December ’17 Labor Citizen

Brothers and sisters:

There are sign up sheets available for two class offerings. The first is the welding class taught at Lincoln Electric’s world head quarters in Euclid. The class is 40-hours and makes the student eligible to certify in 3G vertical and 4G overhead welding. There is an upfront cost involved. If you are not certified, this is great opportunity to gain that valuable cert. The second offering is on motor tramming and alignment. Students have the chance to explore methods, techniques and tips to remedy tramming issues. If you are interested in either of these offerings, contact Business Manager Tim Moennich at the hall at 216-431-8088 or email him at TMoennich@iueclocal17.org.

The Tri-state meeting is a gathering where Business Agents and Representatives can talk about issues common to the International and unique to their Local. At the November meeting, Business Manager Tim Moennich spent a lot of time reporting on the activities of our neighboring Locals.

Local 10 (Washington DC) has started their own job recovery fund. This program is similar to the one offered through Work Preservation to signatory companies when bidding against non-signatories for work. Local 2 (Chicago) started its own safety committee to investigate on the job accidents involving its 1350 members. Louisville (Local 20) and Indianapolis (Local 34) reported that their biggest problem is the number of non-signatories they have to deal with. Louisville has nine and Indianapolis reported eight non-signatories with Oracle being the largest in their territory. Local 20 has successfully stripped five new members and North Carolina’s Local 80 organized two of the elevator mechanics from the Macy’s Department stores and are actively building a relationship to organize them on a national basis.

On the organizing front, 2017 was a very good year for the IUEC. Over the last three years the International has successfully organized 600 new members including the 30 employees of Gable Elevator initiated into Local 45 (Akron) in February.

A Florida based non-signatory company, Armstrong and Andrews, has been successful securing work for the Veterans Administration and other Federal agencies. As recently as 2014 they installed a unit at the old Federal Courthouse in downtown Cleveland and were rumored to be doing work at the main VA campus on Wade Park. The IUEC is working with the company GE Berry to secure contracts at colleges and VA’s around the country for service and maintenance work and is also working on the new installation front as well.

Two other organizing efforts currently under way are at New Jersey-based Dual Lift where the employees will have the opportunity to vote on IUEC representation and at Acorn Stairlift Company, the UK-based company with US headquarters in Orlando, Florida were the International is hoping to grab its 250 employees as members.

The investment company, L-Squared out of Newport Bech, California and Longview Asset Management has partnered with Oracle Elevator to recapitalize the Company. According to the May 16th release Paul Belliveau, President and CEO of Oracle said “L-Squared’s long-term investment horizon will allow us to make further investments in our people and continue growing our geographic footprint while providing the highest level of service to our customers.” The company’s current plans are to expand by purchasing five companies a year.

The list of signatory companies to IUEC Local 17 are listed below. If anyone sees a company they do not recognize doing elevator related work, even if it is another trade, please call the hall and talk with Business Manager Tim Moennich. The contact information is in this article or on our website iueclocal17.org.

As of this writing there are two mechanics and one apprentice on the bench.

 

Until next month…
Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety

Don
DKnapik@windstream.net