Brothers and sisters:
Happy August! Back in January when the temperature was sub-zero we looked with longing to these days and vowed we would never complain about the heat again. How good are we at keeping those promises.
The Mechanics Exam is scheduled for September 14th at 8 AM at the classroom at 2435 Superior Avenue. As we speak, Rick Myers is prepping the apprentices for the rigors of the exam. Do not forget brothers, this is the only unbiased assessment of your knowledge of the elevator trade you will ever have. Make the most of the opportunity.
Another opportunity for continuing education is the offerings through NEIEP. Recently nine brothers took the welding course offered through NEIEP and the facilities of Lincoln Electric, the leading manufacturer of welding equipment located here in Euclid, Ohio. This class offered G3 and G4 certification for those that passed the exam. Second is a scaffolding class that certifies you to install scaffolding in a hatch on certain construction jobs. Lastly, there are a slew of continuing education offerings available through the NEIEP website. Take advantage of those whether you are working and especially if you are not.
At the July meeting a motion was made and seconded to take the money budgeted for the annual Summer Picnic and use it to purchase grocery gift cards for the brothers and sisters out of work. The motion passed without opposition. There is still a plan for a fall family event which will be announced at a future date. Keep your eyes here and on the website iueclocal17.org for updates.
The IUEC pension plan was given relief by Congress to spread losses realized in the crash of 2008 over 29 years versus the 15 years and smooth out investment losses over ten years instead of four. This means that the plan will remain in the green zone for pension plans for the foreseeable future.
Labor Day weekend be sure and get to Day Park in Parma, immediately adjacent to Tri-C West, to cheer on the Local 17 softball team as they compete in the annual Cleveland Building Trades Softball Tournament. The schedule has not been set, so stay tuned to iueclocal17.org for an update on when our men will be playing and the final results of their effort.
The IRS increased the mileage rate to 55.5 cents per mile effective July 1, 2011.
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be September 9th at 6 pm.
Casino Update
After a 31-day lockout as Rock Gaming negotiated with Governor John “Little Caesar” Kasich who sought to leverage the developers for a bigger cut of the pie, the two finally came to a resolution and mercifully put several hundred waiting craftsmen back to work. Currently, Schindler has two teams on site doing tear out of two cars and expects to have seven teams eventually on the job. The casino is looking to open March 26th, 2011.
Condolences
Condolences go out to Brother Randy Thompson whose mother passed away July 5th and Brothers Jack and Jason Saunders whose mother and grandmother, Dolores, passed away June 21st.
As of this writing there are 25 mechanics and two apprentices out of work.
Getting out the vote
You know that times are changing when Republicans are running around in circles trying to figure out how to counter the landslide turnout expected when organized labor unites across the state to overturn Senate Bill 5.
What our friends on the right are ginning up is an attempt to opt out of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2009. This is what they refer to as “Obama Care.” The idea is to counter what is sure to be an overwhelming turn out at the polls in November to overturn SB5 with an issue the Tea Party right hopes will draw enough conservative voters to keep the union-busting bill Little Caesar pushed through the statehouse.
But is this going to be enough to draw out conservatives in large enough numbers to defeat the SB5 repeal? Early indications show that the support for the measure to overturn the health care law is lukewarm at best. There are stories that the organizers, Ohioans for Healthcare Freedom, had to pay professional circulators to gather petition signatures. While this is not unprecedented on either side of the political spectrum, it begs the question: how many SB5 repeal circulators were paid? My guess is not very many, if any at all.
The Ohio Republican Party gave a lack luster endorsement of the effort. According to a May 14th article in the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine declined to say whether the party would commit money to the campaign. “We’ve endorsed the issue, and we’re fully engaged in helping them get on the ballot, and when we’re successful we’ll take the next step to see how the party can help to ensure its passage,” DeWine said.
Candidate and issue support is purely a business decision for the parties. In an election, either party will size up the measure and determine whether it is a winner or a dog. If it is a winner, then the money flows like liquor at a convention. If it is a dog, the question becomes how flea infested is it. If it is a good measure and the party can make some positive inroads in the area, it will most likely invest in the campaign, although with less bravo than a sure winner. If it is a dog with fleas, the candidate or initiative will die on the vine from lack of support.
Behind every issue on the ballot is a political consultant getting paid to advise the candidate or issue on how best to present their case to the public. One of the major ploys they use to make their efforts appear “grass roots” is to create a “group” or “organization” and give it a name like Citizens Against Pilfering Politicians or People United for Grass Hopper Rights. This gives a front of legitimacy to the effort and makes them look like they were organized by the retired grandmother down the street or the local branch of the Rotary Club.
The way to see through this is in the disclaimer. Every political advertisement has to tell you who paid for it, whether it was a corporation, political party, candidate’s campaign committee or some hybrid group fronting for one of the above. Next time you find a political advertisement, do a quick search on the address of the “group” and you will find it most likely to trace back to the offices of one or the other major parties, law firms representing them or consultants hired by them. This is how we are tricked into thinking that all these “concerned citizen” groups are grass roots but instead are nothing but astro turf.
This is how it is going to be in Ohio. We are going to be astro turfed to death by pro and anti SB5 repeal ads and groups like Ohioans for Healthcare Reform claiming to be the one place of truth about the issue and their opponents are nothing but evil and out for their own selfish gain.
We as Ohioans, and we as Americans deserve better. From both sides.
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International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 17 