INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
ELECTRICAL WORKERS
LOCAL UNION NO. 756

Vol. 14 No. 3

May 2007

THE SIDE-CUTTER

EAST COAST EDITION

THE OBJECTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS

 

TO ORGANIZE ALL WORKERS IN THE ENTIRE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, INCLUDING ALL THOSE IN PUBLIC UTILITIES AND ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING INTO LOCAL UNIONS, TO PROMOTE REASONABLE METHODS OF WORK, TO CULTIVATE FEELINGS OF FRIENDSHIP AMONG THOSE OF OUR INDUSTRY, TO SETTLE ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES BY ARBITRATION (IF POSSIBLE), TO ASSIST EACH OTHER IN SICKNESS OR DISTRESS, TO SECURE EMPLOYMENT, TO REDUCE THE HOURS OF DAILY LABOR, TO SECURE ADEQUATE PAY FOR OUR WORK, TO SEEK A HIGHER AND HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING, TO SEEK SECURITY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL, AND BY LEGAL AND PROPER MEANS TO ELEVATE THE MORAL, INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF OUR MEMBERS, THEIR FAMILIES AND DEPENDENTS, IN THE INTEREST OF A HIGHER STANDARD OF CITIZENSHIP. The Side Cutter is a publication of I.B.E.W. Local Union #756 - Daytona Beach, Florida.

  

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Watching the Hen House…

Later on in this publication, Mike Williams will introduce himself and the issues that he works on as President of the Florida Building and Construction Trades Council.  He is a true friend of working men and women throughout this State as he works tirelessly on issues that impact us on a daily basis.  I mention this because many times the issues that effect us are legislated without much “Fan-Fare” by our elected officials in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. and become law before we realize the consequences to those carrying the economic burden of society. This last legislative session was no exception.  There are many proposed bills, many of which are related to the construction industry.  For example, there was an ill-conceived Bill (SB1204, HB60) introduced by Rep. Bennett (an Electrical Contractor) titled the “Workers’ Comp Deviation”.  This Bill would modify the Workers Compensation Laws to include language that denies Workers Comp Benefits to anyone injured while out of or not engaged in their assigned tasks. In other words, it basically renders the “personal comfort doctrine” useless.  In lay terms, if you are utilizing the bathroom facilities, getting a drink of water, or walking to or from the parking lot and are injured, you would not be eligible for Workers Comp benefits.  No really… I’m not making this up!  Check it out by looking up the proposed Bill on the legislative web site.  I admit it sounds un-believable. WELCOME TO THE STATE OF FLORIDA, where worker’s rights are PARAMOUNT!!! (Sarcasm intended).. I digress..  Anyway, with the help of Mike Williams, J.B. Clark (IBEW), John Schantzen (IBEW), and other worker friendly lobbyists, this extremely bad Bill was killed in committee.. However, be advised, it is expected to return next year.  Vigilance by the above mentioned friends will continue. We should all thank them for their efforts.  There are other Bills that they jointly worked on that impact working families, either by opposing or supporting.  I will try to keep everyone informed of these proposed Bills in later issues.  Have a great Memorial Day and remember those that it was created to recognize!!

            Steve Williams

            Business Manager

 

 Government Safety

Our government is looking out for our safety. Right? We all know that the increases in costs for our prescription drugs have been very high and one of our major expenses. Especially as we get older. There has been a controversy regarding the importation of prescription drugs from other countries like Canada. It has been deemed illegal for the most part for our citizens to buy these drugs from abroad, although there have been some avenues available. Our government has recently closed all the loopholes and prescription drugs will not be available from abroad. Even though many of these drugs are the exact same drug sold here domestically. We are being told that the reason is concern for the safety of the American public. It probably doesn’t have anything to do with the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying efforts and the corporate greed factor. Right?

Where is the concern for the safety of the American public when it comes to contaminated food grade substances being imported from Communist China and introduced into our food supply?  At first it was in pet food only. Then a little showed up in our chickens and then a little more in our pork. I guess it’s OK to import stuff to save money as long as it’s major corporations doing the importing from wherever they want.

Where is the concern for the safety of the American Public when only about 2% of  “imported” cargo is inspected at our ports?

Do you think there might be a little hypocrisy here? Major corporations have a very powerful army of highly paid lobbyists and seem to get their way most of the time. Wouldn’t it be nice to have lobbyists looking out for the safety and well being of the average hard working citizens? We do! They are called United States Senators and Congressmen. Isn’t it time they start doing their jobs?

    Fraternally Submitted,

   Bill Sweeney

   Vice President

WOW! What a Booming Economy

 

 

At least according to the newspapers and television news reports.  If there are help wanted ads in the classifieds and unemployment is under 5%, the economy must be working well for workers.  It just seems that the talking heads never throw in the “cost of living” impact on citizens when they’re touting this great economy.  Yeah, there are jobs, they just don’t pay well.  With the cost of housing, groceries and general living expenses, many people are just barely making it.  And don’t forget fuel prices steadily rising at the pump, but according to the big oil companies this is a supply and demand product and Americans are just too addicted to gasoline.  An economist could easily show that the “cost of living” will have to rise in a growing economy, but shouldn’t wages also rise simultaneously?  Every equation has variables, but it appears that the most important variable in the economic equation is missing, and that is the worker. 

 

 

Dan Hunt

Florida Initiative

Member L.U. 756

Special Guest Editorial

 

 

The regular session of the Florida Legislature concluded on Friday May 4th. There were 2,600 bills and resolutions introduced in the Florida Legislature. Many of these bills have direct or indirect impact on workers in the Construction Trades. Issues associated with workers’ comp, unemployment comp, craft certification, apprenticeship, worker documentation, and space center infrastructure investments were addressed. Also, issues associated with Florida’s election process received considerable attention. As an example, Florida will no longer allow voting machines without paper ballot back-up! If you vote, there will be a ballot to manually count if necessary.

 

One of the primary responsibilities of the Florida Building Trades Council is Legislative issues that affect workers in the Construction Trades. In maximizing this responsibility, we work closely with the 40 State Senators and 120 State House Representatives in furthering the interest of the workers we represent. In doing so, our success is directly related to the number of friendly Legislators who share similar views regarding our issues. In turn, the number of friendly Legislators is a direct result of our member’s participation in the political process. We urge you to stay informed, vote and hold your Legislator accountable!

 

From the Florida Building Trades Council

Mike Williams, President

The Capitol, Tallahassee

 

 

UNION MADE 

NO BABIES AGAIN????
WHAT’S UP WITH THAT????

NOTHIN’ APPARENTLY!!!! 

MEMBERS’ CORNER

If anyone is interested in volunteering for labor walks or phone banks, please contact John Barrington at the union hall.

Dates to Remember:

May 28, 2007                         Office will be closed in observance of Memorial Day.  Have a safe holiday.

June 13, 2007                         Union Meeting, 7:30 P.M.

The Retirees’ Meeting/Luncheon will resume on Thursday, September 13, 2007.

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Listed below are the candidates nominated for office at our special called membership meeting on May 2nd.  All candidates nominated were unopposed, therefore, these candidates were voted into office by unanimous acclamation cast by President John Barrington.   The following officers elect will be sworn in at the regularly scheduled membership meeting held on July 11, 2007

President                                Daniel P. Hunt

Vice-President                        Selina S. Morris

Recording Secretary              Tyler F. Scholz

Business Manager &            Stephen R. Williams
Financial Secretary

Treasurer                               Loomis R. Hart, Jr.

Executive Board                    James A. Johnson
                                                William A. Albert
                                                Jason S. Morgan

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We have regrettably lost two brother since the last issue of the Sidecutter:

Jack L. LeHew                       March 16, 2007

Wayne Race, Jr.                     April 15, 2007

We extend our deepest sympathy to their families.

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Please make sure that your beneficiary cards are up to date.  Due to marriages, divorces and unfortunately deaths, the beneficiary cards need to be updated from time to time.  We will be glad to assist you.  Please also make sure we have your current address and phone number so that we can keep our records up to date.

Apprenticeship Report

We are hoping for work to pick up this summer so we can shorten our list a little. The committee has been interviewing applicants on a monthly basis and we have a good list to choose from for this years’ 1st year apprentice class. So far it looks like we will take in around 35 students for this August.

 

Our sincere condolences go out to A.J. Pascoe on the loss of his business partner and IBEW member, Wayne Race, Jr.  A.J. has stepped down from teaching our 5th year class. Jimmy Downs will now teach the class and pick up where A.J. left off. Bob Nelson will be retiring from his tools on May 31st but will continue to teach our 2nd year students. I am looking forward to Bob’s help and input where needed to get this apprenticeship back to a class A Apprenticeship Program. Our 5th year class will soon be taking their Block Test is St. Augustine. We wish them all good luck on passing their tests.

 

Our Electrical Project Supervision Class went very well last month. There were 40 students that attended that class. May 21st through the 25th Jacksonville will be having a Train the Trainer class for our Local Instructors to be able to teach this class. We hope to schedule another EPS1 class very soon. Tyler Scholz will be heading to Chicago on June 24th to attend the Train the Trainer class for Conduit Fabrication. We will schedule a class as soon as possible for Conduit Bending. OSHA 30 has now completed their 7th night and they will have 3 more nights to complete. They will complete on June 11th. Anyone needing a class in First Aid, Hazmat, Blood borne Pathogens, CPR, OSHA 10, or OSHA 30 please contact me here at the office so we can get you scheduled ASAP.

 

Saturday June 2nd.  that we will be attending. Nascar driver Alli Owens and her racecar will be there next to us in the center court of the mall along with others. She is sponsored by NECA/IBEW National Labor Management Cooperative Committee.  Please stop by and visit if you are in the area or check out the website at http://electrifyingcareers.com/.

 

Please contact the JATC office if you have any questions.

 

386-322-6236 office               C. Scott Jarvis

386-322-6238 fax                   Training Director

386-527-2088 cell                   (scottdbjatc@aol.com)

 

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·  Tips, topics, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome. Send your responses to:

The Side Cutter c/o IBEW L.U. 756,  5901 S. Williamson Blvd.,  Daytona Beach, FL 32128

Names will remain confidential upon request.

Continuing Education Courses available:
C. Scott Jarvis, Training Director (386) 322-6236

ORGANIZING: Call Bill Sweeney (386) 756-2756

IBEW #756 Home Page | What We Believe

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INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
ELECTRICAL WORKERS
LOCAL UNION NO. 756
5901 S. Williamson Blvd.
Daytona Beach, Florida 32128
386-756-2756
FAX 386-756-2785
info@ibew756.com

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