Vol 2 Iss 4 4th qtr 10.pub - Operating Engineers Local 520

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Page 4 THE 520 HOISTER Ron Kaempfe, President Vern Parmley, Vice-President Dear Brothers and Sisters, Thanks to all who participated in the Labor Day parade and to those who helped at the fish stand. The weather couldn’t have been better. The fish was good and visiting with friends made for a good day. The news the last couple of days is telling us that the recession is over, and was actually over a year ago. I wonder what the people who are in the 10% that are unemployed think about that. Here in our local we have truly been blessed. Our work hours continue to be high. Our two biggest jobs, Prairie State Energy Campus and Conoco Phillips, are both probably at their peak of employment. Of course, that also means that you will start to see a decrease in crew size on both of these jobs in the future. By this time next year the expansion at Conoco will be complete. The possibility of there being another phase remains open, but there is no commitment at this time. National, state and local election time is right around the corner. Please do not forget our politicians who are friends of labor. We need them as much now as ever. When you have a person running for Governor of Illinois who believes that it would be good for Illinois to be a right-to-work state and that the minimum wage in Illinois is too high, those things alone should be enough to get people out to vote! Labor has gained much in the last couple of years. Here in Illinois we have a Capitol Bill for the first time in years. This will provide us with road, bridge, and various infrastructure improvements. The jury is still out on the Health Care bill. We will continue to study it and try to get answers as time goes on. Thanks to all who voted for me in the August election. I will continue to work hard for all of 520. Respectfully, Ron Hello once again Brothers and Sisters, This edition I would like to give a brief tutorial on the history of the International Union: -The I.U.O.E. began in 1896 as the National Union of Steam Engineers -The name then changed to International Union of Steam Engineers from 1897 to 1912 -In 1912 to 1928 the name changed once again to International Union of Steam and Operating Engineers -From 1928 to Present the name has remained International Union of Operating Engineers (Mangun & Walsh, AFLCIO p. 33). Now, getting to current events and on-going/upcoming work. From Fall through the remainder of the year work seems to be steady, weather permitting. Listed below are some of our current projects: The demolition of buildings and bridges has commenced and is progressing in East St. Louis at I-64 and I-55 for the construction of the New Bridge Project Trans Canada Pipeline is all but finished in our jurisdiction 2 smaller Pipelines have started in the area: 1. Fosterburg at I-255 North, West of Fosterburg and Seminary Road 2. West of Maryville and 157 just North of 162 towards Pontoon Beach (6-7 weeks of work) 3. Starting Sept. 15 th Minnesota Limited, Inc. was awarded 2.5 miles of pipeline 4. Inter-Con Construction and Drilling will be drilling for approx. 20 days on this project Several asphalt milling and paving jobs in our counties are underway. Contractors including: Keeley and Sons, Southern Illinois Asphalt, C. Mahoney, Kilian Corp., Illinois Valley Asphalt, Christ Asphalt, E.T. Simonds and Howell Asphalt. All companies stated have called in throughout the year to accomplish their work schedules. We appreciate these contractors! Apprentices are all working and working well. We are proud of their efforts. Safety and incidents are minimal: our workforce is safety conscious. This sums up the work-in-progress and current events. Remember safety first in all of your endeavors. Don’t forget to schedule your winter classes for this fall at the J.A.T.C. One last reminder, please vote in this upcoming county, state and federal election. Your vote counts. Thank you for your support, safe work and seasons greetings to you and your families. Respectfully, Vern
Page 5 THE 520 HOISTER Mike Parkinson, Treasurer Dear Brothers & Sisters, I would like to thank everyone who made this year’s Labor Day activities a success. There is much preparation to be done for the parade and fish stand in Belleville. There is the coordination of equipment and wagons, handing out of the Local 520 tee shirts and items to be given out along the parade route. All the while at Hough Park, many volunteers are busy preparing the fish that will be sold throughout the day. As the parade ends people will filter into the park to enjoy food, music and other entertainment for the children. At 3:00 it all needs to be cleaned up and stored for another year. The Du Quoin Fair has its own activities. The Thursday prior to the Friday start of the fair, Local 520 sets up a display table as well as the other participating trades. For the next ten days Paul George and his wife, Mona, faithfully greet people that come in to view the Labor Pavilion. On the last day a prize is raffled from the previous week’s attendance participants. On Labor Day, the Egyptian Building Trades has a picnic on the north fairgrounds. Free food and drinks for all AFL-CIO union members and their families is provided. The food this year was prepared by Great Boars of Fire. They served 1600 pounds of pulled pork and 6000 hot dogs. Wrist bands were also given out for rides, purchased by the Egyptian Building Trades. Donations made by each trade covered the $45,000 cost of providing the 4500 bands given away. The format for Labor Day has stayed consistent for over 100 years. From the beginning, the activities started with a street parade to exhibit the trade and labor organizations of the community, followed by a festival for the workers and their families. I again want to thank everyone that gives of themselves each year to carry on this celebration of UNION LABOR. Respectfully, Michael Parkinson Terry MacZura, Recording- Corresponding Secretary Elections - Unions - Elections Here we go again, summer is on its way out, fall is in the air and winter is right around the corner. What a great year we have had and it looks like it will continue on the plus side for quite a while! Local 520’s elections are, for the most part, behind us. Labor Day has come and gone with another fantastic member turnout. During Local 520’s recent elections I had the opportunity and privilege to hear praise and concerns from many of our members. During one of those gatherings I was speaking with Doug James (a past Business Manager of Local 520) and he pointed out that the word Union has three (3) important letters in its spelling: “U N I” (you and I); not just me, not just you but us, ALL of us and those numbers are what makes us strong. United we stand; divided we fail. We, as Local 520 members, carry a lot of weight during important elections, not just our own but state-wide and national elections. November 2, 2010 is an important and necessary election for our state and country. We all need a wakeup call and take this election seriously! We need to energize everyone to get out and vote. Complacency will kill us. If we think the people in office who are fighting to attract and keep small and major projects for us in our area can remain in office because we believe “others” will get it done – we are wrong. “We” have to do this and not rely on someone else doing it for us. After this election, districts will be carved up because of the recent census and that could prove detrimental if the wrong politicians are elected. As we all know, the Reagan Revolution weakened the negotiating power of working people, wealth and income have concentrated at the top, our country’s debt has massively increased, our country’s economy is crumbling and everyone except the wealthy few and big corporations are generally worse off. In 1980, unions still represented 24% of American workers. There was an allout assault on organized labor, resulting in union membership falling. By 1988, it fell to 13.9% and by 2009; it had decreased to 12.3%. Under President Clinton there was a brief return only to be erased by Bush II. Our International Union and our very own Local 520, as well as all organized labor unions across the country, are being pushed to the brink of extinction by big business and corporations. It is not at our doorway yet, but it is in our backyard. We are fortunate to be in this area of the country which has multiple large projects as we all know. However, we cannot let ourselves be lulled into thinking this is the norm. Unions still make a difference and the difference is dramatic! When we hear someone complain about unions and that we are better paid than the rest, they are reaching the wrong conclusion. They should join and support unions so that everyone can build benefits and prosper. (i.e. in 2009, 78% of union workers were covered by health insurance, compared to only 51% of nonunion workers and 77% had pension plans, compared to 20% of nonunion workers) This coming Election is Very Important and its outcome depends on Votes from “U N I” … Respectfully, Terry Statistical Info. referenced from: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, AFLCIO, Unions are good for the American Economy by David Madland & Karla Walter and The Center for Economics & Policy Research.
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Vol 2 Iss 4 4th qtr 10.pub - Operating Engineers Local 520

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