Category: Articles

Brothers and Sisters:

The IUEC Local 17 Annual Children’s Christmas Party will be held Saturday, December 14 at 1pm at the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue.  Children up to 12 years old will receive gifts.  Local 17 will be catering light appetizers and beverages.  Members are encouraged to bring baked goods.  Contact Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at the hall at 216-431-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org or Entertainment Chairman Todd Kemp with any questions about this always fun and well attended event.

The December 13, 2024 and January 10, 2025 meetings are mandatory meetings for the election and installation of officers.  Members not in attendance without a recognized reason will be fined by the Executive Board.

As this publication reaches your mailbox, apprentices should be preparing for their final exams for the Fall semester.  None of you should need to be reminded that all homework, tests and attendance must be up to date prior to sitting for your final.  Do not let something you directly control hold you back from advancing in the program.

Congratulations to Mike Miller Jr and Aaron Sipos on passing the Mechanics Exam.  To all apprentices looking forward to the challenge;  passing the exam is the only unbiased evaluation of your knowledge of the trade.  Use the time between where you are and where you want to be to its full advantage.  Your mechanics, peers and instructors are incredible sources of knowledge to round out and fill in the areas you may struggle to understand.  Learning the trade does not stop with the Exam, it is a career-long quest to keep up with changing technology and techniques.  Everyone’s ultimate goal should be to become a resource for those who will follow in our footsteps and carry on our work.  

Local 17 is planning a welding class to be held in early January between the Fall and Spring semesters.  The Local holds its classes at the world headquarters of Lincoln Electric in Euclid.  The course is a 40 hour course (10 nights at four hours per night) giving the student the opportunity to earn a 3G and 4G welding certification.  Those interested in taking the class must complete the CE019 Welding Preparation course on the NEIEP website, neiep.org.  For more information, contact John at the hall.

A reminder that those Brothers and Sisters requiring Continuing Education hours per the current contract, visit the NEIEP website, neiep.org, to sign up and complete the course before the end of the year.

Independent company Maximum Elevator has been bought by ATTA out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  This is ATTA’s second move into the US market as they recently completed the purchase of a St. Louis independent.  The goal of the new ownership is to grow the business beyond maintenance and small repair into modernization work.  Former Thyssen supervisor Lou Cozza will run the operation.  As the company grows, this gives Local members an additional work option.

Work in Cleveland has been steady with full employment and many transients working in the jurisdiction.  Schindler is still working the Sherwin-Williams job which will continue into the second quarter of 2025 as well as thirteen additional mod and construction jobs.  KONE is operating 12 construction or mod jobs while TKElevator and Otis currently have six crews on construction or mod while Gable/3 Phase has four mod teams in the field.  

As of this writing the bench is clear.

Until next month…

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net

Brother Fran Adams (right) stands under the IUEC Local 17 seal with his sons Jarrett (left) and newly sworn-in Spencer at the October 2024 meeting.

Eric Johnson, Spencer Adams, Todd Ault and Ryan Bissell are sworn-in at the October 2024 meeting.  Standing behind them (left to right) Recording Secretary Joe Broz Jr, President John Patton and Business Manager John Driscoll Jr.

The Cleveland skyline looking north in the moments prior to dawn.  From left the new Sherwin Williams world headquarters peaks out from behind the Terminal Tower.  Center is Key Tower and to the right 200 Public Square. 

Brothers and Sisters:

The Annual Local 17 Children’s Christmas Party will be held Saturday, December 14 at the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.  There will be gifts for children 12 and younger.  Watch your mail for the sign up slip and return it as soon as possible to the hall.

The November 8 and December 13, 2024 and January 10, 2025 meetings are Special Called Meetings for the nomination, election and installation of officers.  All members are expected to attend unless otherwise exempt per Local 17 By-Laws.  Exemptions must be called into the hall at 216-431-8088 or by contacting Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.  Members not in attendance will be fined.

Local 17 is holding a forklift certification class at the hall.  The class is designed for those seeking a forklift certification for use on construction sites.  Brother Tim Narowitz is teaching the eight-hour class.

For those interested in a welding class, Local 17 is tentatively set for January 2025.   This gives apprentices and those interested mechanics the opportunity to get a 3G and 4G certification.  This is a 40-hour class held for four hours a night over two weeks.  To register, compete CW019 Welding Preparation class on the NEIEP website, neiep.org, under the Training, Training and Licensing, Welding Training menus.  For more information contact John at the hall.

Another classroom space has been added in the basement of the school.  This gives the Local the opportunity to offer additional continuing education classes as well as make-up classes as needed.  All classrooms have been painted in the standard NEIEP color scheme and logos added to each classroom.  This is part of an effort by the organization to standardize the learning experience across the International.  The work was done by a local signatory painter.    

So far, there have not been any reported issues with the vacation checks issued July 15 or the pay raises due the apprentices the first full pay period after September 1.  

At the September meeting it was announced Brother Al Jerson was stepping down ahead of retirement as a trustee of Local 17.  Jerson had 40 years in the trade and spent the last 16 years as a trustee handling the officers payroll, withholding taxes and W2s.  He was elected in 2008 and helped shepherd the Local through the economic downturn of that year as well as shore up the finances during that rough period in the Local’s history.  

Brother Brian Chambers was appointed by President John Patton to take his place and was sworn in as a trustee.  Chambers most recent officer role was as the Entertainment Chairman.

Retirement is something we all strive to achieve.  The notion of having total control over your day is an especially enticing notion since our employers have us scheduled to the moment, geopositioned to within six feet and increase our responsibilities without a consummate increase in authority to perform them. 

What happens when that constant onslaught of demands suddenly ends?  Quiet.

The quiet of a day without the the screech of an alarm notifying the recipient of yet another requested visit by a customer looking to keep their ancient elevator running for yet another sixty years.  The constant phone calls demanding “what’s your ETA, the customer is complaining about (fill in the blank), I need you to get there, what do you mean you left their only car down?”  

This is why good men and women seek release in a liquid concoction or find themselves in a corner in the fetal position. 

And then… quiet.

As of this publication date, four years, seven months and twenty-eight days to go.  

Not that I’m counting.  

As of this writing there is one mechanic on the bench.

Until next month,

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net

Brother Al Jerson addresses the body as he announces his retirement as an IUEC Local 17 trustee and from the trade.  Jerson spent 16 years as a trustee position.

Brother Brian Chambers is sworn in as the newest trustee of IUEC Local 17.  Behind him (left to right) Recording Secretary Brother Joe Broz Jr, President John Patton and Business Manager John Driscoll Jr.

Incoming and outgoing trustees Brothers Brian Chambers and Al Jerson.

Brothers and Sisters:

The November 8 and December 13, 2024 and January 10, 2025 meetings are Special Called Meetings for the nomination, election and installation of officers.  All members are expected to attend unless otherwise exempt per Local 17 By-Laws.  Exemptions must be called into the hall at 216-431-8088 or by contacting Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.  Members not in attendance will be fined.

Over the course of the last six years I’ve had the pleasure of being able to instruct our Local 17 apprentices in a number of RC subjects.  Every semester starts out with the orientation night with the Area Coordinator and the first class night the mandatory two-hour sexual harassment training.  After a few semesters, this has become routine.

The start of the third hour of week one is where the instruction begins.  One of the early questions I like to pose to the class is “what did you do before the elevator trade?”  I’ve had a real variety of answers and the breadth of experience in every class amazes me every semester.

I’ve had apprentices only a year or two out of high school all the way up to full-blown journeymen tradesmen.  In Local 17 we have one mechanic who taught welding and signed the cards of half the Local.  There is more than one member who worked for the railroad and gave that up for a career that allowed for more family time.

In one of my RC 200 classes I had apprentices who worked together as tree trimmers and helped with knot tying as we worked to get the class their SIG RIG cards.  When I taught RC 800, I had a Year Three apprentice who was a journeyman boilermaker who I asked to correct me if I made a mistake on running pipe.  In another I substituted during an RC 600 with an electrician who helped explain a particularly sketchy solid-state circuit.  More than a few have been in in the armed forces and showed the discipline to keep up with their work and excel in the field.

The first semester Year One apprentices are the most wide-eyed and impressionable.  They come to the trade with only the experience they bring from their previous employment and what they have learned in the field from their mechanics.

The trade and their career path are filled with possibilities.  I tell them the story of Rick Myers and how he started work in Cleveland, worked full-time at NEIEP, went back into the field and had the opportunity to travel the world for Otis.  I then point out that on page four of every issue of this magazine is a list of International officers who all started in the business by stacking rails, building cabs, setting machines, running hundreds of miles of travel cord and wire rope and studying for the semester finals that would determine if they could advance in the program along with the shared anxiety of the Mechanics Exam.

Each and every one of them started exactly where these apprentices currently are:  working eight hours during the day and studying at night while fulfilling their family obligations.  I also point out that for some reason, each and everyone of them took a chance and became active in their Local and then the International.  

I tell my Year Ones this is a trade that offers so much opportunity for experience and to make a real, positive difference in the lives of members and their families.  This is the place they start but, it does not have to be the place where they finish.

Until next month,

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net

Local 17 apprentice Mike Piela with his wife Heather and their children Joey and Celina pause for a photo on a rainy day in Old Town Krakow, Poland.

The IUEC Local 17 softball team at the 2024 Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Labor Day Softball Tournament.

Local 17 softball coach Rich Kemp takes a moment during a tough loss to Pipefitters 120 during the 2024 Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Labor Day Softball Tournament. 

The infield gets ready for the next pitch during the softball game with Carpenters 435 at the 2024 Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Softball Tournament.

Brothers and Sisters:

The Local 17 Golf Outing was held at Bunker Hill Golf Course on July 20.  There was a change in the guard as the Champion’s Jackets were won by the team lead by former Local 17 member and current Gable Elevator superintendent Scott Hicks.  Congratulations to Scott and his team.

The other big winner was Jacob Kemp, son of Brother Todd Kemp, who walked away with a three-day, two-night trip to Las Vegas sponsored by Laborers Local 310.  Kemp won the trip by first sinking a 20-foot putt to qualify and then, in a two way putt-off lagged his 50 footer closest to the hole.  For photos from the event, go to the Local 17 website, iueclocal17.org. 

As this reaches your mailbox, the 2024 Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Labor Day Softball Tournament will be in progress.  Under the coaching of the Kemp Brothers, Local 17 has advanced in each of its last two outings past the first round.  For the results of this year’s effort, go to the Local’s website.

The 2024-25 school year is in full swing with a compliment of 49 apprentices enrolled in the NEIEP program.  Brothers Tom Goggin, Don Knapik, Jean LaFontaine, Tim Narowitz and Jerry Reitz are teaching one class of RC 100 and two classes each of RC 200, 300 and 400 for a total of seven classes.  This is the Local’s largest apprentice class in many decades.

Brother Reitz is teaching the Mechanic Exam Review to the three test-eligible apprentices.  Good luck to them as they start this new phase of their career.

Brother Rick Myers has returned to Local 17 and is working full time for NEIEP as a Subject Matter Expert.

State Licensing is moving forward.  The nine-member Elevator Safety Review Board is taking shape and Local 17 Business Manager John Driscoll Jr is expected to be named to the Board by Governor Mike DeWine.  The Board is responsible for oversight of investigations of elevator mechanics and contractors and establishing and administering appropriate disciplinary actions.  

This is the final stretch of a multi-year effort to convince a once skeptical Ohio legislature of the value in licensing elevator constructors.  Special recognition is due to Gable Elevator who early on took a lead role in demonstrating the complexity of the work we do and the value of the education received through the NEIEP program.

For those apprentices advancing in the apprentice program, pay raises are effective beginning the first pay period after September 1.  If there is an issue with or questions regarding the timing or amount of the raise, contact John at the hall at 216-431-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.

Work in the area is strong with Schindler holding the biggest mod and construction market share.  As the Sherwin Williams job winds down in the first quarter of 2025, TKElevator is expected to begin the Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience Building project.  The job is 16 cars and 16 floors and TKElevator will also be doing a full mod at Rocket Mortgage Field House.  Otis is doing a lot of modernization work at the Cleveland Clinic and an upcoming job at the steel mill.  Kone currently has ten crews working mod and construction with Gable keeping three teams busy.

The Brothers and Sisters of IUEC Local 17 send their condolences to the families of Honorary Retiree Howard Stephenson who passed away June 6 and Brother Dave Yasenchack whose father passed away July 8.

As of this writing there is one mechanic on the bench.

Until next month,

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net

The July swearing in was a family affair with multiple initiates having their fathers in attendance.  Pictured (center) is initiate Ricky Kemp being sworn in as part of the July 2024 class by his father Rich (at the microphone).

July 2024 initiates (left to right) Cody Demster, Marcus Luxemburg, Adam Fahrm, Sean Kelly, Paul Verga, Kyle Drnak, Jack Corrigan, Mike Gallagher, Nick Seaman and Ricky Kemp.

Brother Greg Seaman with his newly sworn in son Nick at the July 2024 meeting.

Brothers Don Knapik, Kevin Krupa, retiree Ron Wolff and guest Jason Zapisek take a minute for a photo at the 2024 IUEC Local 17 Golf Outing at Bunker Hill Golf Course.  For more photos from the event go to the Local’s website, iueclocal17.org.

Brothers and Sisters:

Fall semester begins the week of August 5 with a mandatory orientation for all apprentices.  This semester there will be 48 apprentices in the NEIEP program spread over one class of RC 100 and two classes each of RC 200, 300 and 400.  If you have not received your class assignments, contact Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at the hall at 216-431-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.

There were 175 applicants for the Local hire list with interviews completed the first week of June.  The members of the Local extend thanks to Brothers Tom Goggin, Bill Lynsky, Tim Narowitz and Jerry Reitz for conducting the interview portion of the slotting.

The IUEC Pension Department announced all six retirement benefit rates were increased by $3.  In addition, retirees also saw an increase in their monthly payout.  The weekly income rate for someone on temporary disability rose from $500 per week to $715 per week.

Where are they working?

Jim Thompson and Eric Johnson at Cleveland Clinic M doing a mod for Otis,

Shane Huff and Mark Thomason at Cleveland Clinic F doing a mod for Otis,

Craig Nolty and Mike Janson at Woodhill installing two cars for Otis,

Jerry Szmerekovsky and Pat McHugh at Hathaway Brown installing two cars for Otis,

DJ Spring and Mike Hassel at Margaret Wagner doing a two-car mod for Otis,

Ric Supinski, Dave Adrian, Joel Reyes, Joe Simcic, Lee Barkschat, Nacho Badillo, Del Gay, Juan Rodriguez, Jeremy Sesma, Nick Bowen, Cory Oldham, Paul Verga, Cody Dempster, Marcus Luxenburg, Kyle Drnak, Adam, Farhm and Josh Larson at Sherwin Williams for Schindler,

Lucas Janke and Andrea Rodriguez running cars at Sherwin Williams for Schindler,

Brian Bond and Mike Gallagher at Fidelity doing a mod for Schindler,

Joe Sumph and Tito Mike doing a three-car mod at Public Utilities for Schindler,

Shawn Yatsko and Tom Holian at Kirby Manor doing a mod for Schindler,

Brian Seither and Sean Kelly doing a mod at Envoy Condos for Schindler,

Don Yoho and Sean Canning at Driftwood Apartments installing a car for Schindler,

Jason Barnett and Adam Klein at Ganley Village installing a car for Schindler,

Dave Gnagy and Jay Carlson doing a two-car mod at Lake Erie College for Schindler,

Rob Timko and Matt Carlson at Painesville Hospital doing a mod for Schindler,

Jack Finucan and Brandon LaFontaine doing a jack at Glenbeigh for Schindler,

Mike Hogan and Aaron Sipos at HK Stubs in Akron cabling for Schindler,

Bernie Sickle and Nick Seaman at the Airport installing pump units for Schindler,

Russell Barrows, Ellaina Harris, Pat Kelly and John Smith at Case SRV installing cars for Kone,

James Hirz, Mike Miller Jr, Ernie Rodriguez and Justten Kavedzic at Van Aken District 2 installing cars for Kone,

Brendan Hyland and Bob Savnik at Post Office Plaza doing a two-car mod for Kone,

Todd Ross and Eric Schaffran doing a mod at Bulkley for Kone,

Drew Williams and Jake Driscoll at Oberlin Manor doing a two-car mod for Kone,

Ken Bowles and Sasha Vujkovic at RTA Headquarters doing door operators for Kone,

Tim Narowitz and Vince Smrdel doing a mod at Southwest Hospital for TKElevator,

Dave Ford and Matt Ramser at Chagrin Plaza doing a mod for TKElevator,

Jason Frederick and Brad Skotko doing a mod at Judson Manor for TKElevator,

Chris Sipos and Jon Ranney at Crestview doing a four-car mod for TKElevator,

Anthony Metcalf and Christian Thompson at Avon High School doing a mod for TKElevator,

Jim Ehrbar and Dan Quigley at Chardon Opera House doing a mod for 3Phase,

Marc Carollo and Brian Owens at Tudor Manor doing a mod for 3Phase and 

John Evanco and Jack Corrigan doing a two-car mod at Bellaire Gardens B for 3Phase.

As of this writing there is one mechanic on the bench.

Until next month…

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net