IUOE News Spring 2014

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Business Manager and the other is an apprenticeship harmonization project. The accelerated learning process is designed to look at ways to move apprentices through the system faster and use new technologies such as simulators to enhance apprenticeship training. With the projected demand for crane operators, there may be some opportunities in this review to provide safety standards which can be maintained and will produce well-rounded journeypersons. The CCDA apprenticeship harmonization project will be challenging as no two provinces are identical when it comes to how crane apprenticeships and certifications are issued. Combined with the fact that not all provinces have a mandatory requirement for operating cranes, it will take a lot of cooperation between each province’s regulators and training providers to make this happen. At the end of the day, it makes a lot of sense to find a solution to create better mobility for apprentices and for the industry, but it is going to take some time and effort to achieve this goal. Brother Wayne Mills and I had the opportunity to attend the General Executive Board winter meeting in January and were updated on many of the initiatives taking place within the International Union. General President Callahan reinforced his commitment to training and organizing which will no doubt be key to our success going forward. The other major announcement from our General With the projected demand for crane operators, there may be opportunities to provide safety standards which will produce well-rounded journey persons President was the IUOE reaffiliation to the National Building Trades in the USA. This initiative has brought back several old alliances with other trades with a view to strengthen our markets. On a sad note, Brother Jack Munro, retired President of the old IWA (International Woodworkers of America, now Steelworkers), passed away in December. A tribute to Jack was held on January 4th at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Center. It was a well-attended event and many of the highlights of Jack’s career were presented. Some old video and historical news clips highlighting the battles of the B.C. Labour Movement were shown. Clearly that period in our history certainly created many of the benefits working British Columbians enjoy today. After 25 years of service to Local 115, Brother Tim Cullen (Members’ Representative, District 2 Representative on the Executive Board, and Pension and Benefits Trustee) is retiring at the end of March. Tim has been engaged in many activities representing Operating Engineers and we wish him and his wife Wanda a very long and happy retirement. To close, I would like to thank all of the staff and members for their support of the Variety Show of Hearts Telethon on January 26th, where we had the opportunity to assist in raising over $60,000 dollars for special needs children in B.C. during the time our team answered the phones! AGI Foundation Contractors Ltd. working on the Evergreen Line with Brothers Travis Riese, Chris Raffin, Anecito Sogocio, Paul Doherty, Robert Bogusz, and Xavier Rojas. AGI also hosted HEO students from the IUOE Training Association on the Evergreen Line project site. 2 News March 2014
Safety Project Labour Agreements are key for success Wayne E. Mills, President I hope everyone came through the winter safely. I will ask a question: who is responsible for your safety? The cliché answer is: “you.” Your employer is responsible for establishing safe work practices and providing training to meet those standards, but in the end, you are the best judge of your own safety both at work and at home. You are responsible for using the safe work practices presented to you by your employer. If a task seems unsafe, speak up. Often a simple change can make your work safer, for you and everyone else on the job. We all share the responsibility to create safety awareness and action both on the job and at home. Reality “What is the work picture going to be in 2014?” is the question I am currently being asked by members. When we look at the Union work up in the North West area (the Kitimat Modernization Project, or KMP), we see that the earth works are winding down while the structural portion is running flat-out. Cranes are the main call for Operating Engineers, and with the project’s schedule planning to deliver “Hot Metal” by early winter, that job will be all but wound up during the course of 2014. That KMP job is one of the best Canada has seen, mainly for being a “full meal deal.” The reason behind this is simply because the customer was committed to having it completed using Building Trades workers only. In the Fraser Valley, Surrey’s South Fraser Perimeter Road is now open, and the Port Mann Highway 1 portion, which provided a good deal of steady work for our contractors, is almost complete. The John Hart Dam on the Island is still in the negotiation stages to try to ensure all work is done under a Building Trades Project Labour Agreement (PLA); keep your fingers crossed on that one! PLA’s and LNG work in the North The KBR Kitimat LNG Project Labour Agreement was With the project’s schedule planning to deliver “Hot Metal” by early winter, that job will be all but wound up during 2014 prepared specifically for this project, and is different to our standard agreement; and yet the rats still came in, continuing to eat up our jobs on the site prep on this big project, much as they have been doing for years. We started negotiating that PLA in April of 2011 and the trades signed off on it in September of the same year. But this PLA did not specifically include the site prep; that portion went to a contractor of an “alternative” union, and the main construction has not started yet. It is a long process for a PLA to come to realization. Over the past several months, the Building Trades Coalition has been working on a number of PLA’s for LNG plants in Prince Rupert. If our signatory contractors are successful, their first project would start the end of 2015 and the second one in the summer of 2017. These dates are a long way off, and we do not know if they will be done union or not at this point. Between four and five thousand direct hire construction jobs are called for on each of these major projects, so we are all trying our best to work with all parties involved to corral this work under PLA’s. Meanwhile, there have been preliminary talks with the owners of LNG plants in Kitimat, and they seem to be waiting to see what happens with the PLA’s in Prince Rupert before making any moves. With the work scheduled for the North in the next decade, it will be an exciting time—but only if we can secure it for our unionized contractors! Dispatch System President’s Message Over the past several months the Local has been working with our UnionWare software vendors to upgrade our dispatch system, and that is about to come to fruition. The District 1 Dispatcher, Brother Jim Flynn, Member Representative Everett Cummings, and myself have been working with the software developers and we should have the new system “up and live” during the first part of April. There will be a few weeks during which we will run both systems together for testing and to iron out any bugs. Now would be a good time for those of you that are booked in to call and make sure all of your information (address, phone numbers, e-mails and other contact points) is up to date, as well as do your 30 day check-in, as per the dispatch rules. In signing off, I would like to say a special thank you to the Shop Stewards up at the Kitimat Modernization Project for the hard work they continue to do, as some of the contractors are a bit of a handful to say the least. Take care everyone. Have a good spring, and may the frost get out of the ground quickly so that everyone can get back to work soon. News March 2014 3
Page 1 and 2: News Evergreen Line leads BC’s 20
Page 3: Careful strategy and planning will
Page 7 and 8: Our economy depends on ongoing deve
Page 9 and 10: Bargaining and agreements are alrea
Page 11 and 12: With projects coming, everyone shou
Page 13 and 14: Steady growth and our industry infl
Page 15 and 16: “Tireless effort” is what makes
Page 17 and 18: Feature Article Evergreen Line goes
Page 19 and 20: Feature Article Heavy lifting of co
Page 21 and 22: Contractors and members are keeping
Page 23 and 24: A long winter shows the importance
Page 25 and 26: In praise of the Steward Who’s th
Page 27 and 28: Benefits Plan Union Orientation at
Page 29 and 30: Training Association Mobile Crane L
Page 31 and 32: Training Association Brother Luke H
Page 33 and 34: Member Recognition Welcome to 215 n
Page 35 and 36: Contact Details Local 115 District

IUOE News Spring 2014

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