NEWS
<General President, Vincent Giblin, Has asked that the local unions try to get as many e-mail addresses as possible and send them to the International in Washington D.C. This effort is underway to keep members better informed about legislation and politics that effect our work
Please send your e-mail addresses to Local 9; and we in turn, will forward them to Washington. Please contact any of the district offices, or fax to 303/623-8179; or e-mail dharris@iuoelocal9.com. Please be assured that this information will only be used for Union business. Thank you for your help.
The City & County of Denver needs emergency, on call, motor-grader (blade) and loader operators for DIA. they need twenty operators for the 2010-2011 season, and a projected 120 operators for the 2011-2012 season. Pay rate is $25.00 HR. Interested members should call Bill Corich at (303) 342-2784.
In an effort to reduce costs during these difficult times Operating Engineers Local No. 9 has stopped publishing articles in the Labor Advocate. To continue in keeping our members informed we will begin to incorporate a newsletter in members dues statements.
With winter upon us, it's time to take your refresher and update classes at the training site. The 2012 schedule is now available on this site, click here or go to the Training Schedule link on the Sidebar. Please check the current schedule to reserve a space in these classes. I cannot stress the importance of new training, and keeping up with your accreditations. With the job market as slow as it has been, our contractors have been very selective in their new hires. The skills that have been requested most often include: CDL-A, OSHA 10, and OQ (Operator Qualification). Also in high demand have been Grade Checking and a working familiarity with lasers. New to Local 9 training, this year is an MSHA class; some of our signatory contractors are required to have this qualification for their operators in order to man their jobs. The MSHA class is a 24 hour new miner training class (three day), In order to keep the MSHA certification current, you are required an annual 8 hour refresher. Your HazMat accreditation also requires an annual renewal to be valid. So stay current! Now is also a good time to upgrade your equipment skills, in order to expand both your versatility and hire-ability. Be sure and keep the dispatch office informed of your current skills and additional training. You may be missing a chance of being dispatched unless you are current, and have all your skills listed.
NEW LAWS:
As of November 8th, 2010 OSHA requires that all signal-persons be qualified to the new standards for verbal and hand signals. Don Shelafo has been teaching this class, the next one is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th, at the training site. The new standards also require that all riggers must be qualified. There are many other changes in the crane standards regarding the required distances from power lines, crane assembly, and on site supervision and assembly qualifications for both operators and contractors.
LABOR'S COMMUNITY AGENCY:
Labor's Community Agency recently started a small food pantry at their location. Due to the severe changes in the economy and continuing job loss, there has been an unexpected usage of the program. They would appreciate donations of non-perishable food items, diapers, formula, clothing, furniture, etc., so that they are able to continue to help our union members, their families, and the community during their time of crisis or need. They would also welcome gift cards and monetary donations, please be sure to tell them to earmark these for Operating Engineers Local 9, so that they go directly to our members.
Please take your donations to Labor's Community Agency at 7510 W. Mississippi Ave. Ste. 230. Lakewood. If you need items to be picked up, you may call them at (303) 744-6169 and they will be happy to pick them up for you.
RETIREE'S CLUB:
Joel Beck has started a Local 9 retiree's club in Colorado Springs, They meet at 1:00 P.M. on the first Monday of every month at the Country Buffet Restaurant, 801 North Academy Blvd. Joel has asked that retirees from other areas in District 2, and that retiree's from other districts call him to help set up other groups and to get more members involved. Joels number is (719) 630-8105.
FYI COBRA RECIPIENTS:
WORKING SHORT CALLS MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE:
Our members need to be careful when taking short calls if they are paying their own health insurance through COBRA and have a government subsidy on their COBRA Payments. Anyone working after May 31, 2010, who is currently enrolled in the government subsidy will lose that subsidy if their hour bank reactivates them in their health plan for at least a month. This resets the qualification period. Anyone considering taking a short call they should first call Zenith and check how many hours are in their hour bank and then add that to the hours for the short call. With that information they can make an informed decision as to whether or not they will be money ahead taking a short call.
DECEASED MEMBERS:
The following members were reported as deceased at the May meetings: Kenneth Christianson, Arlan Dodson, John Duffy, and Jay Johnson.
The following members were reported as deceased at the April meetings: Phil Burns, Larry (Buck) Hill, Larry Hill Jr., Rodney Lyon, Eugene Pinkerton, Robert Seeder, and Robert Thompson.
PLA Signed for Major Pipeline Project:
The Building and Construction Trades Department AFL- CIO (BCTD) hailed the signing of a project labor agreement (PLA) for the construction of the U.S. portion of the proposed $7 billion Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Pipeline Project. The PLA was signed by TransCanada Corporation, the Laborers International Union of North America, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Pipelind Contractors Association.
The Keystone project PLA will provide TransCanada with a steady supply of the worlds safest, most highly skilled craft workforce to construct the U.S. portion of this proposed project; which will create over seven million hours of labor and over 13,000 new jobs for American workers. An independent economic study found that the project alone would inject more than $20 billion into the U.S. economy and create 118,000 person-years of employment. The Keystone expansion project is a planned 1959-mile (3,134-kilometer), 36-inch crude oil pipeline stretching from Hardisty, Alberta and moving southeast through Saskatchawan, Manitoba, South Dakota and Nebraska. It will link up with a portion of the Keystone Pipeline that will be built through Kansas to Cushing, Oklahoma and facilitate take away capacity from U.S. hubs located on the pipeline. The pipeline will then continue on through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace.