BUSINESS AGENT REPORT

by Matt Eleazer

 

Before I give you my update, I would like to extend my congratulations to our Apprentices. They did a great job competing in the Western States Apprenticeship Competition in Seattle. These Apprentices have a great attitude toward their craft and have a bright future in the trade. 

Work has been very slow for the past year but we are showing gradual signs of improvement. Refractory work has been helping many out-of-work members keep their heads afloat during these difficult times. Local 1 randomly gets calls from out of state contractors who need to fill positions doing Refractory work in our area. If you are not working, be sure to call in and put your name on our out-of-work list.  If you don’t call in, we don’t know you are not working. With your name on the list, it reminds us on who is ready and available to go to work. 

If you have friends, or know anyone else working open shop in our industry, I would like to meet them – especially if they are currently working or have worked on Prevailing Wage jobs. It seems like it is becoming far too common for workers being cheated out of the Federal and State mandated wages they deserve. Compliance is a very big part of my position. If we can take the cheating contractors off of the street, our contractors can be more competitive. We should all do our part to try to protect and preserve the industry we work in. 

I would like to thank all of the members who attended our last Union Meeting. It is great to see participation and interest among our members.   I am currently working on starting up a Retiree Breakfast Club.  It seems that it is way too long between events for you guys to see one another. Our first Breakfast will be on July 28^th from 9:00am- 11:00am the hall and hope this will be the beginning of a quarterly event. Be sure to RSVP by calling (503) 232-0358. I believe this will be a good opportunity for the guys to get out of the house and have some good fellowship among each other. 

I hope to see each and every one of you in the near future. Remember, Union Meetings are the 3^rd Tuesday of every month at 7pm. It would be great to see your face. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call me.