April ’19 Labor Citizen

Brothers and Sisters:

The Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) decided that the next continuing education class will be on hydraulic valve adjustment and troubleshooting. The class will cover the basic operation of valves, how and why they need adjusting and diagnosis of valve issues. This is a very important skill for Constructors at every level to acquire or reenforce. Time and date for the class has not been set. Watch this space for further updates.

The first apprentice make up class for those who missed at least one classroom session will be on a Friday in May. As of now no firm date has been set.

Apprentices must turn in their OJT forms in a timely manner or explain to the JAC why they are not current. Two letters to appear have been sent by the Board to apprentices who are far behind in this basic reporting requirement. If you are behind, get your forms turned in as soon as possible.

The latest news on the pension crisis plaguing so many pensions plans is that as of now Congress has not come up with a plan that addresses the needs of plans that are insolvent or heading towards insolvency.

The plan in the worst condition is the Teamsters Central States which is losing $2.1 billion a year and will be insolvent by 2025. There may be a plan called the Liability Removal Program which seeks $3 billion from the Federal government and an additional $3 billion from increased premiums paid to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) which Federally insures pension plans. The current premium to PBGC is $29 per active and retired member. This could go up drastically should the LRP go into effect.

There is a sense of extreme urgency with the issue on the part of Congress. Since 2020 is Presidential election year and with that distraction going on it would make it nearly impossible to pass any reform until 2021 when insolvent or nearly insolvent plans will be an even larger burden on any rescue effort.

The IUEC Local 17 Retiree’s Dinner will be held May 17th at Harry’s Steak House, 5664 Brecksville Road, Independence, Ohio. Festivities start at 5:30 and dinner is served at 6. Please RSVP as soon as possible for this always well attended event.

A big thank you goes out to Brother Joe Broz, Jr. and his wife Meg for decorating the Local 17 truck for the 2019 Cleveland St.Patrick’s Day Parade donated by ThyssenKrupp and keeping the participants lined up though the route!

Congratulations to Sister Andrea Rodriguez on her appointment to the vacant Ward 3 council seat in the city of Brunswick.

The Brothers and Sisters of IUEC Local 17 send their condolences to the families of Retired Brother Jim Horvath whose widow passed away and to Brothers Mike and Tim Moennich who lost a cousin.

As of this writing the bench is clear.