June 2015 Labor Citizen

Brothers and sisters:

By the time this sees print the 2015 school year will be completed for the apprentices. Please remember to keep turning in your apprenticeship forms to the hall no later than the 10th of the month until school starts again in September.

John Taylor’s OSHA 30 class is over and all the participants should be watching their mailboxes for their card. If you have any questions about this or the results of any other NEIEP class you have taken you can contact Business Manager Tim Moennich at 216-361-8088, email him at TMoennich@iueclocal17.org.

Clear the date of August 1st for the 2015 IUEC Local 17 Golf Outing. This year the annual event will be held at Emerald Woods Golf Course, 12501 North Boone Rd., Columbia Station, Ohio. Whether you are a scratch golfer or scratch your head wondering why you play, this is a fun scramble-style event that gives you the chance to have a day away from the family, share some time with friends and get to meet people outside of work you may not have seen since your apprenticeship classes.

The event tees off at 9 AM and the cost is $100 for a full day of golf, food and prizes.
On May 5th an elevator constructor working for the non-signatory company G-Tech Associates in New York City fell 24 floors to his death. According to the New York Daily News, Christian Ginesi, 25, was installing fronts on the 23rd floor of the RIU Hotel Times Square when the hoist he and a partner were working off of stalled five feet above the 24th landing. Ginesi’s co-worker was able to jump to safety but, according to reports, Ginesi lost his footing and fell to the pit below. He was later declared dead at New York’s Bellevue Hospital.

This is not the first problem on this job for the Rinaldi Group, the general contractor.
In July 2013, the Buildings Department shut it down after answering a complaint about a worker falling three stories. Inspectors found floor openings without the required railings and cited the owner for unsafe work conditions. In May and September of 2014, the job was cited for scaffolding without supports and proper OSHA certification. As a result the GC was fined $16,000 for their non-compliance.

Ginesi was an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq.

In Onondaga, New York, an Otis Elevator employee was pinned between a ladder and a divider beam when a second elevator descended from an upper floor. According to CNYCentral.com, the 53-year-old mechanic was responding to a call of a malfunctioning elevator at a nursing home. There is no further news on the investigation and no signs of foul play.

IUEC Local 17 has filed two grievances over alleged contract violations. The first grievance involves two mechanics from Local 45 (Akron) working at the Hilton Hotel job for Kone. One is working as a mechanic-in-charge and the second as a safety superintendent. The second grievance involves a Local 45 member taking overtime callbacks in Cleveland.

Steiner Elevator owner Gene Steiner has sent a letter of intent to become a signatory company to IUEC Organizer Jim Lowery. While there was no specific time frame set for signing, Steiner did commit keep up his IUEC membership by paying his quarterly dues.

As of this writing there are eight mechanics out of work.