March/April '12 BL - Local 798

To the best Pipeliners in the world,I hope this finds all of you doing great after spending some time with your families and friends during theChristmas holidays! I would like to extend my deepest thanks to each of you for your support through the yearsand as I begin to serve you as Financial Secretary-Treasurer. I would like to let each of you know that I will behere each day doing the right thing to make this the best local union in the world now and into the future. AsWelder Foreman, I used the motto “Treat people the way you would want to be treated,” and it has served me wellin the past; and this is what I will continue to do in this position.As you all know, this Local has been heavily involved in the process to get the permit approved for the KeystoneXL Pipeline in Washington D.C. the past several months, and to date this is still an ongoing process. We trulybelieve that this will happen soon, but there is a much larger battle that we all need to address now! That is therapid-rate American jobs are moving out of this country, and the speed at which non-documented workers are coming in to take the few jobswe have left. Every day we need to send a message to Washington in every form; Phone calls, Letters, and Email to get this turned aroundNOW!I was doing some research the other day and found that the trade deficit with China DOUBLES about every three years. Also, in the pastthirty years our amount of oil imported into America has doubled, and we wonder why unemployment rates are riding at a 50 year high of9%. I liken this to the Civil War. The south ultimately lost the war because it produced very little. The North had all the factories andsupplies. We all know who won that war. I believe we must learn from history. With this trade deficit, loss of jobs, and the lack of Americaproducing anything we are ultimately headed down the same road of disaster. So I really believe this is the fight of our life and one we needto win sooner rather than later. I am as guilty as most Americans when shopping, I just grab and go. But we need to start looking at whatwe buy, and ask the store owners and workers if they have made in the USA products. Let them know we need more, and the word will getto corporate headquarters that we demand AMERICAN made products.I went to shop for Christmas at the mall, where I went to buy my American-made products. I told the lady at the register I wished moreproducts in the store were made in the USA. She quickly agreed, then said, “But if they were made in America we could not afford to buythem!” That is when I told her “No we could not afford to NOT buy American made products.” She stopped and looked at me and said,“I have not ever looked at it that way but you are absolutely right!” We as Americans need to wake up and start looking at it that way andbuy only made in the USA items. Every product we buy made in the USA supports an American worker and his family, so this is truly theright thing to do!On the upside, our work outlook looks great in the future with the Senate passing the Pipeline Safety Act. With innovative men like Tom Grossand David Barnett heading up the pipeline department, and Jim Moss steering the helm in the Energy department of the UA, I cannot imaginea better team to make the future of pipelining look more promising!I believe this is absolutely the best time in history to be a pipeliner, and now it depends on each of you to do the right thing on the job. Showup on time every time, treat others like you want to be treated, do your job productively and right the first time, make a special effort to becordial to inspection and gas company officials, be willing to give a helping hand, never be afraid to say thank you, and definitely work SAFE!We need to show the citizens in towns where we are staying that we are the best people (Pipeliners) in the world! We want to be welcomedback! All these actions mean dollars in YOUR pockets in the end,I promise!I appreciate all of your hard work in field, and if I can ever assist you call me anytime. Till next time, work safe, work proud, and continueto do the right thing!Sincerely and Fraternally,Wade PilgreenFinancial Secretary-TreasurerB L U E L I G H T R E P O R T S • M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 2 • PA G E 3