Brothers and Sisters:
On November 5, 2023, IUEC Local 17 celebrated the 120th anniversary of its founding. The Local was established to “encourage a higher standard of skill among its members, cultivate a feeling of friendship among the craft, obtain and maintain a fair standard wage, assist each other in securing employment, protect the jurisdiction of the craft, engage in cultural, civic, legislative, fraternal, educational, charitable, welfare, social and other activities which further the interests, directly or indirectly, of the organization and its membership.”
In commemoration, over the course of the next year, the Local 17 website, iueclocal17.org, will feature galleries of photos taken over the course of its history. The first gallery is a reimagining of the advertisement in the International book from the most recent convention. If any member, past or present, has photos they would like to share they can be emailed to webadmin@iueclocal17.org. The photos can be from union events, parties, work sites or anything that speaks to the founding objectives of the Local.
The Local 17 Children’s Christmas Party is scheduled for December 9 at 1 pm at the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue. There will be entertainment and a visit from Santa bearing gifts for children 12 and younger. Members are encouraged to bring baked goods. Soft drinks will be provided. This is a great opportunity to meet and mix with other members and their better halves.
International Organizer Steve Simpson was in attendance at the the October general meeting to discuss organizing activities across the International and in our area. The major push of the night was to pass a series of organizing resolutions which align the resolutions passed by Local 17 during its Gable campaign with those across the International. They passed without objection.
Fall semester is scheduled to end the week of December 11 and the Spring semester will begin the week of January 22. Business Manager John Driscoll Jr will be sending out notices of class assignments and dates as soon as the finals from Fall are received. If you have any questions or concerns, contact John at the Hall at 216-391-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.
Those mechanics who passed their Exam after July 9, 2022 must take the continuing education courses offered on the NEIEP website in order to get their January 1 pay increase. All mechanics are eligible to take CE courses and are paid eight hours by NEIEP for their time. For more information go to the NEIEP website, neiep.org, and cursor to the Continuing Education tab on the right side of the home page.
The Local 17 By-Law Committee is in the process of creating a safety liaison for jobs with five or more constructors. Since there is no provision for a steward, the liaison would be a primary contact of a large job and report to the Business Manager to resolve safety related issues on large job sites and speak about those issues at the quarterly safety meetings with the signatory companies.
The Ohio Board of Building Standards wanted to remove mine and wind turbine lifts from the Ohio elevator licensing law. Prior to the meeting, the Board withdrew its request after reviewing the comments and concerns raised during the pre-meeting discussions. There is no further timeline on implementation of licensing at this time.
Schindler has the largest part of work in Cleveland but, the other majors (Kone, Otis and TKElevator) have all picked up in the past few months.
As of this writing there are two mechanics on the bench.
Until next month,
Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.
Don
DKnapik@windstream.net
International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 17 