International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 17

Brothers and Sisters:

There’s a lot going on, so lets get to it…

The 2022 Children’s Christmas Party will be held Saturday, December 10 at the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue.  The event starts at 1 pm and the highlight is, as always, a visit from Santa Claus to pass out gifts to all the children 12 and younger.  

The spring school semester looks to be a packed house as Local 17 will have 37 apprentices in class.  The RC courses have yet to be determined for the group but, orientation will be the last week of January while classes start the first week of February.

John Taylor will be teaching the AC motor class and the hydraulic valve course after the first of the year.  These are two Continuing Education classes that do a deep dive into subjects that are touched upon in the regular NEIEP curriculum.  The motor class covers how an AC motor works, both across the line and wye-delta starting along with a section on soft starts.  The JATC is also looking at doing another welding class between the fall and spring semesters at the world headquarters of Lincoln Electric in Euclid, Ohio.  If you are interested in any of these offerings contact Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at the hall at 216-431-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org.

All quarterly work cards are to be picked up from the hall by the first day of the quarter.  If you want your card to be mailed to you, include an SASE with your dues payment.  

The 36 story, one million square foot Sherwin-Williams headquarters project going up on Public Square will be done with a Project Labor Agreement ensuring that the 4000 construction jobs on the project will all be union labor.  

Otis has picked up a considerable amount of work recently and has three out of town teams working construction.  Schindler laid off a mechanic and is threatening layoffs in the future while TK Elevator and KONE are keeping their crews working steady.  KONE has said they expect the first quarter of 2023 to be the start of a very busy time for them.  3Phase has a good amount of work on the books with one team from Akron working in the Cleveland jurisdiction. 

Schindler has been having problems processing pay checks in Cleveland and the region.  AGP Bender sent emails to the affected areas and the issue was corrected in a short time.  If you were shorted or have continuing issues with your pay, contact your administrator and superintendent but also let John know an issue exists.

The six probationaries in Group 1 all should have received raises to 55%.  Also, all the Local 17 apprentices should have received their raises as long as they completed and passed two semesters of school.

The Members Assistance Plan is a benefit for IUEC members and their families that cover a variety of issues from weight management, financial planning assistance, smoking cessation, and counseling for a variety of issues.  The phone call is confidential.  Information is available from John at the hall or through the link on the Local 17 website, iueclocal17.org.

Congratulations to Brad Skotko on being sworn in at the October meeting.

The Brothers and Sisters of Local 17 send their condolences to the family of Brother Chris Boggess who passed away October 7.

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

Brothers and Sisters:

At the September meeting, IUEC Organizer Steve Simpson gave an update on organizing efforts in Ohio on Florida-based Oracle Elevator and Davis-Newcomer.  Findlay-based non-signatory Davis-Newcomer has been spotted working in the area mostly on modernizations and is currently the most significant threat in the jurisdiction.  They are slated to be starting a modernization at CMHA Apthorp Tower next year.  This job will be a focus of the Volunteer Organizing Committee.

Organizing efforts have been successful in limiting and reversing Oracle’s growth in Ohio throughout the pandemic.  According to Simpson, Oracle has taken a severe beating and is down to only a handful of field and office personnel in its Ohio offices.  

If you spot or hear of a non-signatory working on a job, call Business Manager John Driscoll Jr at 216-431-8088 or email him at JEDriscoll@iueclocal17.org with the information.

The IUEC Local 17 Annual Children’s Christmas Party will be held Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 1 pm a the hall located at 3250 Euclid Avenue.  Children up to and including 12 years old will receive gifts.  Members are asked to bring baked goods to the event.  Beverages will be provided.  Please reply to Entertainment Chairman Brian Chambers no later than December 1, 2022 to allow sufficient time to purchase gifts.

Local 17 will hold mandatory meetings for the nomination, election and installation of officers November 18 and December 9, 2022 and January 13, 2023 at the hall starting at 6 pm.  Those not in attendance without a valid excuse will be fined by the Executive Board.  Please note the normal meeting date of November 11 has been changed to November 18 due to the Veterans Day holiday.

On September 24, Local 17 held its golf outing at Mallard Creek Golf Club in Columbia Station.  The big winner this year was the group led by Brother Rich Kemp along with Brad Skotko, Ricky Kemp, and Jacob Kemp came in at nine under and winning a long putt-off with last years wining group fronted by Brother Rob Hansen.  Kemp and company not only claimed bragging rights for the year but, possession of the Champion’s Green Jacket.  For pictures from this event and others, go the Local’s website, iueclocal17.org. 

In September Business Manager John Driscoll Jr was named a trustee of the International by General President Frank Christensen.  Trustees are responsible for examining the books of the International assuring they conform to all Federal regulations.

Of the 23 apprentices currently enrolled in the NEIEP program, one will be test -eligible at the end of the semester.  The spring semester will see 15 apprentices added to the class rolls raising our total to 37 apprentices, the largest class in decades.

Congratulations to Brother Zach Miller on passing the Mechanics Exam.

Apprentice raises go into effect the first pay period after September 1 provided the apprentice has passed two semesters of NEIEP instruction.  If you have not received your raise or believe there is an error, contact John at the hall.

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

Brothers and Sisters:

When I was a helper I would occasionally be sent to work with Ray Bowles at Landmark Office Tower to assist him with two-man maintenance tasks on his 1960’s Otis equipment.  One of those days, I was cleaning governors in a secondary when Ray got a call from the building.  

“Come on, we’re going to take a look at a problem.” he told me as I gratefully hauled myself out of the hole.  We made our way through the building and into one of the machine rooms.  The controllers were the Otis UCLs with dozens of relays all picking and dropping in a particular cadence, a whirling pie-plate selector gave visual reference to what the car was doing in direct relation to the large gearless machine and roaring MG unit supplying the muscle to haul the cars and weights up and down the hatch.  

After a few minutes of watching the car run, Ray pulled the knife switch, took out an orange peeler and flex, cleaned a contact and put the knife back in.  The entire rhythm of the relays changed and Ray looked very pleased.  I stopped him and asked “OK, what exactly did you do?”  He pulled out a set of prints, turned to a page and began to explain how this one dirty contact affected how the rest of the controller worked.  At that point of my career I was not as fluent in relay logic as I am now and only slightly grasped what he told me.  Later on I watched Jerry Reitz do the same on the old Haughton controllers at Renaissance and Mark Carollo tune a valve entirely by ear.  

These were the guys I wanted to be.  The real journey in this trade began. 

After getting elected to this position and later to be the correspondent to the Cleveland Citizen, I contacted Jon Henson at NEIEP and volunteered my services to write for Lift Magazine.  Since then, I am very proud to say, I have been a part of getting good information into the hands of IUEC members who can use it to be better at their jobs or understand a little bit more about the systems they encounter everyday.

In-between issues of Lift I got bored.  When I get bored I get restless and when I get restless I need a project.  I was working with Josh Mitchell at Burke Lakefront Airport installing a soft start on a Taylor hydro.  Over the years I’ve done dozens of soft starts and knew what to look for on an installation.  This time I took my camera and documented the process, wrote captions for each photo, and tied them together in a way that told the story of a soft start installation.  I emailed the package to Jon and waited.  About two months later I got an email from Lester White and in a couple of hours I was a NEIEP instructor and on the other side of the podium.

Through being an officer and fill-in instructor I’ve come to realize just how many different directions a person can go once they are in the trade.  On the inside of this magazine is a list of the officers of the International as well as our associated organizations (NEIEP, CEIEP, EIWPF and Benefits).  Each one of them started their career stacking rails, setting machines, pulling generators and miles upon miles of rope.  At some point they took an opportunity to become active in their Local and advanced to the positions they hold.  My guess is that few of them realized where their career could take them.  

This is a trade full of infinite possibilities.  Make your journey a good one.  

Until next month,

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.

Don

DKnapik@windstream.net