Dear Member,

I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy and that you had a wonderful holiday season!  As we embark on 2012, I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the highlights of the past year and let you know what we expect in the coming months.

Although the work picture in 2011 was projected to be a little better than it actually was, we were fortunate enough to recruit a few new signatory contractors.  This has helped tremendously in garnering more working hours for our members.  Additionally, public works projects like Camp Withycombe, Sandy High School, and the Salem Hospital were a much needed help to us.  Private jobs like Emanuel Hospital and Westside Kaiser were also big hour contributors.  We are hoping that 2012 can produce more jobs like these and keep us going strong into the New Year!

During last year’s negotiations we were able to implement a Labor Management Cooperation Committee (LMCC).  The LMCC is a program in which Labor and Management work together on common projects such as compliance, promotion and legislative issues.  The trust document has been finished and the trustees have been assigned so we are ready to start pushing forward. 

I feel very strongly that the LMCC will move us in the right direction for the future! 

In regards to Vacation funds, if you have not filled out your dues authorization slip yet, your vacation money is being held in suspense at the trust office.  Be sure to call us so we can send a slip out to you. By changing the way we are collecting the automatic dues withdrawal, it is saving you a service fee and further streamlining the process. 

I hope to see everyone at this year’s Pin and Apprenticeship Awards Dinner.  This year’s dinner will be held at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion hotel on February 25^th.  These award ceremonies are always a fun event for our members and a great way to honor our longtime brothers and congratulate our brand new apprenticeship graduates.   Look for an invitation in the mail the last week of January and don’t forget to RSVP.  It is sure to be a good time!

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Matthew Eleazer

Business Manager