Brothers and sisters:
Every member of Local 17 should have received a letter from the local about two important upcoming events. The first is the special called meetings for the nomination, election and installation of officers. These dates are November 8th, December 13th and January 10th. Special called meetings are mandatory and there is a $20 fine for not attending. No excuses will be accepted unless you call the hall prior to each meeting.
The second event is the annual Children’s Christmas Party which will be held on Saturday December 21st at 1pm at the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue. Children up to and including 12 years old will receive gifts. Mothers are asked to bring baked goods and beverages will be provided. There is a form at the bottom of the letter to return to Entertainment Chairman Mike Hogan at 26962 Southwood Lane, Olmsted Township, Ohio 44138 or contact him via email at M.Hogan67@yahoo.com. Deadline for responses is November 22, 2013.
Local 17 tested 100 candidates for the apprenticeship program in September, interviewed them by the end of October and slotted them by the time this sees print. If you’ve ever had a probationary for a helper you know that they can be a source of entertainment. They believe everything you say, will do almost anything for you and, if you get a good one, will laugh at your bad jokes.
How many of us were sent to the tool box to get our mechanics’ left-handed screwdriver? What about painting the machine room with a one-inch brush or packing overhead sheave bearings with red grease because you were smaller than the mechanic? Then there were the fun days when you got an EQ because you busted the job out and spent the afternoon goofing off.
Ahh. The good old days.
When you have fresh meat and you start a conversation with another mechanic with “it was an easy OT call. The controller was throwing a 9 error so I did a double boot, checked the switch, ran it on KFM for a half hour and was out of there.” If your fresh probie looks confused, good, they should be. If your probie has been around for nine months and can’t understand brake switch circuit, then teach them. Ours is a business of unique names and references that are easy to get confused.
And by the way, a car operating panel is also known as a car station… not a button box.
Where are they working?
Tom Gombar and Bob Charron doing a cable job at Euclid Beach Villa for Kone,
Jim Thompson and Lucas Jenke doing a mod at Euclid Hospital for Otis,
Scott Hicks and Pat McCann installing an elevator at Victory Center for Schindler,
John Sopochak and Heath Kramer doing controller work at RTA Brookpark for Kone,
Don Knapik and Eric Crossgrove repairing water damage at Marine Towers East for Schindler,
Joe Broz Jr. and Dave Adrian at Case repairing water damage for Thyssen,
Mark Byram and Dave Francis doing a mod at Equity Trust for Schindler,
Shawn Yatsko and Greg Seaman finishing up a mod at North Point for Schindler,
John Brunner and Jim Rogers installing a four-stop at Parkwood for Schindler,
Keith Poscocil and Anthony Young installing two cars at Case for Kone,
DJ Spring and Joe Simcic installing an elevator at the airport for Otis,
Ed Gimmel and Dave Lehotan doing a jack job at Lakewood High School for Schindler,
Jeff Ward and Tom Peska at 900 Euclid for Otis.
Local 17 sends its condolences to the families of retired Brother Dan Zupancic who lost his wife and Brother Tim Keating who passed away September 1.
As of this writing there are 17 mechanics and two apprentices on the bench.
Till next month,
Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.
Don
Dknapik@windstream.net
International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 17 