missed time, Tentatively accepted

– Difu Shi, 1st year permit, Tentatively accepted.

– Vibol Tep, Journeymen transfer 58, four quits since 2010, Tentatively Rejected

– Ken Yuzyk, Journeyman permit, Tentatively Rejected

– Tyler Pincemin, 1st year permit, Tentatively accepted

– John Cardinal, union organized Tentatively accepted

As always the membership will vote to determine who is accepted for membership, if you have any information or feedback on the applicants please call the hall to discuss with myself or one of the Business agents or Trish, thank you.

Friday, May31, 2013

Here is an example of the Federal government selling our resources to an outside country and then letting them dictate who they will hire, if they can do it in B.C. how long before they try this in Alberta. Please circulate this around and send letters and emails to the M.P.s in your area to express your outrage and to demand that Canadian jobs employ Canadians first and foremost.

Controversy over Chinese miners in B.C. prompts flood of angry letters
James Keller, The Canadian Press

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/controversy-over-chinese-miners-in-b-c-prompts-flood-of-angry-letters-1.1304915#ixzz2UsildTJe

Wednesday, May28, 2013

Good afternoon Local 110 Brothers and Sisters we are not doing to well in the volunteering department for the Habitat for Humanity build as you can see from the below table if you have any free time please consider helping them out, I put in a full day this month and challenge you to do the same. the contact info is on our main page of the website, thank you in advance.

Local 424 – International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers	2
Local 488 – United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters	6
Local 955 – International Union of Operating Engineers	1
Local 1325 –The Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers	2
NO LOCAL # GIVEN	1

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Yesterday I spent the day at a seminar by OH&S to listen and ask questions about the new (TAPS) Ticketing and Administrative Penalties System that is to launched in the fall of this year. The gist of the program is that the OH&S officers will now be taking training to become Peace Officers which will let them write tickets exactly like the speeding tickets we receive now under the (POPA) Provincial Offenses Provision Act. They have a set section of offense that can be ticketed which I will publish once they have had the final approval. the OH&S officers will only be writing tickets for these offenses covered under these sections and will not be acting as Peace Officers.These tickets can be issued to the worker or the employer or both if warranted and if needed there will be a set appeal processes in place which I will also post later.Once these tickets are issued it will be the Provincial jurisdiction that will be responsible for enforcement of payment similar to how speeding tickets are done.After hearing everything and asking questions I don't believe this will be an impact on our Industrial jobs which meet and in alot of cases exceed the Safety requirements and are enforced by the contractor and Client safety reps.

Friday, May17,2013

Job posting for the Building Trades of Alberta

Friday,May17.2013

This has been a very busy month and I thought I would give you a quick update you on what I have been doing. First I would like to take a moment to remember our Brothers who have recently passed away I can't recollect when so many have passed away in such a short time and each and everyone of them will be missed and remembered for their contributions to the Union and our membership.  

  On May 2nd Bill Spring and I spent the day volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity build and spent the day prefabbing walls for the home, I was sore for about a week after this but it was for a very worth cause and if you can spare the time please volunteer on behalf of local 110.                                                                                                                                                           

  May 5 to May 10 I was in Gatineau Quebec for the Canadian Building Trades Union conference and met with International Representatives, James Grogan, Bud McCourt, Keith Wagner, Vince Engel and Fred Clare to have the International Health and Safety meeting with the other Canadian Unions to watch a presentation from PH.D Andy Todd on the Tissue bank , CT scans and smoking cessation followed by a discussion on what we can do to better identify the markers for the various forms of cancer and come up with new treatments so if you haven't filled out your consent forms for your Tissue samples to be sent to Mount Sinai for study please go on the International website and download the form to complete and send back, your tissue could hold the genetic break through they have been looking for.                                                                                                                                                                                                          We also had our first meeting of the Canadian Advisory Committee to the LMCT and had preliminary discussions on the International bringing on a lobbyist for the Canada and how as the Business Managers we would like to see him/her utilized in our area's and what benefits we would like to see we have a conference call next week to have further discussions on this topic.                                                                                                                                                         The Canadian Building Trades conference were the next couple of days and were highly informative with the major topic being the introduction of new resolutions for the members to vote or reject, the main resolution was to divert 1 cent of their per capita to a fund to campaign against the introduction of any more anti union Bills (377). We also had the opportunity to hear the leader of the Liberal party speak at the function Justin Trudeau a very well spoken young man who says he will represent the middle class and hopefully he will be a man of his word. 

  May 14-15 the Business Agents and I attended the Construction Owners Association of Alberta Awards and seminar to mingle and meet with all of the major player in the Oil and Gas industry and partake in information seminar classes on various related topics. I left early on the 15th so I could head to the Northlands Expo to be part of the Apprentice competition and tradeshow, I was surprised to hear that 7000 students will pass through the exhibits and to see the crowd of young students lined up at the Insulation booth to try their hand at laying out and fabricating a hand fan with Susan Markine acting as crowd control, good job Susan. next year I plan to have a 110 booth there so we can get a chance to expose these young people to benefits of working Union, Thank you to Ron Milich for huge part he plays in this every year and to Eamon Boyle for manning the BTA booth.  

 May 16 I was in Red Deer to attend the Building Trades of Alberta general meeting and we had a presentation from the U of A on the various studies they have done in the construction field and we are planning on working with them I the future to have studies done that we can use to benefit the Union Construction Industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

 

Local 110 has just learned long time member David Beck passed away Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at the age of 67. He was living in New Sarepta and had taken a withdrawl card a year ago after completing his last job through Local 110 with Book at the Shell Scotford Refinery in 2009. The funeral service is Thursday, May 9, 2013, 2:00 p.m. at Serenity Funeral Home, 10129 Princess Elizabeth Avenue, Edmonton. Condolences and prayers to Dave’s family and friends, from all of us at Local 110.

 

Tuesday,April 30, 2013

Local 110’s Officers and staff are sad to announce the passing of Brother Patriot Wilfred Wamburu. Wilfred was a recent member of Local 110 and impressed everyone with his drive to learn and to share his knowledge. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. We will provide information on funeral/memorial services if/when we are advised. All of us at Local 110 offer our deepest condolences and prayers to Brother Wilfred’s family and friends.

 

Tuesday,April 30, 2013

Changes announced  to the Temporary Foreign Workers Progam.

Update on TFW controversy;

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney defended the temporary foreign worker program as he unveiled changes to it Monday that include imposing a new fee on employers who want to bring workers in from outside Canada.The amount of the fee is yet to be determined, Kenney said at a news conference in Ottawa.The expected changes came after a CBC Go Public story earlier this month on use of foreign workers by Royal Bank which sparked public outrage and brought renewed focus on the temporary foreign workers program. The controversy dominated Parliament Hill and had the government defending the program but also promising changes to it so that it is not abused.One of the reforms expected is that employers will have to demonstrate that they have a plan to recruit, train and hire Canadians first before they can be granted a permit to hire foreign workers. If they have to hire foreign workers they will then need to have a plan to show how they will eventually hire Canadians for those positions.Another change to the program will be a fee imposed on employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers.

·         Insiders say Canada 'scammed' by foreign worker industry

There could also be changes to the current rule that allows for some temporary foreign workers to be paid up to15 per cent less than the median wage paid to Canadians in the same occupation.Employers, however, must offer foreign workers the same wage that is paid to Canadian workers in the same job in the same geographic area.Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Kellie Leitch, parliamentary secretary to Human Resources Minister Diane Finley will announce the changes in Ottawa. Finley was expected to attend the news conference but had a last minute scheduling change.The government said in its March budget that it would make reforms to the program, and they are expected to be included in the government's budget implementation bill that is on notice. It could be introduced after question period in the House of Commons today.Finley's department oversees the program and issues labour market opinions (LMO) on how hiring foreign workers would impact the Canadian job market. Employers are only given permission to hire temporary foreign workers if they can't find Canadians to fill the jobs and only if bringing in foreign workers won't have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market.To receive a positive LMO employers have to show what efforts they have made to recruit and train Canadian residents and the potential benefits that hiring foreign workers could have on the Canadian economy. Some work categories are exempt from the LMO requirement. Professionals and business people, for example, who come to Canada as part of international agreements or workers who come as part of an exchange program, do not need a LMO.The total number of temporary foreign workers has doubled in the last decade, to 338,189 workers.Some labour economists have been calling for a review of the program to determine if it is adequately addressing labour shortages or whether it is undermining wages and job opportunities in Canada.Erin Weir, a labour economist with the United Steel Workers Union said in an interview earlier this month that some companies go through the motions of pretending to hire Canadians in order to get a positive labour market opinion.The Alberta Federation of Labour said Monday that the program is being abused and employers are using it as a first choice instead of a last resort."Nowhere in the country is the situation more serious than in Alberta where clearly the temporary foreign worker program is being used to displace Canadians and to set off a race to the bottom in terms of wages and conditions," said Gil McGown, the group's president.McGowan said at a news conference on Parliament Hill that the program is driving down wages and "giving employers an excuse to abdicate their responsibility to train the next generation of Canadians."McGowan said his group is not reassured by the initiatives being announced Monday and that the government is just trying to give the appearance that it is doing something to respond to public opinion.

 

This morning I had an appointment at the WoW center to have my health assessment done, PFT and chest X-ray completed and thought I would let anyone who hasn't been there know whats involved. I showed five minutes before my appointment and checked in at the front desk where I was given some forms to be completed, Health questions, family doctor, alberta health care number and a consent form for the health assessment I completed the forms and handed them back in. I then had a seat for a couple of minutes before Jennifer Spring the R.N. called me in and took my height and weight and then proceeded to her office where she explained the how the consent form I had signed worked and that I would be part of the study on Insulator monitoring . She then continued to ask more detailed health questions all of which is kept strictly confidential although I did sign a form for the test results to be shared with my family doctor. Jennifer then asked about my work history and the jobs I had been on and exposure to fumes and whether I wore a respirator, then it was on to the various insulations I have been exposed to including asbestos and aerogel and which jobs I had been exposed to these materials and whether I wore a respirator while working with these materials.She then printed me off the forms to have my chest X-ray done downstairs and one to have my blood work completed since it had been awhile, and then I was off to do the PFT. The PFT is done in the diffusion box and took about twenty minutes and consisted of the regular test of blowing as hard as you can for as long as you can as well as a couple of different tests that I had not done before but only one test is done with the door closed and takes about a minute or two and then towards the end you get four shots of ventolin to see if there will be an improvement on your results when you redo a few of the breathing tests and then I was done. I then took my form and went downstairs to have my chest X-ray done, the whole process took one hour and forty five minutes and I'm sure we can all spare that amount of time to have this done and perhaps save your life and help the next generation of Insulators with what they can learn from us. The only thing left is to book another appointment to go over the test results with Dr. Naseem.

 

 

Friday, April 26th,2013

Local 110’s Officers and staff are sad to announce the passing of Brother Fred Stewart on the evening of April 24, 2013. Fred was a long time member of Local 110 and influenced a lot of his fellow members in the  36 years of affiliation and will be greatly missed by his Brother’s and Sister’s. There will be a viewing on Tuesday, April 30 from 6:00-8:00pm at Park Memorial Chapel, 9709 – 111 Avenue, Edmonton. The funeral will be Wednesday, May 1^st  at 1:00pm at Bethel Lutheran Church, 298 Bethel Drive, Sherwood Park. All of us at Local 110 offer our deepest condolences and prayers to Fred’s family and friends.

 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Local 110 is sad to announce we just learned Brother Allan Brown passed away Thursday, April 18 2013 at the age of 58. He transferred into Local 110 from Local 95 in October of 2002. He worked at many sites, mostly in the Fort McMurray area, while our member. Cremation has taken place. The memorial service to celebrate his life is being held at 1 pm on Friday May 10, 2013, at the Crestmount Funeral Home, 322 Fennell Avenue E, Hamilton, Ontario. All of us at Local 110 offer deep condolences and prayers to Allan’s family and friends.

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A little update on contactors we have had two more sign up with us in the last week or so for voluntary recognition due to the concern that they will not be able to get the manpower without using our resources, so good news but we need to continue to attract and signup new members.

 Monday,April 22, 2013

Attention Journeyworkers- the Trustees of the Insulators’ Training Trust Fund of Alberta will be accepting resumes for the position of Training Coordinator from 

April 24 to May 8, 2013. Interested members may call Ron Milich at 780-440-6832 to obtain a list of qualifications, a job description and additional information 

about the position.

 

 

Monday, April 15, 2013

At the Saturday general membership meeting the following were voted in, Congratulations !

 

– Sheldon Fedoruk, 1st year ,  Accepted
– Manuel Munoz, 1st year , Accepted
 -Patrick Enright, 1st year , Accepted
 -Katrina McArtur, 1st year , Accepted
-Tressa McLeod, 1st year, Accepted
– Andras Katona, 1st year, Accepted
-Christian D. MacKey , 1st year , Accepted
-Timothy R. Wilkie, 1st year , Accepted
-Daniel MacDonald, 1st year, Accepted
 -Simone Frost, 1st year , Accepted
-Samuel Bentamtam, 1st year, Accepted
-Rogelio Capangpangan, Journeyman transfer, Accepted
– Mark Carr, Journeyman transfer , Accepted
-Errol Brendish, Journeyman transfer ,Accepted
– Matthew J. Mills, Journeyman , Accepted
-Lucas A. Hanson, 3rd year , Accepted
-Andy Dort, Journeyman , Accepted
-Lawrence Dovich, Journeyman transfer , Accepted

The following members were nominated and voted to be Delegates at the Canadian Conference in June, Doug Casemore, Bill Markine, Bill Spring, and Rick Burgess, alternates were Larry Graham and Bill Hackman. There was also a motion that was approved to send the Exexutive board and recording secretary as per past practice.

A little update on how easy it is to circumvent the TFW protocol with out unions to monitor and raise concerns over big business.

It's becoming increasingly unclear who is at fault — or if any rules were broken at all — over allegations that the Royal Bank of Canada has brought temporary foreign workers into Canada to replace dozens of its own Canadian employees.
Reports emerged over the weekend that 45 RBC employees in Toronto are losing their jobs next month after Canada’s largest bank contracted a number of technological services to iGate, a California-based firm which specializes in sending jobs offshore.

If true, the situation appears to contravene federal rules that require companies to complete a labour market opinion (LMO) application demonstrating they are unable to fill the positions with Canadian employees before bringing in foreign workers.
Leslie Seidle of the Institute for Research on Public Policy speaks to Canada AM from Montreal, Tuesday, April 9, 2013.
Traditionally, live-in care worker positions and agriculture jobs, as well as some professional service positions, have been filled through the temporary foreign worker program.
The situation has Ottawa and Canada’s business community "in an uproar," said CTV's Mercedes Stephenson, reporting from Ottawa. "The federal government is now investigating to see exactly who is here in Canada and what kind of worker they qualify as."
Alyson Queen, a spokesperson for Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, said Monday application documents submitted by iGate are now being reviewed based on "apparent discrepancies" between RBC's public statement and information previously given to the government.
But RBC is maintaining the bank didn't break any rules; in fact, it said it is working with the affected employees to redistribute them to other parts of the company. The replacements will be trained by the RBC employees they are set to replace.
"The bank says the people … from overseas are here because the jobs are being outsourced; they're merely here to learn how to do the jobs and they will take that knowledge back to India and they will do those jobs from India," Stephenson said.
RBC is now facing a growing backlash over the decision, with boycott calls being mounted on Facebook and other websites. The bank’s CEO Gord Nixon said Monday the media is "oversimplifying the situation."
But Leslie Seidle, research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, said the entire situation is "puzzling."
The employees were brought in on federally-approved LMO visas, which are only to be issued when it can be demonstrated Canadians do not want the jobs the foreign workers are coming to do. In this case, there are no empty jobs.
"There's something that doesn't jive here and I'm pleased to see the department has said it is quickly going to do an investigation," he said
Seidle added that RBC appears to be "pushing the envelope" in its interpretation of the temporary foreign worker program. He said the program needs to be reviewed to ensure it is serving its intended purpose of filling jobs with foreigners only when Canadians aren't available to do the work.
"The temporary foreign worker program is not a business engineering program; it's not intended to help companies make more money by hiring people at lower wages," Seidle said
He added that there is little documented evidence on whether other companies have interpreted the policy in the same way as RBC.

Monday, April 8th, 2013
Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters, here is the list of tentatively accepted and rejected applications for the upcoming General Membership meeting, hope to see you there.

– Sheldon Fedoruk, 1st year permit 632 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Manuel Munoz, 1st year permit 719 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Patrick Enright, 1st year permit 1299 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Katrina McArtur, 1st year permit 1122 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Tressa McLeod, 1st year permit 1081 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Andras Katona, 1st year permit 552 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Christian D. MacKey , 1st year permit 1089 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Timothy R. Wilkie, 1st year permit 2951 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Daniel MacDonald, 1st year permit 2867 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Simone Frost, 1st year permit 1752 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Samuel Bentamtam, 1st year permit 758 hours worked with no reported missed time,three letters of endorsement Tentatively Accepted
– Rogelio Capangpangan, Journeyman transfer 118, 3395 hours worked with no reported missed time, living in Alberta, Tentatively Accepted
– Mark Carr, Journeyman transfer 116, 1393 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Errol Brendish, Journeyman transfer 95, 2060 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Matthew J. Mills, Journeyman Permit 1123 hours worked with no reported missed time, Tentatively Accepted
– Lucas A. Hanson, 3rd year permit 408 hours worked with no reported missed time,is indentured Tentatively Accepted
– Andy Dort, Journeyman permit,held over from last month, does not have a company in New Brunswick, Tentatively Accepted
– Rodrick H. Banks,Journeyman transfer 118, Needs more history, Tentatively Rejected
– Lawrence Dovich, Journeyman transfer 118, No hours since 2008 needs to work through 110, Tentatively Rejected
If you have any concerns or endorsements of the above applicants please contact myself or one of the Business Agents, as per procedure the membership will vote at the next General Membership meeting to accept or reject the tentative applications.

Thursday,April 4th, 2013

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters:
I thought I would take some time to let you know what has been going on this week, I had a meeting at the Building Trades of Alberta this week to meet the New Executive Director,

 

Warren Fraleigh who was once the Business Manager of the Boilermakers and until just recently was the General Manager of Labor Relations for Tamsil. Warren gave us an overview of some of the direction he would like to take the Building Trades in and will be coming to talk to the Business Managers one on one to see what they envision for the Building Trades, so lets congratulate Warren on his new position and wish him well. At this same meeting the Business Managers discussed our BTA submission to the government with our suggestions on the Division 8 construction agreements review that they are in the process of doing, local 110 will also be submitting a paper with input from our legal counsel with what we would like to see if any changes are made. I also attended my monthly ACTIMS meeting where Bob Collins reported on the Construction Industry and what they project the manpower needs will be until 2021, needless to sat they still are predicting a a major increase in the area of 2016 to 2019 and then leveling out, so we know that we are headed in the right direction with our push to get more apprentices in the trade and become Journeymen/women. I was also asked to speak at the Joint Trade Board meeting for the contractors and give them my thoughts on some of the topic we have been discussing I will attach my main speaking points
• Apprentice ratio changes, after talks to both contractors and members I believe that changing the ratio from 2 Journeymen to 1 Apprentice to 1 Journeyman to 1 Apprentice will be the route to proceed with due to the natural fear of change and repercussions if the construction trade were to slow down.
• Apprentice rates that Local 110 would like to see are 1st years remain at 50%, 2nd years to go to 70%,and 3rd years to be 80%, we believe the 20 % increase from 1st to 2nd would encourage 1st years to become indentured and start apprenticeship schooling and the 20% from 3rd to Journeyman would likely do the same.
• Using the proposed 1 to 1 ratio we would like to see an apprentice ratio of 40% -1st years, 30% – 2nd years and 30% for 3rd years, the increase in 1st years would be due to offset the number of 1st years that do not continue on to become journeymen, I know that a 10% increase in 1st years is in reality way below the number that actually drop out of the trade but hopefully we at local 110 can reduce this drastically with some new initiatives.
• Apprentice pension contributions, I would be willing to have 1st year apprentices be pro-rated so that they actually only collect 50% for their time spent as a 1st year apprentice in order to entice contractors to use more 1st year apprentices. This would be on the condition I could get the Pension Trustee to agree to these terms.
• Lung Function Tests- Spirometry / Pulmonary
1. The current cost for a Spirometry test now is $44.00 and the chest x-ray is $50.00 with a $20.00 doctors interpretation fee for a total cost of $114.00
2. The complete cost of the actual diffusion test and chest x-ray at the WOW center is $302.93
So the real problem is that this test costs 62% more than the current test and the fact we know from the WCB report that lung diseases have not decreased in the last 20 years, and what do we as an industry want to do to correct this problem, I believe that this is an important first step for our members and workers to ensure that we are doing all that we can to monitor and identify and detect any problems as early as possible.
Remember that these are just preliminary discussions and once we have something agreed on I will becoming to the general membership meeting to have it voted on if you you have any concerns or suggestion feel free to call me.

Monday, March 25, 2013

As most of you know from the last General Union meeting we are getting a 14 cent increase in May using the calculation in the collective agreement, and for those of you that were not able to make the meeting the membership voted to put the 14 cent increase into the Health and Welfare fund taking it from $1.40 to now $1.54 which was brought on by the projection showing the fund starting to lose funds due largely to the investments and the economy not performing as well as we would like, we will continue to monitor the fund and make sure it is funded.
I am meeting with the Construction Labor Relations (CLR) regularly to see about changing the Journeyman/Apprentice ratio from 2 Journeymen to 1 Apprentice to a one to one ratio to build up a pool of Local 110 journeymen to offset the large number we will lose to retirement in the next ten years and to try to man our jobs with local 110 members and not have to continually bring in TFW's , of course I would need the contractors on the Industrial sites and the Maintenance sites to use 1st year apprentices so they get started and become journeyman and will need the membership to endorse this with their votes at a Union Meeting, I will send out a notice of motion if we start to get close to achieving this with the CLR. I am also meeting with the CLR to see about having the hearing test done at our WOW center so we can ensure they are getting completed so our members will have a baseline on record should they experience hearing loss in the future as well as being able to get multiple services at the WOW center so our membership will have a one stop for the PFT, hearing test and health assessment if they wish.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Last night from 4:30 until 8:00pm the Building Trades of Alberta of which we are a member invited the Premier and MLA’s to join us at the Royal Glenora for a chance to discuss the benefits of using Building Trades Workers and Contractors. It was a great success with Premier Redford and about 40 MLA’s showing up to hear about the advantages we offer from exceptional Training Facilities to bringing in highly Qualified, Safety orientated Brothers and Sisters from our sister local in Canada and the United States. We also highlighted the BTA Charitable Foundation and the Five Million we have given out to deserving Charities and Foundations. The BTA’s final message was that we wish to work with the Conservative Government and continue to work and man the projects in Alberta with highly skilled, safety orientated manpower.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Hello Brothers & Sisters, the weather is starting to warm up and the sun is hanging around an little longer so spring is not too far away, Fuller Austin is placing calls for Suncor turnaround and Shell should also start placing calls for their Spring turnaround shortly.
We have our general membership meeting on Saturday, March 9th at the Kings College starting at noon and will be giving away an Ipad mini for the attendance draw, here are the applicants;

 Heather Marchick – 1st year permit, 551 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Taryn Magwood – 1st year permit, 547 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Andrew Perry – 1st year permit, 681 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Richard Woodford – 1st year permit, 1058 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Abdi Mohamed Dayow – 1st year permit, 776 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Bradley Kormish – 1st year permit, 5181 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Abdi M. Yousuf – 1st year permit, 850 hours worked ,no missed time –Tentatively Accepted
 Kyle Ringuette – 1st year permit, 352 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Anastasia Dovich – 1st year permit, 781 hours worked, no missed time –Tentatively Accepted
 Joell Ospina – 1st year permit,307 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Julian Swaby – 1st year permit, 1740 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Aston Pearson – 1st year permit, 647 hours worked ,no missed time –Tentatively Accepted
 Tyler Bland – 1st year permit, 283 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Kendall Thibodeau – 1st year permit, 283.5 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Jessica Walker – 1st year permit, 862 hours worked , previously accepted, did not pay in time –Tentatively Accepted
 Xui Li – 1st year permit,698 hours worked , no missed time –Tentatively Accepted
 Leonard Tibet – JM Transfer 116 – 3040 hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Ryan Groombridge – JM Transfer 116 – 998 hours worked , no time missed –Tentatively Accepted
 Larry Chase – JM Transfer 131 – 4048 hours worked, no missed time –Tentatively Accepted
 Michael Rand – JM Transfer 95 – 2480hours worked and still employed –Tentatively Accepted
 Andy Dort – JM Permit – Red Seal Journeyman –Tentatively Accepted
 Owen Moore – JM Transfer 118 – 1434 hours worked–Tentatively Accepted
 Francois Boucher – JM Transfer 58 – 1939 hours worked–Tentatively Accepted
 Phil Lyons – JM Permit – Endorsement letter from Greg Creaven & two others–Tentatively Accepted
 Ryan Achtemichuk – 1st year permit -–Tentatively Rejected
 James Perron – 1st year permit – No hours reported yet –Tentatively Rejected
 Kenneth Addai – 1st year permit – Not enough hours reported yet –Tentatively Rejected

Monday, January 28, 2013

Good morning to all, if you were unable to join us for Union night at the Oil Kings hockey game yesterday you missed and good game with the Oil kings winning 7-1 and an good old fashion dust up towards the end. It was good to see everyone outside of the work environment and enjoy an good hockey game hopefully if we do this again you will be able to join in.
Here are the applicants for February’s general membership meeting:

 

 

 

• Darren Spence-Harcus – 1st Year Permit, 1721 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Tentatively Accepted
• Brian Royer – 1st Year Permit,382  hours worked with no reported missed time, Still working
Tentatively Accepted
• Victor Whiteway – 1st Year Permit, 8537 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Letter of support, Tentatively Accepted
• Shane Galloway – 1st Year Permit, 710 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Tentatively Accepted
• Aaron Keen – 1st Year Permit, 589 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Two letters of support, Tentatively Accepted
• Georgia Coupland – 1st Year Permit, 380 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Tentatively Accepted
• Haley Walker – 1st Year Permit, 230 hours worked with no reported missed time. Dec. hours not posted yet. Tentatively Accepted
• Ryan Carson – 1st Year Permit, 1059 hours worked with no reported missed time.
Tentatively Accepted
• Kenneth Yuzyk – Journeymen Permit, 14,114 previously lapsed has called numerous times and wants to rejoin.  Tentatively Accepted

The general membership will vote on Saturday, Feb.9th to determine if the applicants are accepted into our membership. If you have any information on the above list applicants that you believe relevant please contact myself or one of the officers to discuss.
Thank you;

 

Friday, January 25, 2013

Today one of newer Journeymen Jaydee Wilson came into the office with a blanket he won on the International Facebook page, where he had to put an caption to an photo. The photo was of a dragon breathing fire into a building labeled Boiler #1 with a pipeline leading to a Sphere, in front stood a construction worker speaking with a Knight. Jaydee’s winning caption was “St George’s Natural Gas Plant, Union Labour Built It, Non- Union Fed to It”.
Good to see local 110 participating and winning these International contests.
So Jaydee and I posed with his new blanket, a very nice prize.
 
Monday, January 07, 2013

Good Morning:
To all that were unable to attend the Union Christmas Party we had a group photo with all the pin recipients that I have posted, going from the left to the right they are;

Pat Tilley B.A. South, Norman Pon / 60 Yr. pin, Kevin Lecht B.A. North, Efrain Jaramillo / 20 yr. pin, Regis Sevigny / 30 yr. pin, Doug Johnson B.A. Edm., Zenon Rys / 20 yr. pin, Andy D. Doucet / 35 yr. pin, Ronald Edmonds / 40 yr. Pin, John A. Skogland / 30 yr. pin, Heriberto Ramirez / 20 yr. pin, Teobaldo H. Burgos / 25 yr. pin, Gregory R. Creaven / 30 yr. pin President, Ivan Paez / 30 yr. pin, Bruce Moore / 30 yr. pin, Alain Isabella / 30 yr. pin, John Sorenson / 40 yr. pin, Marvin Skiftun / 40 yr. pin, Loren D. Meakins / 20 yr. pin, James Lockner / 45 yr. pin, Leonard Belcourt / 35 yr. pin, Dan L. Shantz / 20 yr. pin, Ronald Milich / 30 yr. pin, Roman Boreyko / 60 yr. pin, Tim W. Kemp / 20 yr. pin, Michael Sudayko / 45 yr. pin, Andrew McDonald / 35 yr. pin, Gus Hauer / 50 yr. pin, Samuel Wasylenchuk / 40 year pin, Leanard E. Wahlund / 35 yr. pin, Fredrick Turbide / 35 yr. pin, Ronald Myshaniuk / 40 yr. pin, Henry K. Wojtalik / 20 yr. pin,
Wade Logan B.M., taking the photo William Johnston / 40 yr. pin, Congratulations to All.
 

Friday, January 04, 2013

Happy New Year to everyone, let’s hope for a great year for all our members and family.
We will be having the general membership meeting next Saturday, Jan.12/2013 at the Kings College
The following are the individuals requesting membership into 110 for this meeting.

• Mackenzie Heinzlmeir – 1st Year Permit, 577 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Pier-Luc Magnon – 1st Year Permit, 120 hours worked with no missed time Nov. and Dec hours not posted yet. Tentatively  Accepted
• Maria Silva – 1st Year Permit, 1551 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Mark McDonald – 1st Year Permit, 1488 hours worked with no missed time, Pre Trades program graduate. Tentatively Accepted
• Maxwell Duclos – 1st Year Permit, 103 hours worked with no missed time Nov. and Dec hours not posted yet. Tentatively  Accepted
• Papa Hane – 1st Year Permit, 448 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Melissa Grills – 1st Year Permit, 654 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Eric Nielson – 1st Year Permit, 639 hours worked with no missed time, two letters of endorsement attached. Tentatively Accepted
• Bodio Baker – 1st Year Permit, 685 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Manus Radu – 1st Year Permit, 616 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Schrab Said – 1st Year Permit, 1259 hours worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Doyle Schmidt – Journeyman Permit, 26,235 hours worked with no missed time, Has paid all outstanding fines and dues, Tentatively Accepted
• Sheldon Sather – 1st Year Permit, 547 hours worked with no missed time, fired last September, 2012, Tentatively Rejected
• John Laud Anderson – 1st Year Permit, 1509 hours worked with no missed time, letter from contractor with concerns about individual, Tentatively Rejected

As with all applications please feel free to contact me with recommendations,  or to voice any concerns with the above applicants. Anyone tentatively rejected can also contact me.

Monday, December 17, 2012

For those of you that missed the Union Christmas parties they were a great success with good food and great company. The staff of Local 110 did a great job to organize and keep it running smoothly, thank you Ladies. The pins went to the follow members,

 20 Year Pins: Efrain Jaramillo, Tim W. Kemp, Loren D. Meakins, Ramirez Heriberto, Zenon Rys, Dan L. Shantz, and Henry K. Wojtalik.
25 Year Pins: Teobaldo J. Burgos and Alvarez M. F. Martinez
30 Year Pins: Gregory R. Creaven, Alain Isabelle, Ronald Milich, Bruce Moore, Ivan Paez, Regis Sevigny and John A. Skogland
35 Year Pins: Leonard Belcourt, Andy D. Doucet, Garnett Gahan, Andrew McDonald, Fredrick Turbide and Leanard E. Wahlund
40 Year Pins: Ronald Edmonds, Ronald Myshaniuk, Bernard Pruden, Marvin Skifton, John Sorenson, and Samuel Wasylenchuk
45 Year Pins: James Lockner and Michael Sudayko
50 Year Pins: Gus Hauer
60 Year Pins: Norman Pon and Roman Boreyko
Congratulations to all of you and if you see these members shake their hand and thank them for their long term dedication.

On a sadder note I thought I would touch on the terrible tragedy at Newhook Conn. and the twenty Innocent Children and the six Heroic Teachers who lost their lives to senseless violence. I know I speak for Local 110 members everywhere who will be praying and sending their best wishes or those who were lost and the loved ones who must push on. No one should have to go through what this town must now endure.
So tonight and all through this Holiday Season hold your Children and Grand Children a little tighter and be thankful for all the blessing in your life.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

We have one last push to let the politicians know we do not want to have published the names of members on a government website, all because they have received a payment of $5000.00 or more from the Union.
This payment could be for reimbursements from Health and Welfare for services you required or expensive medications, they also could be for a death benefit you received due to losing a loved one, all of which in my opinion are private matters not for the public to be looking at.
Please log onto Workers Build Canada and let’s send one last message.
http://www.workersbuildcanada.ca/

 

 

Friday, November 30, 2012

We will be have our general membership meeting on December 8th at the Kings College and have renewed our contact with them for next year. We will be selling the new clothing starting Dec.1st come in and have a look they will make great X-mas gifts for the insulator who has everything. The Christmas parties are quickly approaching and if you haven’t purchased your tickets drop into the hall before it is too late.

Here is the list of applicants for this month’s meeting in no particular order.

• Breylan Videsjarden – 1st year Permit, over 300 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Michael Symko Jr. – 1st year Permit, 8607 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted was held over from last on mistaken identity which has been straightened out.
• Jessica Walker – 1st year Permit, 608 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Joel Jeannotte – 1st year Permit, 767 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Kyle Herbert – 1st year Permit, 441 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Ian Anderson – 1st year Permit, 264 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Nancy Howatt – 1st year Permit, 3443 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Brandon Blanchard – 1st year Permit, 688 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Daniel C. Pursky – 1st year Permit, still employed with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Heather McMillan – 1st year Permit, 1048 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Carie Surowy – 1st year Permit, 1841 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Christopher Davis – JM. Transfer from 118, has 607 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Michael O’Bray – J.M. Permit, 3558 hrs. termination clarified with B.A. Tentatively Accepted

The membership will make the final decision on the applicants, if you have any concerns please feel free to contact me to discuss.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

We will be having our general membership meeting this Saturday here on the main floor of the Union building please use the front door.
Here is the list of applicants for this month’s meeting in no particular order.

• Chris James Schmidt – 1st year Permit, 416 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Kyle Matuk – 3rd year Permit, 1786 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Michael Shymko Jr. – 1st year Permit, 8607 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• James Wallace – 1st year Permit, 914 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Letter of support
• Zolten Legeny – 1st year Permit, 730 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Tudor Lapusteanu – 1st year Permit, 659 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Jim Latulippe – 4th year Permit, transfer 95, 722 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Sylvain Sampson – JM. Transfer from 58, 2416 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Jonathan Bellemare– JM. Transfer from 58, 5190 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Ronald Dirk – J.M. Permit, 1629 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Randall Bourque – JM. Transfer from 95, 3636 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• David W. Spearing – 1st year Permit, 435hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Letter of support
• Christopher Lemire – 1st year Permit, 970 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Phil Lyons – J.M. C Permit, 6559 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Yvann Dann –2nd year Permit, 8769 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Alejandro Almario – J.M. C Permit, 1379 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Krysztof Tulinski – J.M.  Permit, 6284 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Gary Delisle – 1st year Permit, 6230 hrs. worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Robert M Thompson – JM. Transfer from 118, 1162 hrs. worked, hasn’t worked thru us since 2008, Tentatively Rejected
• Abdi Mohamed Dayow – 1st year Permit, 158 hrs. worked with no missed time, to short of a history, Tentatively Rejected

 As usual the membership will make the final decision on new member applications.
On November 4th 2012 we will receive an increase in pay for a Journeyman it will be 69 cents to base rate and 7 cents to holiday pay. Hope to see you at the meeting, if you have personal business please deal with it in our office during business hours and not in the meetings, Thank you.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Due to unforeseen circumstances Local 110 General Membership meeting will not be at King’s College tomorrow but instead will be held in our main floor training conference room at the normal time,

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

With the upcoming meeting this weekend I am putting the list of applicants to become members that the training coordinator, Edmonton B.A. and I have reviewed.

Dawn Leopold – 1st year permit, 804 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Jeremy Conrad – 3rd year Permit, 2,409 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Patriot Wambura- 1st year permit, 724 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Brian Prevost – 1st year permit, 3924 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Gregory Gaubatz -1st year permit, 298 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Matthew Aquin -1st year permit, 1757 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Mario Turpin – 2nd year permit, 477 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Kayla Risdale – 1st year permit, 358 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Allan Keeling – 1st year permit, 435 hrs. Worked with no missed time, Tentatively Accepted
Michael Rand – JM. Transfer from 95, 1581 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
David Ryckman – JM. Transfer from 95, 3,900 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Francois Tavera – JM. Transfer from 58, 3,541 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Trevis Labidiuk – Journeyman 9,053 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Lee Gates – Journeyman 152 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Jean Labelle – JM. Transfer from 58, 5,837 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Ernie Poulain – JM. Transfer from 116, 4,120 hrs. Worked for Local 110, Tentatively Accepted
Ken Yuzak – JM. Former member, has not worked any hours in 2012, Tentatively Rejected

All applicants will be voted on by the membership whether to accept or reject at this October’s monthly membership meeting.

The Pensioner / TFW grievance has been resolved and the Construction Labor Relations has sent notice to the contractors, the May increase will be 80% to Base wage and SH & V and the other 20% held as a payroll burden by the contractor. If you have not received your retro pay from your contractor by the end of November please contact the union to let us know.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting; this month’s attendance draw will be for 18 Edmonton Oil King Tickets and a voucher to redeem for a signed hockey stick.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

As per the motion passed at the last meeting we sent three of our staff to show our support for the United Way kick off campaign and have attached a photo.

We were in Jasper last week for the Building Trades of Alberta conference and since we had all the parties in one place were able to settle the Pensioner and TFW grievance without going to arbitration and I will let you know the details later this week.
 
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Here is an email from the building trades that shed a little light on the benefits of being an American/ Canadian union worker.
What have unions done for us?
By Donna Brazile, CNN Contributor
updated 8:03 AM EDT, Tue September 4, 2012
 
Donna Brazile says union-trained military veterans are helping to rebuild New York's World Trade Center complex.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Donna Brazile: Unions have done much to improve the lives of most Americans
• She says they do community service, help raise wages, improve working conditions
• Brazile: Union membership helps boost the living standard of the middle class
Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking With Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.
(CNN) — What have unions done for us lately? Other than give us Labor Day, and a three-day weekend to start football season.
The answers may surprise you.
Unions have long been part of our nation's history, fighting for better pay, safer working conditions, health care and retirement benefits, education and civic participation. Unions have brought diverse voices together, and their struggles have elevated the working conditions, the standard of living and the recognition of not just their members, but of all who labor.
Unions played a major role in ending the sweatshops and child labor so common at the beginning of the 20th century. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, or ILGWU, was one of the first unions to have a primarily female membership. And in the aftermath of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, in which more than 100 mostly young immigrant women were killed, the ILGWU was at the forefront of reforming working conditions and pushing for comprehensive safety and workers' compensation laws.
 
Donna Brazile
Unions aren't a "thing of the past." They're a vital part of our social fabric and economic future. Did you know, for example, that unions run the largest career training program outside the military? Union apprenticeship programs generally partner with employers or industries to provide the kind of training that hard-wires excellence into workers and places them in good jobs that can support families. That's worth a lot when unemployment is stubbornly high and personal incomes are falling. I challenge you to watch this quick video about union-trained military vets who are rebuilding the World Trade Center without getting misty-eyed.
Did you know that union letter carriers save lives all the time by alerting officials when an elderly person hasn't collected her mail from the mailbox? That firefighters are fighting breast cancer? That in Erie, Pennsylvania, union members arranged haircuts for more than 700 kids going back to school?
In just about every community, the union movement partners with the United Way, and together they do amazing things — from cleaning up after storms to building wheelchair ramps and running food banks.

: Donor disclosure act omits unions
Unions have had their problems — what organizations do not? — And it's convenient for some politicians to belittle the contribution or usefulness of unions. Indeed, much of the public has lost touch with what unions do and who they are. Unions are just folks — people who come together to improve their lives and their workplaces, because there's strength in numbers.
The one thing the public does know is that union members, thanks to collective bargaining, have higher wages and better benefits. But union membership actually raises living and working standards for all working men and women — union and non-union. When union membership rates are high, so is the share of income that goes to the middle class. When those rates fall, income inequality grows — the middle class shrinks and the 1% gets richer.
Collective bargaining affects more than wages and benefits. Union teachers bargain for smaller class sizes. Union nurses bargain for better patient care. When they're successful — when they're not shut down by Scott Walker-type governors — we all win.
Working together, union members and their community allies also make up a powerful lobby for the common good. They've helped secure for us all the eight-hour day, job safety laws, overtime pay, Medicare and Social Security, civil rights protections, fair treatment for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers and much more.
These are some of the reasons even people who don't fit the stereotypes of union members have formed unions. Rocket scientists. Architects. Taxi drivers in New York, who are getting health care for the first time.
Carwash workers in Los Angeles. Professional athletes. Writers and directors for TV shows. Go to a movie and you're enjoying the work of one of America's most unionized industries, from the actors and camera crews to set designers.
But maybe the most important contribution of unions has to do with basic dignity. Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers, aspiring to become American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees members, picked up signs that declared proudly, "I Am a Man," and formed the setting for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech.
One of the core tenets of unionism is that all work has dignity. All work deserves respect. And all the people who perform it deserve respect.
So even as Labor Day weekend recedes, say "thank you" to someone whose work you respect and rely on. And thank a union for the weekend while you're at it.
 

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Here is the list of transfers and permits seeking membership into Local 110;

• Richard Magna – Transfer JM 95, 7206 hours worked thru local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Lincoln Mohammed – Transfer JM 95, 3633 hours worked thru local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Donald Dagenais – Transfer JM 95, 4404 hours worked thru Local; 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Steve Gillan – Transfer JM 95, 1013 hours worked thru local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Dan Lalonde – Transfer JM 95, 1284 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Owen Moore – Transfer JM 118, 1484 hours worked thru Local 110, No hours in 2012
Tentatively Accepted
• Michel Legault – Transfer JM 58, 7275 hours worked thru local 110,  No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Eduardo Zaldana – Transfer JM 95, 1564 hours worked thru Local 110, No hours in 2012
Tentatively Accepted
• Steve Keefe – Permit Red Seal JM, 7071 hours worked thru local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Jeffery Plamondon – 2nd year Permit, 5170 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed in last 12 months. Tentatively Accepted
• Eddie James – 1st year permit, 1911 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Abdi Ali Aden – 1st year permit, 2421 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Jesse Wilson – 1st year permit, 228 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Carlos Navas – 1st year permit, 748 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Daniel Walker – 1st year permit, 5023 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Dora Noyes – 1st year permit, 457hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Joshua Wladyka – 1st year permit, 397 hours worked thru Local 110 , No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Shane Hillier – 1st year permit, 391 hours worked thru Local 110 , No time missed
Tentatively Accepted
• Justin Graham – 1st year permit, 124 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Rejected, not enough history
• John L Anderson – 1st year permit, 636 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Rejected, JM member has requested his reference letter be withdrawn
• Brenda Warford – 1st year permit, 10,092 hours worked thru Local 110, No time missed
Tentatively Accepted

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

A little late but I just wanted to thank all our members and brothers and sisters from other locals family and friends who joined us for our 25th Rudy Wiederspiel Memorial golf tournament. The weather was fantastic as was the food and company; we had some great prizes thanks to the donations from our contractors and suppliers and other locals. We will look to sell out next year as it we will be a charitable function next year and we hope to raise some money for a worthy cause.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Good Morning;

This article appeared in the Carpenters Magazine and involves a discussion with a lawyer and Marytn Piper who has allowed the B.M.s to use it, and contains the major points of the new DARRPP system being implemented.

 

 

Change is the Only Certainty

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             It often seems that the landscape under which workers work in Alberta is constantly shifting. Such has certainly been the case with drug and alcohol testing in the oil sands. In June, a group of oil sands owners, including Suncor and CNRL, as well as a number of other participants, launched what is being called the Drug and Alcohol Risk Reduction Pilot Project (DARRPP).
The project involves random alcohol and drug testing at sites where the owner signs on to the program.
As DARRPP is going to be a fact of life for many construction workers in the oil sands sector, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain my understanding of the program
to date and what it may mean for our union's members. As I write this, there are a number of discussions ongoing on about its implementation and I will try to keep you informed of any further changes as they occur.
DARRPP, simply put, is the introduction of random drug and alcohol testing on sites owned by major oil sands owners and employers. First, I want to clarify that our union, as is the case with all construction unions, we have a Collective Agreements with Construction Contractors. We do not have collective agreements with owners such as Suncor and CNRL. This means that, if an owner bans someone working for one of our signatory contractors from their property, the union is not able to grieve the actions of owners as they are not bound to our collective agreements. This is not new and remains the case under DARRPP.
Secondly, a couple of years ago the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that employers and owners have a right to implement alcohol and drug testing policies. The one stipulation is that employers cannot violate human rights law in the implementation of those policies. The Alberta Human Rights Commission has issued a statement which says, "It is not the testing that triggers the protection of human rights law. It is the treatment by the employer of employees who are dependent on drugs or alcohol." Therefore, if an employee tests positive for drugs and alcohol, employers are required to obtain a professional evaluation as to whether or not the employee has drug or alcohol addiction issues. Depending on the results of that assessment, the consequences for the employee may be different. If the employee is found to have addiction issues, the employer is required to provide appropriate treatment to help the person recover and return to work. If there are no addiction issues and it is just a matter of recreational use, the employee could face disciplinary action up to and including termination.
In the materials that DARRPP issued, it says that owners and contractors involved in DARRPP will comply with human rights law and offer rehabilitation and accommodation for employees who are diagnosed with an addiction. If the owners and contractors live up to these declarations, it is the union's preliminary assessment that the testing will likely comply with the law in Alberta.
The DARRPP information provided so far indicates that testing could be done by either saliva or urine testing. It is up to each organization to determine what method of testing will be used on a given site. As well, the DARRPP participants are saying that random testing will be conducted on 4.17 per cent of a designated workforce each month which they anticipate will result in 50 per cent of the "safety sensitive" workforce being randomly tested over the period of a year. Selection is supposed to be done by computer from all persons employed on affected sites and it is possible that some workers may be subjected to random testing more than once a year. It may even be consecutive months.
One question that has come up is what is the point of continuing the Rapid Site Access Program (RSAP)? The information I have so far is that if you are a RSAP participant working on a DARRPP site you will be subjected to the DARRPP program of random testing.
First, under DARRPP if a person tests positive the information about the test will go to the site owner, the contractor and the person who tested positive. Under the RSAP program, the results of a positive test would not go to the owner or contractor and, instead, is sent directly to Organization Health Incorporated (OHI), which is the case administrator. There is more privacy under RSAP. Participants in the industry are currently working on obtaining an understanding from DARRPP participants who are also signed on to RSAP that if an RSAP participant tests positive, the results will be dealt with under the RSAP case management and privacy model rather than DARRPP. That has yet to be worked out but hopefully will happen.
Second, some of the DARRPP participants are also RSAP participants. Industry members are attempting to come to an understanding that site access testing will still not be required for RSAP members even if the owner signs on to DARRPP. These discussions are ongoing and will depend on the position taken by each owner.
There are many unanswered questions at this point. We will continue to try to put our members in the best position possible with respect to the requirements being implemented in DARRPP and other such programs.
It is not for me or others to judge each person's lifestyle choices. However, unions have a limited ability to challenge the decisions of owners and the legal decisions in Alberta have gone a long way to supporting owners' and contractors' rights to implement drug and alcohol testing, particularly in the oil sands. This is now a fact of life.
We will continue to monitor compliance with human rights law and DARRPP's implementation to ensure our members are treated with the dignity they deserve.

 

 
Wednesday,July25, 2012

Good Morning:

A little news from the International Convention the current slate of International officers were reelected as they was no opposition from the floor and will be in place for the next 5 years. There was no increase in per capita but after a lot of discussion on the floor all the locals will pay 4 cents per hour/member to fund the Tissue Bank to see if we can find a cure for Mesothelioma and other Asbestos related illnesses that  have taken our Family members and Brothers and Sisters, as President Grogan stated at the convention ‘If Not Us Then Whom” as this affects the Insulation trade greater than any other industry and if we don’t lead the battle it will go un fought and continue to ravage those closest to us.

On a cheerier topic the Union golf tournament will be this Sunday at Legends Golf Course the forecast is for Sunny skies and a high of 26 degrees and the course is in great shape. Please call the hall to register and then you can pay and pick up your tickets at the course, registration is at 7:00 am and Shotgun start at 8:00 am we cannot have success at our Union functions if we all don’t make the effort to join and stay connected other than just seeing each other on the job.

Monday, July 09, 2012

Good Morning:

As most of you already know all the Officers and most of the Executive Board will be at the Canadian Conference from July 13th and 14th and then attending the International Conference from July 16th to the 18th if anything pressing comes up we will all be receiving emails and calls from the office and will respond during breaks.
 The Pensioner grievance is moving along with the nominees appointed and waiting on an Arbitrator it should be heard this fall with any luck.
Golf tournament is coming up July 29th at Legends so book your time off to play.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Good Morning;

With the 25th Anniversary of our Union’s Rudy Wiederspiel Memorial golf tournament coming up on July 29th I just wanted to inform you of some changes to the format this year. We have forms at the Union window so you can put in your own team and golf with friends, family or whomever and still be eligible to compete for the trophy and we encourage singles or twosomes to enter and we will partner you up. It’s looking to be a great tournament so far with two holes in one sponsor’s, The Investors group will be on one hole with a chance for someone to win $5000.00 for a hole in one, and Servus will be on another hole with the chance for someone to win $20,110.00 for a hole on one. We will be awarding small trophies and gift cards to the first place team and the most honest team, and drawing for the rest of the prizes to keep it fair. Everyone golfing will receive a gift so come on out and support your Union and share a good time with your Brothers and Sisters and maybe walk away with the money.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

As most members know due to a police investigation which encompassed our building last Friday we were unable to open and had to postpone the general membership meeting. We will be having the Executive meeting this Saturday, June 23rd as well as the general membership meeting at the King’s College at noon, unfortunately I will be unable to attend due to a prior commitment but Doug Johnson will fill in for me. We will be drawing for a 16 GB I pad for a member in attendance and do not forget the Golf Tournament on July 29th at Legends golf course; Doreen has the tickets for sale at her counter.

 

Friday, June 15, 2012

Due to an unforeseen circumstance local 110 will not be open today as staff will not be able to access our building, unfortunately we will have to postpone the general membership meeting until next Saturday June23rd.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Here is the list of applicants seeking membership for the June 16th/2012 meeting;
• Rickey E. Smith, Transfer from local 95 Journeyman. Has 4317 hours worked for Local 110 with no missed time was previously accepted in June, 2011 but did not pay in time. Tentatively Accepted
• Ken White, Transfer from local 95 Journeyman. Has 2985 hours worked for local 110 with no time missed, sent a letter of introduction to us. Tentatively Accepted
• Jonathan Bellemare, Transfer from local 58 Journeyman. Has 4384 hours for Local 110 with no time missed and has moved to Edmonton. Tentatively Accepted
• Pierre Ellis, New Journeyman with 9157 hours worked with local 110 with no missed time reported
one previous attempt to join as a 3rd year. Tentatively Accepted
• Pascal Tsague, 1st year permit with 985 hours worked for Local 110 with no time missed is indentured. Tentatively Accepted
• Jason Doucet, 1st year permit with 236 hours worked for local 110 with no time missed would like to see a few more hours but has a letter of endorsement. . Tentatively Accepted
• Thomas J. Russet, 1st year permit with 789 hours worked for local 110 with no time missed. Tentatively Accepted
• Jeanette Fowell, 1st year permit with 1369 hours worked for local 110 with two letters of endorsements from Local 110 Journeymen. Tentatively Accepted
• Crystal martin, 1st year permit with 2676 hours worked with local 110 was previously lapsed in 2009 has not worked through our local since March 2008. Tentatively Rejected

As with all applications the membership will decide if they are accepted or not at the June Meeting.

 

Thursday, May 31st,2012

A little update of what has been going on over the last couple of weeks as a lot of you know Aerogel is starting to become popular on some sites, so last week the International hosted a demonstration of their new improved product which has a thin silicone spray applied to it and Iron oxide in it to replace the titanium dioxide. The demo was attended by two individuals from NIIOSH who were not familiar with the product but listened to what the Union B.M.’s and B.A.’s had to say with their experience of the product and to what the representatives of Aspen Aerogel had to say. The new product was a lot less dusty to work with but with that being said we will be working with this product and as long as the Clients are supplying the proper P.P.E. and cut shacks I would expect our members to be the best at applying and cladding this material as we have been with any other new product that has been introduced.
Secondly the Business Agents, Kevin, Doug, Pat and myself will all be away next week in Washington to attend the International’s Officer training to help us understand all the intrinsic operations of our new duties, we will all have our cellphones should we be needed but will need a short time to respond.

Friday, May 18, 2012

As our pensioners are aware of by now their cheques do not show the 81 cent increase as of May 6th, Local 110 has been aware of the problem and has been trying to resolve it with the Construction Labour Relations for the past couple of months. We have filed a grievance to resolve this matter.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Local 110 have been advised that Charles Sandford passed away peacefully, yesterday in hospital.  Charles started as a member of Local 126 in 1977 and became a member of Local 110 when the 2 locals merged. He worked throughout Alberta until his retirement in 1996, but continued to work on and off until 2008 when he took out his Honorary Membership. He was a valued member and will be missed.
All the Officers and Staff of Local 110 offer their prayers and sincerest condolences to the family and friends.

A memorial will be held, and Local 110 will advise when we have the details.

 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Checking out the Traveler Website it looks to be a great innovation for Local 110 to have easy and reliable access to our Canadian and American Brothers. As of today we have 88 Canadian’s registered and 243 Americans all we need now is for the work to pick up so we can get everyone to work.
Remember we will be having our general membership meeting this Saturday so try to make it.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Applicant’s seeking membership approval for the May 12th Union Meeting.

-Mark Castle, Transfer from local 95, Journeyman with 7274 hours worked with local110, No missed time
 Tentatively Accepted

-Ammie McNallie, 3rd year permit, 6913 hours worked with local 110, has five quits in the last two years, no explanation, Tentatively Rejected

-Ryan Fisher, 1st year permit, Commercial 1700 hours reported not yet verified as we have not received from contractor yet. Tentatively Accepted

 

We will have two draws this meeting from the attendees of last month’s Fort MacMurray/ Calgary meetings and the present members of Edmonton’s meeting this May 12th, 2012. We will be drawing for two Union watches, two pair of Union sunglasses and two Union caps. Junes meeting will be for One 16 GB I Pad tablet.
Remember to book off your holidays to be able to attend the Union Golf Tournament on July 29, Sunday at 8:00 am at legends golf course.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 30th,2012

Local 110 is saddened to announce the passing of Brother Leland (Lee) Vollrath Sr. who passed away this past weekend at the age of 80. Mr. Vollrath was a member of Local 110 for 44 years in which he provided leadership and friendship to our members. Lee was the Business Agent from 1976 to 1978 and the Business Manager from 1982 until 1987 he was also a longtime Superintendent at J K Campbell.
 Brother Lee was granted an Honorary Membership in 2005.
Funeral services will be held at Evergreen Memorial, 16204 Fort Road on Thursday May 3rd at 2:00pm
Local 110 Staff and Officers offer their prayers and deepest sympathies to Family and Friends.

 

 

Thursday, April 26, 2012
 
If you are free this Saturday and would like to take part in a ceremony to remember our fallen Brothers and Sisters, I have attached two ceremonies that are taking place in Edmonton.
Even if you are busy please take a moment to reflect and remember the Brothers and Sisters that have passed away, and the influence they have had on ensuring our Safety standards so that we will arrive home every day safe.

 

 

 
Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Habitat for Humanity is getting close to the completion on the union build project. But they are having a hard time finding volunteers.  Right now, there is no one scheduled to volunteer for this week or next.
They need people all this week including Saturday and next week Tuesday to Saturday from 8:30 – 4 pm to help with various tasks.
If you can lend your help please schedule through them. Contact Angela on her cell phone at 780-819-6164. Please leave a message if you reach voicemail and she will return your call as soon as possible.

Lastly: Save the date! May 25th is the home dedication date. The Building Trades of Alberta will be recognized at the event for your fantastic support!  We are so thrilled with this project and the support each one of your locals has given us. An invitation will be sent out soon, so watch for that.

Thank you for all your help,

Angela

 

Monday, April23th/2012

Local 110 is sad to announce the passing of another Brother. We were informed that Walter Stone Jr. passed away on April 22, 2012. Walter had transferred in from local 137 on 2001. Local 110 Staff and Officers extend their deepest sympathies and prayers to the Family and Friends.
 Service to be held on Thursday, April 26 at 2:00 pm at Noel’s Funeral Home in Harbor Grace, Newfoundland.
Friday,April20th/2012

Local 110 is sad to announce the passing of Brother Olee Joe; many members will have fond memories of working with Olee who has been a member for the last twelve years.
There will be a Memorial service at 2:00 pm on Tuesday April 24th at the Evergreen Memorial Garden & Funeral Home located at 16204-Fort Road Edmonton A.B.
 Local 110 would like to give their condolences to all of Olee’s Family and Friends.

 

Wednesday,April11th/2012

Good Afternoon:

I am posting a little information about oil sands development,

Oil Sands Prosperity
The oil industry, including natural gas and the oil sands, has been a great source of prosperity for Alberta, developed with the hard work of Albertans. It is an industry that depends on resources that belong to all of us and should benefit all of us. The huge resources of the oil sands should be used to provide both a fair return of revenue to the Alberta treasury and create good jobs and economic activity inside Alberta.
For far too long Conservative governments have set the rules so that oil companies prosper while Albertans have been getting too little from resources we all own.  For far too long the Conservatives have refused to introduce royalty rates for the oil sands that would put Albertans first, and meet the recommendations of their own “blue ribbon” panel of experts.
It’s time to make sure that we get a fair return on the resources we all share as Albertans. It’s time to invest in the public services – like health and education – that we all need today, and to invest in our future.
And the Conservative government’s willingness to see huge volumes of bitumen shipped out of the province for upgrading and refining comes with a price tag of tens of thousands of good jobs.
• In 2010, Alberta allowed 42% of all bitumen produced to be exported without upgrading, and by 2017 we will be producing 2,880,000 barrels of bitumen/day and exporting half without upgrading;
• As recently as this past February the Conservatives abandoned support for the Alberta First Nations Energy Centre upgrader, a project that would have processed 125,000 barrels of bitumen a day;
• Four upgraders, with full capacity of 550,000 barrels/day, were planned for Alberta and  put on hold since 2008. These four projects would mean 4300 to 5300 good, permanent jobs in Alberta, plus tens of thousands of jobs during construction, which would inject over $30 billion into the economy; and
• By not proceeding with these upgraders we lost over $400 million in corporate income taxes—every year—that could have been used to provide first class public services, like health care and education, for all Albertans.
Only the Alberta NDP will create the foundations for long-term economic development in Alberta by actively encouraging upgrading of our bitumen.  It’s time to end the get-rich-quick sale of our natural resources, and make Alberta jobs a priority now and in the future–and a recent poll showed that more than 80% of Albertans agree.
We can start today to:
• Develop a differential royalty system on bitumen and upgraded products that encourages value added in Alberta
• Require all new oilsands developments to have plans for upgrading in Alberta
We have an unique opportunity to lay a permanent foundation for prosperity for everyone in Alberta–good jobs and the highest quality public services.
It’s time to make Alberta’s wealth work for us; it’s time to make fair royalties and jobs priorities.
It’s time to act like owners.
Albertans own our non-renewable resources and get to set rules that will deliver a fair return to all Albertans for them.  The Conservatives have allowed the big oil companies to ship our bitumen, and jobs, where they please.  It’s time to act like owners of our resources and make this prosperity work for all Albertans.
–Brian Mason

Tuesday, April 10th /2012

Good Morning;

I was recently talking to Gerry Donnelly government and public relations manager for the Alberta Building Trades and asking what political parties and candidates they are supporting.
 I am posting the list he supplied me as you can see it is a mix of candidates, I expressed my concern to see PC support but he said they had worked with them in the past.
In my opinion there is only one party that will support the working class people of Alberta and opposes the Keystone pipeline, all raw materials should be refined here in Alberta where we the people of this Province will get the most benefit and work.
I can’t tell you how to vote but with an election this close I urge you to make the effort to cast your ballot and make a difference, and I for one will be voting NDP.

Candidates for Consideration

Edmonton Calder                  David Eggen       – NDP                
Beverly Clareview                Deron Bilous       – NDP                
 Edmonton Centre                 Laurie Blakeman – Lib.                   
Edmonton Decore                Janice Sarich         – PC              
Edmonton Goldbar              Josipa Petrunic      – Lib.                    
Edmonton Glenora             Ray Martin             -NDP                 
Edmonton Highlands           Brian Mason         – NDP              
Edmonton Manning            Cindy Olsen          – NDP                
Edmonton McClung           Moe Elsalhy          – Lib.                   
Edmonton Meadowlark       Raj Sherman         -Lib.                 
Edmonton Millwood’s          Weslyn Mather    -Lib.                    
Edmonton Rutherford         Michael Walters     -A/P                  
Edmonton Strathcona          Rachel Notley       -NDP               
Spruce Grove-St Albert       Doug Horner         – P/C   

Calgary                                 Wayne Cao          – P/C     

                                               Sandra Jansen     – P/C      

                                              Bruce Payne         -Lib.       

                                               Redford              – P/C                

Thursday, April 5th/2012

Good Morning:

Last week the trustee’s of the pension of which I am one, met with our investment representatives and our consultant. The investments as everyone knows have not done as well as forecasted and this coupled with the dropping interest rates have forced me to put the full May 6th 2012 increase of 81 cents into the pension. We may also have to rearrange the portfolio to give us the best chance of increasing our investment earnings and may have to use a portion of our November increase to get us to the max. of $1.25 as per the collective agreement. The wage scales will be recalculated and stapled into the back of the new collective agreements which we will mail out as soon as we are finished.

Monday, April 2nd/2011

We were just notified that Mr. Wayne Knight has passed away this morning, he was a member of our Union for 41 years and if you were lucky enough to have worked or had a beverage with Mr. Knight you know that he could keep you laughing and entertained for hours with his endless stories. I know we will all miss him and send our condolences to his wife Marlaine. We will pass along more information as we receive it.

 

 

Wednesday, March 28th/ 2012

Good Afternoon:

As you are all aware the election polls will be April 23 so we as Union members have very little time to call, email or write our candidates in which ever area you reside to see what their stance is on Union labour and Bill 377. We must look past voting for the same candidates that we have voted for in the past and actually vote for someone that will take a stand for the workers that actually live and spend money in their constituency. Hopefully if enough people stand together in our Union and the Building Trades the government will start to take notice and make changes for the betterment of the working class.

Here is the list of applicants seeking membership for the April 14th/2012 meeting;
• Mark Castle – JM. Transfer from Local 95
          7274 hours with Local110 and two letters of endorsement and no Missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Shelia Elliot – 1st Year Apprentice
2197.25 hours with Local 110, four signatures, No time missed, Tentatively Accepted
• Steven Farren – JM. C, Commercial Worker
3216 hours with Local 110, three signatures, Tentatively Accepted
• Joel Gauthier – 1st Year Apprentice, Commercial Worker
            1569.5 hours for Local 110, three signatures, No missed time, missed deadline to pay $15.00
             Fee, Reapplication, Tentatively Accepted
• Jason Imbeault – 1st year Apprentice
2878.5 hours for Local 110, letter of endorsement from employer, No missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Olivia Marietta – 1st Year Apprentice, Commercial worker
869 hours worked for Local 110, three signatures, No missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Nicholas Moroz – 1st Year Apprentice
688.85 hours worked for Local 110, three signatures, No missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Nicholas Schmidt – 1st Year Apprentice
      792 hours worked for Local 110, three signatures, No missed time, Tentatively Accepted
• Ken Yuzyk – JM.  Lapsed
      13,877.75 hours worked for Local 110, three signatures, paid all Dues, Tentatively Rejected
• Michael Zukiwski – JM. Lapsed , 2nd attempt to rejoin
29,394.45 hours worked for Local 110, paid all dues, Last hours 2009, Tentatively Accepted

As with all applications the membership will decide if they are accepted or not at the April Meeting.

Thursday, March15th/2012

Good Morning;
If you have not been in the Local 110 office lately you will notice a piece of Art Work hang on the opposite wall where you pay your dues, it is a beautiful piece of aluminum hand hammered into a replica of our 60th anniversary sticker. Thank you to Don Watts Jr. for donating it to our union, come in and check it out.

Yesterday I was sent a copy of the discussion that went on in The House of Commons on March 13/2012 in regards to Bill 377 of the Income Tax Act. I took it home to read and highlighted a few sections that I found interesting and will share them here with you. These are quotes from the Liberal party and the NDP party.

    Professional associations are much like unions. Members of associations receive a similar tax exemption to members of unions. We know that it is a requirement in most professional organizations. If people want to practice in a particular profession, then they have to become a member of that professional organization. There is a mandatory aspect to it. Therefore, it escapes me why professional organizations have not been included in the drafting of the bill to make it fair for all parties

Can we imagine the impact this bill will have when it is enacted? Unions are being asked to disclose their labour relations activities, to report what they do and how they finance their activities, to disclose their political activities, their collective bargaining activities, and information about conventions, education and training activities, legal activities and recruiting activities. Essentially, unions are being asked to drop their pants in front of everybody. They have to show their figures.
 How can unions develop a strategy? How can they bargain with an employer when the employer knows everything about their figures, like the strike fund, the operating fund and the staff? This is unacceptable.

     I would also like to talk about the cost of implementing this initiative. Bill C-377 will be a bureaucratic monster. We saw this in the case of firearms. We were told that everything would be electronic and run smoothly. The firearms registry cost Canadians $1 billion. How much will it cost for the implementation and enforcement of this legislation?

    In Canada's trade union movement, financial statements are audited and reported to elected boards of directors, to all union locals, and to delegates at conventions. Annual audited statements must be filed with both provincial and federal labour boards. The Canada Labour Code requires that financial statements be available to members. Where those statements are not routinely provided to all members, individual union members can request them from their locals and directly from labour boards. The process is open, fair, democratic and accountable.

    With this legislation the government is once again breaching the bounds of fundamental fairness by demanding that trade unions release their financial information to the public. Importantly, it is only trade unions that would be required to do so. Entities such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the law society, and the Fraser Institute, all of which enjoy the same kind of tax-exempt status as unions, are curiously not mentioned in the bill. When the member for South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale first introduced this legislation as Bill C-317 in the last Parliament, he was asked why it targeted unions alone, why the same provisions would not apply to other not-for-profit agencies or societies. He was unable to answer that very basic question.

    With this legislation the employer would know exactly what resources the union has and how far those resources will stretch. The employer would be handed a report that tells it exactly how much the union can spend on a grievance, whether the union can afford an organizing drive, and precisely how much is in the strike fund. It is absolutely outrageous.

    I do not know where the sponsor of this bill comes from or if he remembers the history of his community, but I want to ask him and other members opposite to think about the freedoms that we cherish in our community and our country and to consider for a moment their history. I want to ask him as well to consider the role that working people have played in the establishment of those freedoms and of those important programs, and the work they have done to build our roads and public buildings and to ensure that we have goods and services in order to have a high standard of living. Health care, health and safety laws, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, pensions and all of the other things that have made our communities as strong as they are today have resulted from the struggles of working people and their organizations, trade unions. They do not deserve this kind of attack.

    I started my career in the asbestos mines, as a labourer. I was 17 years old. Believe me, there was no friend in that mine except for the union too, because we were the ones going to the company and saying “Isn't it true that asbestos is bad for you?” They said, “No, get back to work; this is Canadian asbestos; this is benign asbestos; this asbestos won't kill you”. The only friend a working person has, frankly, is the union.

    I challenge members to look south to the United States. The United States' greatest strength and greatest asset was a consuming middle class that received fair wages that could feed and sustain a family, which led to consumerism and led to the greatest economic powerhouse the world has ever known. Somehow, in their wisdom, the neo-conservatives during Reaganomics decided they should smash the labour movement. By cowardly, gutless legislation like this, they systematically, by legislation, dropped the unionization rate in the United States from 33% down to 6%. With that went fair wages. With that went the right to organize, the right to free collective bargaining, pension plans and health and welfare benefits. All these things are just a pipe dream now. The American dream is over.

    In the short time I have, let me give one illustration of how far we have come and how far we have fallen. This year will be the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. In New York City, in 1912, 700 women were working in a sweatshop in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. A fire started and hundreds of women were killed. That was the impetus of the workplace safety and health movement that led to the cleaning up of workplaces all across the United States, and by extension, all across North America. It was the birth of the trade union movement in the garment industry.

    I had 43 garment manufacturers in my riding. I know full well the contributions that UNITE and those unions have made to the safety of those workers. That was a hundred years ago. Then we got cleaned up. We had health and safety provisions, clean workplaces and fewer accidents. Then Reaganomics came along and smashed the labour movement.

    As the government smashes the labour movement, as clearly it has given the indication it intends to do, declare war on labour on the left, not only will workers' wages diminish. How is that good for the economy? Also, workplace safety and health provisions will diminish. People will be dying in the workplace again just like in 1912 in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory.

This is a cornerstone of any western democracy, the free and healthy trade union movement, the right to organize, the right to free collective bargaining and the right to withhold one's services in the event of an impasse. It is a cornerstone we are proud of. It is one of the very things by which we define ourselves as a free and open democracy. This piece of legislation has no place in a western democracy that prides itself on the rights of ordinary people and its citizens. It makes one wonder whose side the Conservatives are on.

These are a few quotes that I found interesting and I know that we as Albertans and Union members are very quiet, but I think it is time to put pen to paper and let the Conservative government know that you deserve to make a fair wage and work in a safe environment. Before the Conservatives who are pushed by the big oil companies who rake in Billions and want to crush the unions like they did in the United States so they can increase their profit margin.
We as union members need to start working together and mobilize with each other to ensure we keep our way of life before it is too late and we are so few that we will not matter.
But this is my opinion and I hope you will spear head a letter writing campaign or use the email link I posted earlier and spread the word on your job.

 

 

Tuesday, March 13th /2012

Our new sign installed yesterday.

Friday, March 9th /2012

Good Morning;
 The new Provincial Collective Agreements are ready and will start to be mailed out next week. We will be taking 100 copies to the meeting this Saturday March10, there will be an updated wage schedule inserted at the back that will supersede the previous one in the agreement. The May 6th increase will be 81 cents with 40 cents going to pension, 4 cents into statutory holiday and vacation pay and the remaining 37 cents to the base rate as approved at a previous general membership meeting.
Hope to see you all at the meeting.

Wednesday, March 7th /2012

Good Morning,
We have had a call in for some time now for Acuren for 4 Journeymen or 4th year apprentices for rope access work at Syncrude, they want to use Union insulators and pay an extra $2.50 above the rate. It would look good for us if there were some individuals who would step up to the plate and help us out with a new contractor.
Contact dispatch if you are to the challenge.

Tuesday, March 6th /2012

Good Morning:

Here is the list of names requesting to join our Union this meeting March 10th 2012;

Michael D. Osborne – 977 hrs worked with no missed time / Tentatively Accepted

Benjamin St. John – 988 hrs worked with no missed time / Tentatively Accepted

Evaristo Casanova – 3551 hrs worked with no missed time / Tentatively Accepted

Ian Marlowe – 12,180 hrs worked no missed time, Journeyman B, Two letters of endorsement
Four quits, 2nd time applying, following conversation with Ian / / Tentatively Accepted

Jeremy Conrad – 2066 hrs worked, missed approximately 20 % / Tentatively Rejected

All our tentative and will be decided by our membership this Saturday,
Hope to see you all there!

Tuesday, February 28th / 2012

Last evening we had another conference call with Building Trades Union Members across Canada and legal counsel regarding Bill 377.As you may remember Bill 377 is a Bill going for its second reading in the house that is being pushed by the non union sector to force all unions to open their books for them to scrutinize. This will force us to increase our staff and budget to accommodate such a request and let the non union sector see where we are putting our funds and then let them undercut us as usual. We have a web portal that everyone should log on and send an email to your MLA it is www.workersbuildcanada.ca , have your friends and family send off emails to. This is being pushed by the non union sector and we need to start pushing back.

Wednesday, February 15th / 2012

Due to the Canadian Conference and the International Quinquennial Conference being booked for July 13th to the 18th we will need to move the Union Golf Tournament date from Saturday July 14th to Sunday July 29th, I hope we will have a huge turn out with Members and friends and family who perhaps haven’t participated before. Remember it’s not only for golfers but for all members to show support and get together for some fun and solidarity.

We will also have to change the date of the Union Meeting scheduled for June 9th due to new International officer training down in the United States. We will move it to June 16th as per the motion at the last meeting and send out another reminder when we get closer.

Also at the meeting this past week the membership voted to put a portion or all the 81 cent raise due in May into the pension depending on the recommendation of our Pension consultant, as we all know the Market did not do as well as predicted so we need to make sure it is fiscally sound.

The membership also voted to let me enable a Light Industrial package that was brought to the floor by our Marketing Director Bill Spring, for more information on this you can contact Bill Spring.

Tuesday, February 14th / 2012

Happy Valentines;

I am passing along some information I have received about Bill 377 it is interesting and should get
All of our members contacting their Conservative MP‘s by email or letter to voice their opinions’.
This is your union dues that you receive back as a tax deduction at the end of the year that they
are waving in front of the public sector as a union subsidy.
I would be concerned if they don’t get the unions to open their books that they will be going after
that deduction to end, but that’s just my opinion.
 

 

 

Tuesday, February 7th / 2012

Sorry it won’t open the link once transferred but check into bill 377

Here’s a link to Bill 377 that the conservative government is trying to pass to have all Unions disclose all information to the public. A very transparent ploy to keep on weakening the Unions until they eliminate them altogether, in my opinion.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5360179#OOB-6511868

Monday, February 6th / 2012

Here is the list of Transfers and Permits applying for Membership Feb.11/2012

 David   Mark Van Grimberghe – JM. Transfer from Local 95 has worked 4446 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time, 23,000 hrs in trade.  Tentatively, Accepted.
 John Navasca – JM. Transfer from Local 95 has worked 916 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time.  Was rejected Sept.10/2011 not enough hours, Tentatively, Accepted.
 Michael Berry – JM. Transfer from Local 95 has worked 1123 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time. His brother Chris Berry is a Member of Local 110.  Tentatively, Accepted.
 Ryan Murray Edwards – JM. Transfer from Local 95 has worked 3642 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time, 8152 hrs in trade. Son In-law of Member Janice Sampson.
Tentatively, Accepted.
 David Laffra – 1st Year Permit, worked 1212 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time. Tentatively Accepted.
 Stephen House – 1st Year Permit, worked 1823 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time. Tentatively Accepted.
 Gordon Griggs – 1st Year Permit, worked 5898 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time. Attended school Dec. /2011. Tentatively Accepted.
 Maxime Marchand – 1st Year Permit, worked 1707 hrs for Local 110 with no missed time. Was previously accepted came to the hall with his father paid dues and due to miscommunication missed paying $15.00 application fee and had to reapply. Tentatively Accepted.
 Daniel Butler – 1st Year Permit, worked 133 hrs for Local 110 in 2011 but has 4828 from 2006 with no missed time. I would like to see more hours in 2012 with no time missed. Tentatively rejected.
  Brandon Bregman – 1st Year Permit, worked 866 hrs for Local 110 with no missed. Tentatively Accepted.

All are tentative and will be decided by the membership

Thursday, February 2nd/2012

This morning Kevin Lecht and I went to Jacob’s Fab Shop here in Edmonton to take the Jacob’s Employee Safety Inventory (ESI). It is a metering test that will be implemented on their sites. It is a 99 question survey that is design to gauge the applicants risk and safety and Stress cultures and predicts your Safety Behavior on and off the job. It will be split up into three categories, Low Risk, Medium Risk and High Risk. The low and Medium would go to work while the High Risk person would need to do on the job Training to help the individual with high risk behaviors that Jacobs would like to eliminate from their work sites. These test results would not be made available to the Supervision and would only be known by the Safety department. No individual would be terminated on the basis of the survey results we were told.
Kevin and I both completed the test in less than 15 minutes each, it was very straight forward with questions that ask what you would do in certain circumstances on and off the job.
After completing the survey, you will receive a printout that the Safety Department will review with you and depending on your score you might have to do a little upgrading.
Remember this is Jacob’s pilot project and if it does as promised and reduces accidents so everyone can go home safely and enjoy their life and families we will all be better off.
As this system is implemented and we receive feedback from our members I will update this page.

 

Monday, January 30th / 2012

Local 110 is sad to announce the following:

Long time Member Bob Mancell passed away yesterday, Bob who resided in Calgary was a 39 year member, he was an exceptional tradesman, a strong Union Brother who went on pension in 2005 and worked off and on since then. He often filled in at the Calgary office when the B.A. had business elsewhere. He was well known and respected by the membership.
We will provide further details as we receive them.

We have also learned today that Member Brian Zotzman and Member Patrick Sergeew have lost a Wife and Mother, Jeanne Sergeew passed away this weekend after a valiant fight. Jeanne also worked through our hall, and will be missed by everyone who had worked with her.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 1:00pm Feb.4/2012 at Serenity Funeral Home
10129 Princess Elizabeth Ave. Viewing 7:00pm – 9:00pm Friday and 12:00pm – 1:00 pm on Saturday, lunch to follow.
In Lieu of Flowers, Donations can be made to the Heart and Stroke fund.

Our Deepest Sympathy and Condolences to both Families and Friends.

Friday, January 27th / 2012

Member information; I received a call for a contractor saying they will be putting a call in for about 60 insulators in the spring, but they will need an asbestos tickets it will be a minor part of the job so if have time and are interested in getting your ticket now to help you get the call contact Ron Milich.

Aspen Aerogels has announced some upcoming changes to its products in early 2012. Aspen is currently installing a new multi-million coating machine will apply an external coating to help mitigate the dust created during the installation process and make the product more user friendly. Also, in September 2011 Titanium Dioxide was re-classified by some governing agencies as a possible carcinogenic so Aspen, in an effort to help alleviate the concerns of installers, will remove it from the manufacturing process. Look for these changes to be implemented by the end of the first quarter.  A new MSDS will be issued shortly to reflect these changes.

Aerogels has indicated these two modifications to the Pyrogel XT insulation product– it is an insulation product that some clients and contractors use that will warrant our membership applying it from time to time and this Update is only to make our membership aware of any and all news relating to the health aspects of the product. , This does not imply that Local 110 is endorsing this insulation material.

The draw for the Training Trust Fund Apprentice  Awards was held at the General Membership Meeting on Saturday January 14- the winning names drawn were- 3rd year- Katie Hill; 2nd year   Paul Snell; and 1st year Warren Scott. Congratulations to all. IT PAYS TO GO TO SCHOOL!

Info alert if you cannot open dispatch information on your Blackberry phone Telus suggests you plug it into your computer and get it updated.
ca.blackberry.com/apps-software/devices/

Friday, January 20th / 2012

The General Membership Meeting on January 14/2012 was a learning experience for all the new Officers and myself, thank you for your patience.
I am including the order and sequence we will try to follow,
1. Call to Order – President
2. Good and Welfare – President
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting – Recording Secretary
4. Communication  – Business Manager
5. Reports of Officers – Business Agents
6. Initiation of New Members – President
7. Unfinished Business – President
8. New Business – President
9. Financial Report – Business manager
10. Adjournment – President
In order to shorten the Meeting to an acceptable time I have compressed the Financial Report and put similar items together, I will still have the complete break down at the front and will be more than willing to go over it with anyone after the meeting if they have any questions or concerns.
I would also ask that Members wait until the appropriate time in the schedule to address the membership with their business.
 Please raise your hand until the president acknowledges you and then calls you to speak, please stand and introduce yourself and then address the membership.
In order to further shorten the meetings please do not bring up personal issues or topic’s that we would be able to deal with at the Office.
Lastly I would ask that we refrain from negative comments about individuals or the Union if you have a legitimate concern my door is always open.
Remember it is always an easy path to be negative and critical but I would ask that we come to the meetings with Positive Solutions and comments to any concerns and to think about what we can do to get back our Work!

The next general meeting is scheduled for Saturday February 11th, 2012 and there will be three draws for 1,000 dollars each and two more additional draws one for 500 dollars and one for 250.
After each of the above referred to general membership meetings were adjourned, as usual, those who chose, attended a restaurant to conclude the meeting with the union providing a meal and soft drinks.

Friday, January 13th / 2012

Greetings and Happy belated New Year, it has been a very busy nine days here in the office and I hope we can count on you to be patient as our Business Agents and I learn the ropes so we can best serve you.
I have made a few small changes here at the office, the Edmonton Business Agent will no longer be handling dispatch, but will going out to the sites in Edmonton and handling all Edmonton based matters, and helping out the north B.A. if we start to get as busy as predicted in March. The office will now accept phone calls over lunch for members working on site that need to reach us; we will be having one staff member manning the phone as well as one of the Business Agents or myself staying through lunch to answer questions when possible.
I had the chance to tour the Wellness Center and was quite impressed with the Facilities; I urge you and your family to book an appointment (780) 800-6906 while we are a little slow. Remember we are funding this project and to get your monies worth we must utilize the facility as much as we can, I can guarantee you after filling out your assessment if needed, the Diffusion Box Pulmonary function test will be well worth it.

Reminder: Our monthly General Membership meeting takes place at King’s University College, 9125 – 50 Street, Edmonton, starting at noon in Knoppers Hall. The College recommends entering by the back doors (the main wing), as the double doors to the meeting room are immediately on the right. Right after this meeting, all attendees are invited to a meal at Fargo’s, 5804 Terrace Road (across from Capilano Mall).

Thursday, January 12th/2012

Long Time Member Ted Herrington Passes Away

Local 110 is sad to announce long time member Ted Herrington passed away on January 9, 2012. For those of you who did not have the chance to work with him, Ted was old school. He was an accomplished amateur boxer in his day in Edmonton. He had a sort of Andy Capp lifestyle for many years while working insulating through our union, enjoying the camaraderie of many others in our trade, often after hours at the old Beverly Crest Lounge. He had a carefree attitude and loved to tease anyone who got too serious about things. He resided in a long term care facility here in Edmonton these past few years with failing health, after working last in 2000 and retiring. We have been informed there will be no funeral or memorial service. Local 110 and its members share in the loss and extend sincere condolences to Ted’s family and friends.

Monday, January 9th/ 2012

It is with a Heavy Heart Local 110 announces the following:

The Wife of a Local 110 Officer / Member and the Mother of One of our Members Passes Away:

Sadly, our union office was notified today that long time Local 110 journeyman member Jim Bitschy’s wife, Anne Stewart, passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack last Friday at age 58. Her son, Rob Collard, is also a journeyman member of Local 110. On behalf of all Local 110 members, I offer our condolences to all of her family and many friends respecting this tragic event. Jim advises that in accordance with her wishes there will be a funeral service for family only to attend.

Former Local 110 member Ron Hutchinson Passes Away:

Over the weekend, Local 110 learned former long-time member Ron Hutchinson passed away. We do not have any further details at this time. On behalf of all Local 110 members, we offer condolences to all who knew and loved Ron.

 

Local 110 Member Sadly Lose’s Wife and Daughter:

Local 110 has learned the wife and daughter of member John Scarfe, resident of Langham SK, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on January 2, 2012. The funeral service for both was held today, January 9th, in Saskatchewan. On behalf of all Local 110 members, we express our deepest sympathies and condolences to friends and family.