IBEW News and Views
IBEW Local 910 (Watertown NY) Uses Solar Power
New solar energy system at Watertown building
10/6/2004 6:05 PM
By: News 10 Now Staff
A building in Watertown has a new solar energy system.
The solar panels installed on the roof and back yard of the IBEW Local 910 building, along with the bank of converters inside, provides electrical power for heat and lights.
It also provides a training site for technicians learning this new alternative energy system.
"We're training people on technologies that will help us meet our future energy needs and that's what we need to do here in New York is build that infrastructure, build a trained workforce that we need to maintain this technology because under Governor Pataki we want New York state to be the cleanest, most renewable state in the nation and we're making great strides with demonstrations like this," said Peter Smith, President of NYSERDA.
The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority has co-funded $740,000 worth of incentives with the I-B-E-W...at this site and three other locations in the state.
IBEW Local 401 (Reno NV) Supports Retired Local 357 (Las Vegas) Electrician for State Board of Regents
Doug Hill and Bob Price claim their years of experience in public office make them the best qualified to represent Reno’s District 11 on the Nevada Board of Regents.
Hill, the incumbent, is pitting his two years on the Washoe County School Board before being elected regent in 1998 against Price’s nearly 30 years as a state assemblyman.
Hill said there are four and a half traits a person needs to be a good regent.
“You need to have courage, integrity, intelligence, good thinking processes, and the half trait is some courtesy and professionalism,” he said. “I have lived in this district for 25 years. I’m a CPA (accountant), a lawyer and I’ve been extremely effective as a regent.”
Price cites the variety of experience he has gained as a legislator.
“I like to think with my long background in public service in the Legislature and working on various commissions that I have proven to be someone who is interested in the public’s welfare and the input of our citizens, and that I can be depended upon to do the work.”
Price, who has diabetes and underwent a triple bypass after a heart attack in 1998, said his health will not be a factor in his ability to serve as a regent.
“I haven’t had any further problems with my heart since the surgery,” he said.
The two men are competing for a six-year term on the 13-member board of regents, who receive no pay. Regents get travel and daily expenses to attend monthly meetings throughout the state plus a $2,500 annual host account to pay such things as a lunch or gathering to discuss educational issues.
Hill and Price were the top finishers in a four-man race for the nonpartisan office in September’s primary.
Hill received 10,112 votes (46 percent) to Price’s 6,097 (27 percent). Sean Westwood, a 20-year-old University of Nevada, Reno student, had 4,509 votes (20 percent) and U.S. Postal Service supervisor Rajan Zed 1,458 votes (7 percent).
Hill and Price also spent the most in the primary, according to the reports on campaign contributions and expenses that they filed with the Washoe County voter registrar’s office.
Hill reported receiving $5,300, including $500 from former Washoe County School Board member Kay Louden; $400 from Bret Whipple, a regent from Las Vegas, $200 from Robert Dickens, the lobbyist for the University of Nevada, Reno. Hill reported spending $5,240 dollars on his primary campaign.
Price reported contributions totaling $1,750 and expenses of $700. His largest contribution was a $1,000 loan from his wife, Nancy, followed by $250 from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 401.
Zed said he didn’t raise or spend any money on his primary run. Westwood reported receiving $1,414 in contributions that included $1,000 from the Nevada State Board of Education and $214 from Howard Rosenberg, one of Reno’s two representatives on the Board of Regents. Rosenberg’s term ends in 2008.
Rosenberg said he contributed money to Westwood, a 20-year-old UNR student who opposed Hill in the primary, because “he’s a youngster who wanted to run and I think it’s absolutely marvelous that kids get involved in politics — period. Imagine having a student who knows what students think, feel and go through sitting on the board that is responsible to them and for them.”
The contribution was not motivated by any animosity toward Hill, Rosenberg said.
“No, I never act out of animosity,” he said. “That’s a waste of time and energy.”
Hill said of Rosenberg’s campaign contribution, “This is America. Everybody gets to support whomever they want.”
* * *
Name: Bob E. Price
Birthplace: DeLand, Fla.
Age: 67
Occupation: Retired electrician.
Education: Graduated from Cheyenne High School, Wyo.; attended Truckee Meadows Community College, Community College of Southern Nevada and Santa Monica Community College.
Experience: Nevada assemblyman from 1975 to 2003, member of the Interim Finance Committee, chairman of committees on Economic Development and Tourism, Taxation and Transportation.
Time in district: Two years
Family: Wife, Nancy; three daughters, three sons and six grandchildren.
Name: Douglas Roman Hill
Birthplace: Taft, Calif.
Age: 57
Occupation: Lawyer
Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology, master’s in business administration, accounting; Certified Public Accountant, law degree.
Experience: Washoe County School District trustee from 1988 to 1990. Past member of Planned Parenthood of Northern Nevada’s board of directors.
Time in district: 26 years.
Family: Wife, Susan; daughters, Alexis and Adrienne.
Alabama Governor Replaces IBEW Local 505 (Mobile AL) member on Port Authority
Callahan to serve on Port Authority
The Associated Press
October 05, 2004
Email this story.
Former U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan has been appointed to the Alabama State Port Authority, officials with the state's docks said.
Callahan, a Republican who represented Mobile and southwestern Alabama in Congress, said the port authority seems a good fit.
"I can give back to the state," the 72-year-old Callahan said. "The state's been good to me, and it's here in Mobile, that's one more good reason."
Gov. Bob Riley also appointed Tuscaloosa-area union leader Mike Fields to the nine-member board that runs the state's docks. Fields, an AFL-CIO executive board member, satisfies the authority's legal requirement that one position be filled by a labor representative.
Riley chose not to reappoint Donnie Adams, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 505 in Mobile, whose term on the authority expired July 31. Adams had sought a second five-year term.
Another outgoing member, Bill Taylor of Tuscaloosa, head of Mercedes-Benz operations in Alabama, did not seek a second term. Authority members are paid $250 per meeting and serve staggered terms. Callahan and Fields will serve five-year terms that expire July 31, 2009.
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Information from: The Mobile Register
IBEW and Lucent to utilize services of Federal Mediation
Press Release Source: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Lucent Technologies' Negotiations with CWA and IBEW to Begin in Washington with FMCS Mediation
Tuesday October 5, 5:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) today announced that representatives for the Communications Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lucent Technologies Inc. will conduct their negotiations under FMCS auspices in Washington, D.C.
At the request of the parties, the FMCS Director Peter J. Hurtgen said he will personally join the talks. FMCS staff mediators also will assist in the negotiations, he said.
"The parties are facing a set of very difficult issues, and we hope the process of mediation will help them find common ground on which to build a mutually acceptable agreement," Hurtgen said.
The new round of contract talks cover approximately 3,000 Lucent workers represented by the CWA and another 250 represented by the IBEW. The negotiations will begin Oct. 7, and the current contracts for both groups expire on Oct. 31.
The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, created in 1947, is an independent U.S. government agency whose mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 10 district offices and more than 70 field offices, the agency provides mediation and conflict resolution services to industry, government agencies and communities.
Source: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
IBEW and Entergy conclude agreement covering Mississippii Line workers
Entergy, IBEW agree to contract
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - Entergy Corp. reached agreement Tuesday with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents 820 of the utility's employees.
Neither side disclosed details of the contract, which will be in effect until March 24, 2007. IBEW represents Entergy's line workers, call center employees, administrative assistants and technicians.
Entergy said the contract includes pay raises and enhancements to benefits.
The union rejected Entergy management's initial offer last month because it increased the employees' share of health-care costs from 20 percent to 25 percent and amended a job-protection clause the union says it believes could open the door for layoffs.
The clause was added into the contract in 1997, two years after Entergy laid off more than 1,000 employees, cutting the union's membership at the utility by about half.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://www.theadvocate.com
IBEW Local 146 (Decatur IL) Member runs for Macon County (IL) Board
Macon County Board candidates focus on financial matters
By RON INGRAM and STEPHANIE POTTER - H&R Staff Writers
DECATUR - Macon County's financial future is the all-consuming issue for candidates seeking county board seats in the Nov. 2 general election.
None of the candidates profess to have all the answers to the county's long-term financial woes created by increasing costs and $2.8 million in internal loans that must be repaid.
Those problems could worsen in the fiscal year that begins Dec. 1 in the face of cuts in real estate tax revenue caused by changes in state law adopted this year by the legislature that could cost the county's general fund, or main operating fund, about $100,000.
Races exist in three of the seven board districts: 1, 5 and 7. Democrats hold 13 of 21 board seats and are unlikely to lose their majority this year because too few Republicans are challenging incumbents in "safe" Democratic districts.
County GOP Chairman John L. Davis acknowledges that deficit.
"We can't take the board this time, but we can cut down on the Democrats' majority," Davis said. "If Ed Yoder wins in District 7 and we take two District 1 seats, that would result in an 11 to 10 split."
In District 1, incumbent Democrats David Livingston and Gordon Brenner are challenged by former Republican board member Linda Little and GOP newcomer Bruce Logan. The district has proven to be a swing district in the past, electing candidates from both parties.
County officeholders and department heads are doing a good job of cooperating with the board on efforts to hold the line on spending, Livingston said. Board members need to make sure they are doing the right thing, but when a decision is made they can't really be certain it is the right one, he said.
"We did the right thing at the right time by working to get the law enforcement sales tax passed," Livingston said. "I want to make sure we do what we said we would do, shore up the sheriff's office financially. We said if there was money left over, we would spend it on other departments. But those other departments must relate to law enforcement."
Brenner said when the law enforcement sales tax was adopted two years ago, the sheriff's office at first said it would need about $1 million to rebuild the office after layoffs as a result of the county's budget crisis. The tax is bringing in about $2.1 million annually.
"I wanted to tell the public we only needed half the amount - present it that way - and have the other half for the general fund," Brenner said. "Other board members and people pushing the tax didn't see it that way."
Other offices have had huge budget cuts besides the sheriff's office, Brenner said.
"In the budget process we're mirroring last year when we started with a deficit," Brenner said. "We should go through the budget line by line. Officeholders want the same amount they got last year. If we cut some funds, we're penalizing the officeholders for doing a good job holding the line.
"I can't see where we can make any progress on repaying borrowed funds without (budget) cuts. We may have to go back to the drawing board and start the budget process again. We have to show the taxpayers some good faith effort. People have been too patient with us on this."
Logan noted the fiscal 2005 budget will be completed before newly elected board members take office, but he remains concerned with how the law enforcement sales tax money will be spent, particularly the idea that the coroner's office and the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency be funded entirely with tax money.
"It's not the best move to put the coroner and other offices under the tax," Logan said. "They will have to be moved back to the general fund eventually."
The safety tax was sold as a tax to support the sheriff's office and should be used there, with general fund money now going to the sheriff distributed to other offices, Logan said.
Logan said he has more than 20 years' experience in information technology and believes he can find ways to use such technology to reduce the need to add employees.
"The first thing I'd look at is how to cut costs without cutting jobs," Logan said.
Little, who served on the board from 1994 to 1996 and again in 2002, said there are no easy solutions to the county's debt.
"It's going to be a progression of small, hard decisions," she said. "It's got to be a lot of "nos" when (officeholders) come and ask for money and that's hard to do, but it needs to be done."
Little also believes debt repayment should be a priority for the board, with the board first setting up a plan to pay back the $865,000 the county borrowed from its pension fund, as the state is demanding. She said progress will be slow, but she hopes that in two years, board members can tell the public they have made some strides.
In District 5, GOP incumbent Phillip Hogan faces Democratic challenger Kenneth Wayne Hayes.
Hayes, an unemployed union electrician, said the county should make encouraging economic development a priority.
"A lot of jobs are created at $7 an hour, $7.50 an hour," he said. Hayes said he wants to see the county spend taxpayer money in Macon County whenever possible. Like many others running for the board, he said there are no quick solutions to the county's financial problems, but the county does have an obligation to pay back its debts.
"I do know you have to live within your means," he said. "It's kind of like me living on unemployment."
Hayes said he's running for the board because he thinks his perspective can be helpful.
"I try to look at things from a Democratic viewpoint," he said. "I know Republicans look at it from a Republican viewpoint, and I try to work with people to find a middle ground for both of us."
Hayes favors the proposed tax to fund services for senior citizens, while Hogan opposes it. Hogan said the county's debt is the main issue facing it. He said a proposed disaster fund to be created out of public safety sales tax money would be better spent paying down the debt.
"As far as I'm concerned we don't need a disaster fund," he said. "We've got a disaster fund, and our disaster fund is our debt."
Hogan believes all the revenue from the safety sales tax should go to the sheriff's office, with some of the revenue the sheriff typically receives from the general fund being offset.
He also favors the creation of an elected, full-time county board chairman and a cutting of the board from 21 to 14 members, which he said would improve efficiency. And he believes the county should revisit the idea of tax caps that would limit increases in property tax extensions to 5 percent annually or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
In District 7, GOP incumbent Edward Yoder faces Democratic challenger Ryan Marucco.
Yoder agreed with many others that the primary issue facing the county is its finances. While he feels the public safety sales tax should be used primarily for the sheriff's office, he said he would support the idea of offsetting some of the sheriff's general fund revenue to help pay back the debt.
In general, Yoder opposes new taxes, including the proposed tax to pay for services for senior citizens because he thinks it will result in duplication of services.
"We just have to do with less," he said. "We can't keep asking the public to pay more taxes, more taxes."
Yoder also wants to see a simplified, updated zoning ordinance for the county. He supports preserving prime farmland, but wants to encourage development as well. He said current confusion over the county's zoning ordinances only discourages people from building in Macon County.
Marucco said the internal loans are an issue that will continue to plague the board until they are repaid. He said he also is studying the issue of spending the safety tax money.
"People I talk to in the community want it all to go to the sheriff's office," Marucco said. "But the Emergency Management and Disaster Agency is important, too. They were on the scene with the Formosa plant explosion. It will take me some time to decide what to do."
Marucco said the county should pay someone to write federal grant applications to tap into any funds available for county services or to enhance building projects.
"That way we would not be raising people's taxes every year," Marucco said.
Candidate Profiles
David Livingston
Age: 69
Residence: Decatur
Party: Democrat
Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School, with six hours of college credit.
Experience: Served six years on county board, resigning in 1997 when he moved out of his district. Re-elected to the board in 2000. Appointed a Decatur Township trustee, 1998 to 2000, to fill vacancy created by the death of his wife, Alice.
Occupation: Retired equal employment opportunity officer, Archer Daniels Midland Co.
Family: Wife, Donna; sons, Malcolm, 32, and David, 36.
Gordon Brenner
Age: 57
Residence: Decatur
Party: Democrat
Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School, two years of college at Joliet Community College through apprenticeship program at Caterpillar Inc.
Experience: Elected to county board in 2002; Decatur Township highway commissioner since 2000; chairman, Macon County Veterans Assistance Commission; Illinois commander, Order of the Purple Heart.
Occupation: Owner, Brenner Vending (snacks and candy).
Family: Wife, Diane; son, Brandon, 31, and daughter, Shannon, 28.
Bruce Logan
Age: 51
Residence: Decatur
Party: Republican
Education: Graduate, Purdue University, with degree in agronomy; Wright College, certificate in data processing.
Occupation: Senior information auditor, Archer Daniels Midland Co. Internal Audit Department since July; prior to that was an operator, programmer and director in the company's information technology operations where he spent 20 years.
Family: Single.
Linda Little
Age: 42
Residence: Decatur
Party: Republican
Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School
Occupation: Part-time secretary for Central United Methodist Church
Experience: Former Macon County board member, 1994-1996 and 2002, vice chair of finance and personnel committees, on board of directors for Decatur-Macon County Opportunities Corp., 1994-1996 and 2002, assistant to the Macon County Board chairman, 1996-1998
Family: Husband, Thomas, children Zachary, 20, Amy, 18, Benjamin, 16, Hannah, 13
Phillip J. Hogan
Age: 49
Residence: Dalton City
Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School
Occupation: Self-employed farmer
Experience: Mount Zion Township Supervisor, 1985-1989; 18 years on the Macon County Board
Family: Wife. Jeanne, children Kathryn, 25, Nicole, 15, Jessica, 12, Jack, 2, and one on the way
Kenneth Hayes
Age: 57
Residence: Macon
Education: Graduate, Stephen Decatur High School
Occupation: Union electrician, now unemployed
Experience: Executive board member for IBEW Local 146, four terms; South Macon Democratic precinct committeeman, three terms; South Macon Fire Department trustee, 2004
Family: Wife, Donna, son Brian, 32
Ed Yoder
Age: 54
Residence: Oakley (lives in Long Creek Township)
Party: Republican
Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School, associate's degree in agricultural from Lake Land University, bachelor's degree in agricultural from Illinois State University
Occupation: Farmer
Experience: Macon County board member, 4 years, Long Creek Township Assessor, 11 years, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, honorably discharged
Family: Wife Cheryl, son Edward Duane, 28, daughter Laura, 33
Ryan Marucco
Age: 21
Residence: Decatur
Party: Democrat
Education: Graduate, Mount Zion High School
Experience: Worked part-time for Secretary of State in Decatur drivers license facility; precinct committeeman since 2002.
Occupation: Student, expects to graduate in May from Illinois State University with bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in sociology.
Family: Single
Stephanie Potter can be reached at spotter@;herald-review.com or 421-7984.
IBEW Local 257 (Jefferson City MO) volunteers restore Cole County Historical Society Building
Historic transformation under way
By MICHELLE REAGAN
News Tribune
A perennial-lined brick walkway accented by ornate ironwork will lead guests at the Cole County Historical Society from the Madison Street row house museum to the Upschulte House in the rear.
The community-donated courtyard project began Friday morning with representatives from several labor unions and local organizations who will be donating labor and/or materials in their specialty.
The 25- by 40-feet space, to be marked by an eight-feet high brick wall, is the combination of the society's original garden space plus the asphalt covered lot of the adjacent row house, the museum acquired a few years ago.
Men and machines will lift the pavement, install utilities, pour fresh top soil, and lay new walkway pavers at the Jefferson City facility. Then the Hawthorn Garden Club will landscape.
The plantings will be low-maintenance perennials, said member Gayle Fry. The garden club has volunteered for other projects, including the library, Hospice and Habitat for Humanity.
"It's up to all of us to pay back to the community," said member Carole Van Vranken. "We need to keep the interest of gardening alive and beautify our surroundings."
The landscape design consultants said the courtyard's foliage should be appealing year-round. So people may wander through or stop awhile for lunch or a social gathering.
"We're delighted to be involved, to redo our garden," Van Vranken said of the garden club's first landscaping in 1987. "By the time it's finished, it will be very lovely."
Pink roses will bloom throughout spring next to the public sidewalk leading to the city garage on Monroe and State streets. And several native plantings, such as the Christmas fern, have been included.
The dogwood and the cornus kousa will remain and other ornamental trees will be added to the mostly shade-loving area.
The pocket garden will compliment the new plantings downtown to add a relaxing getaway, Fry said.
Volunteer architect Jerrold Scarlett said the small space presented challenges met by compromise. The 10-feet-wide ironwork gazebo with a copper roof will be the centerpiece surrounded by a wide walkway.
With as many as 500 guests at a society function, member Natalie Tackett said, "this will be aesthetically lovely and we can use it for fundraising, garden parties or weddings."
The courtyard is the final step for the society's expansion and renovation project, Tackett said.
The six-year project included acquisition and handicap-accessible improvements to the adjacent row house, which doubled the museum space.
The courtyard project, estimated at more than $70,000 value, will be completed entirely by donations of labor and materials.
"The union supports the community as often as possible," said Greg Schrock, volunteer from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 257. "Most of our living is done here, so we like to give back."
mreagan@newstribune.com
Corvallis IBEW Member, hero of Pacific Campaign, Oregon State Football player, passes on at 79
Harvey Miller
April 3, 1925 — Sept. 29, 2004
Harvey "Chub" R. Miller of Philomath died Wednesday. He was 79.
He was born in McCloud, Calif., and raised in Colorado and many parts of Oregon.
He served in the Marine Corps during World War II. From Dec. 1943 to Jan. 1946, he served in the Pacific Theater on the Hawaiian Islands, Volcano Islands and Japan. He participated in the action against the Japanese on Iwo Jima, Saipan and during the occupation of Japan. His military occupation specialty was warehouseman, and he was qualified as a sharpshooter.
After his honorable discharge, he returned to Oregon and attended Oregon State College. He played football for OSC during the late 1940s, and remained an avid Beaver fan.
He retired from Pacific Power and Light Company, and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for 50 years.
An avid outdoorsman, Harvey enjoyed hunting, fishing and all sports. He promoted and worked for a junior/senior bowling league.
He was a member and former governor of the Corvallis Moose Lodge.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Lois E. Miller of Philomath; his children and their spouses, Linda and Jerry Pfeifer of Castle Rock, Wash., Bunny and Chuck Webb, and Harvey and Libby Miller, all of Albany, and Harold and Linda Miller of Corvallis; 11 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
Private burial will be held near Sheridan.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Linn-Benton Baseball Foundation in care of McHenry Funeral Home.
Lucent to Begin Talks with the IBEW over retiree health care
Lucent to begin fresh labor talks on Oct. 7
Oct. 2, 2004
Lucent Technologies Inc. will begin fresh talks with representatives from unions that represent about 10 percent of its work force on Oct. 7, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. The telecommunications equipment maker plans to hold discussions with the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington, said the spokeswoman, Mary Ward. Lucent's existing agreement with the unions expires at midnight on Oct. 31, she said. The company first held talks in June for a new agreement, but could not hammer out a contract in a planned three-week time frame. Some 3,250 workers are represented by the unions. Ward said one of the issues on the table will be the cost of retirees'' health care. Lucent said last late last month that it was planning additional cuts in retirement benefits for management retirees, a move that will affect thousands of former workers. Shares in Lucent were off a penny at $3.16 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange
IBEW Local 176 (Joliet IL) Member Speaks out on His Experience with John Kerry on the Swift Boats
http://staging.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/unionveterans/wasser.cfm
James Wasser: Kerry Is True Commander in Chief
After serving in Vietnam as second in command on John Kerry's first swift boat, PCF 44, in 1968-1969, James Wasser says he developed a deep respect for Kerry's character and leadership.
"John Kerry was caring, compassionate and courageous," Wasser says. "He didn't back off anything. He didn't ask for any special treatment and he didn't give any. He is a true commander in chief. He never made one bad command decision when I was serving with him. That's why we're all still here today."
As a veteran, Wasser says it's important to him that Kerry has been in tough combat situations and knows what it's like to come under fire. Kerry would think hard before sending future soldiers into war, says Wasser, and make sure they had enough equipment and support from other countries before going to war.
Yet President George W. Bush called up unprecedented numbers of National Guard and Reserve troops to fight on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq and did not give them adequate body armor to protect their lives, forcing families to buy the equipment for their loved ones, according to the Veterans Institute for Security and Democracy, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit war veterans organization.
The skills Kerry showed as a swift boat commander would serve him and the country well if Kerry is elected president, says Wasser, who lives in Kankakee, Ill.
"If John Kerry came to me today and said he had one more mission on a swift boat into hell and he needed a second in command and a crew," Wasser says, "I would have no hesitation to go because I know my best chance is with him."
Another Four Years of Bush Means a Nation Divided
"If George Bush is re-elected, we will have two classes of people: rich and poor. The middle class will be dinosaurs. The jobs are gone. Kerry will keep the jobs here and give employers incentives to hire people here, not give companies tax breaks to send jobs overseas."
Returning veterans have a harder time finding jobs than most workers. The unemployment rate for recently discharged veterans was 6.9 percent in August 2003, compared with a rate of 5.4 percent overall, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which conducts a survey of veterans every other year.
Since President Bush took office in 2001, the United States has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs and 850,000 professional and business services and information jobs, many of which have been shipped overseas. In fact, up to 14 million white-collar jobs could be sent overseas in the coming years, according to a study by the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics housed at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
Wasser: Kerry Will Fight for Our Children's Future
A school board member for 11 years, Wasser says Kerry will be good for education. "Before the ink was dry on the 'No Child Left Behind' law, the Bush administration yanked money out of it," says Wasser. "Kerry will get more teachers and that's good."
Kerry says he will improve teacher training and pay in troubled schools while demanding fast, fair ways to ensure teachers who don't belong in the classroom don't stay there. He also plans to establish a National Education Trust Fund to ensure that schools get the funding they need.
Kerry also will turn around the nation's jobs crisis, says Wasser, 57, an electrician and member of Electrical Workers Local 176.
The bottom line, says Wasser, John Kerry's character and leadership ability make him the best person to get the country out of the mess the Bush team has created. "Our children will be the first generation to not do better than their parents. We have to do something to restore America and John Kerry is the man for the job," he says.
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http://www.jerryforohio.com/user/Yolanda
WASSER SPEAKS UP FOR JOHN KERRY
by Yolanda
Tue Sep 14th, 2004 at 08:50:07 PM EST
That's the way the headline read in The Jackson County Times-Journal this evening.
Wasser did a great job in clearing up the Swiftboat ads. As you may know, Jim Wasser was second in command on the Swiftboat PSF-44.
Wasser said, "John Kerry is engaging, compassionate, and he not only commanded, he listened to others about major decisions."
"All the men on the swiftboat consider themselves 'a band of brothers'. "
The only dissender from the 'band' is Steven Gardner. Oddly enough, Wasser pointed out that he has a picture of Kerry and Gardner sitting side by side, laughing together on the swiftboat.
Wasser did comment on the sleazy move during the RNC with bandaids with purple hearts drawed on them.
"This was deflamatory to anyone that has received a purple heart since George Washington gave out the first one. Any veteran of any war that has received a purple heart, accepts that honor highly, and no one has the right to take that honor away from them."
He also reported that nobody seeks out a purple heart, and those who do really could use a psych eval!
Wasser is not a paid employee, he is a volunteer. He is on leave from his job, and a member of IBEW Local 176 for 34 years. In addition, he was a really nice guy!
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Today we want to share an inside view from a very special person - Jim Wasser,
a union veteran who served with Sen. John Kerry in Vietnam. Here's what Jim
has to say:
Dear Friends,
John Kerry is a true commander-in-chief and that was clear to me last night during the debate.
I'm Jim Wasser and I was second in command to John Kerry in Vietnam on Swift Boat 44. The John Kerry I knew then is the same John Kerry I saw last night debating on the tough issues surrounding Iraq.
As a union veteran, I really love this country. Let's face it, whoever becomes the next president has a bad situation on his hands in Iraq. But last night it was clear to me why John Kerry is the man to lead us out of this war and these troubled times.
Here's what I saw last night: * John Kerry has a plan to get us out of this deadly, costly mess in Iraq AND achieve our goals there.
* George Bush is misleading America about this war?he just can't seem to own up to his failed record. Deadly insurgency is growing in Iraq and could result in all-out civil war, according to the administration's own top intelligence analysts.
* George Bush has been totally distracted from the real war on terror. That's not the way to make America safer. He's wasted our money on millionaire tax cuts?but he's cutting grants to first-responder programs and trying to cut funding for firefighters by 33 percent. He's frozen hiring for border protection officers, cut funding for the community police program by 90 percent and he's ignoring vulnerabilities in our transportation system, from rail to ports to air travel.
* George Bush just can't acknowledge his mistakes in the Iraq war and the war on terrorism?just like he refuses to acknowledge that here at home he's devastated working families who need good jobs, health care and overtime pay. No way can this president solve America's problems when he's too stubborn to acknowledge reality. John Kerry will make us safer than we are today. He will fund our first responders and make sure our ports and borders, planes, trains and infrastructure become secure.
Last night John Kerry met Bush head-on and laid out his plan for a new course in Iraq and his plan for winning the war on terror. It's the right plan - it's what we need. John Kerry will make America stronger and safer at home and respected in the world.
I served beside John Kerry and I know he has been in tough combat situations, putting his life on the line for America and for his men. That's what we need in a leader today?someone who really understands what our sons and daughters are facing under fire in Iraq and what we could face here at home if we don't get serious about the war on terror.
George Bush has not leveled with the American people about Iraq.
No matter how many no-bid contracts go to his friends, no matter how many soldiers and civilians die, no matter how many kidnappings and beheadings, he tells us he's done the right things. But let me tell you?his go-it-alone strategy is the WRONG course. When you're in combat, you don't want to "go it alone." You want your buddies right there with you like John Kerry was with me in Vietnam.
After the debate, I heard some of President Bush's supporters talking about "trust and confidence." Let's face it - John Kerry is the one you would trust next to you in a foxhole or covering your back on a swift boat. He's the one you want protecting the lives and freedoms of working families in America.
I trusted John with my life. After watching him debate last night, I trust him even more now with our future.
In solidarity,
Jim Wasser
Oct. 1, 2004
P.S. Are you a union veteran, too? Please join me in the Union Veterans
network - sign up now at _ http://www.unionveterans.com _
( http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/unionveterans ) .
IBEW Local 306 (Akron OH) Member named to Akron Civil Service Commission
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/9778573.htm?1c
Posted on Tue, Sep. 28, 2004
Civil service panel to get third member
AKRON - The Akron Civil Service Commission soon will have its third member.
On Monday, Mayor Don Plusquellic announced that he tapped Stephen A. Stock, 49, of Akron to fill a vacancy on the panel. Stock's appointment must be approved by the City Council, which is expected to consider the appointment next week.
Stock is the assistant business manager of Local 306 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Since 1999, Stock has served on the city of Akron's Board of Electrical Examiners. He also is a delegate to the Tri-County Building and Construction Trades and has been active with the Akron Labor Council.
Stock's appointment, if approved, will fill the vacancy created when longtime member Jim Frost died in January 2003.
Stock would be paid $33 an hour for 10 hours of work a month.
IBEW Local 21 (Downers Grove IL) Update on SBC
News at SBC
Here’s an update on the status of our unions 2004 arbitration win on the dispute with SBC in which the company contracted out work after the layoff of Local 21 members, in violation of our collective bargaining agreement. Our goal when we arbitrated this case, in addition to getting the company to abide by the terms of the agreement, was and still is, to get our laid off members back on the payroll as soon as possible. On prior updates, we reported that SBC’s stall tactics in this case are blatantly wrong and would not be tolerated by our union.
SBC’s tactics in this dispute are clear. The company’s goal, while gutless, is to delay resolution of this dispute by not complying with the Arbitrators award, past the date that our laid off brothers and sisters maintain recall rights. Union members understand that our contract includes a grievance and arbitration procedure to resolve member’s workplace disputes with SBC. The last step of resolution is arbitration, where both sides, the company and the union, mutually select a neutral third party to hear the positions and arguments from both sides, along with testimony and other rational on the dispute at hand. Once the arbitrator renders a decision in the case, it is final and binding on both sides, as agreed to in our collective bargaining agreement. You win some and you lose some, but again, the decision is final.
United States Federal policy favors industrial peace, and therefore it favors contract agreements which include both arbitration and no-strike clauses. It is important that all Local 21 members understand that our contract includes a no-strike clause, which is the quid pro quo for the agreement to arbitrate our disputes with SBC. In other words, the union gives up the right to strike in the middle of the contract in exchange for an alternative method for enforcing its rights under the collective bargaining agreement.
Agreements to arbitrate should be specifically enforced as a matter of federal law, which specifically advances the policy of peaceful resolution of labor disputes. We offer this brief explanation of arbitration labor law so that all members fully understand SBC’s latest cowardly move in what should legally be, an already settled dispute.
Last week, in Chicago, SBC filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, demanding to have the arbitrator’s award vacated and thrown out. Named as the defendant in the suit is Local 21, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO. In addition to its demands to vacate the arbitrator’s award, SBC has asked the Court to award plaintiff SBC its costs, reasonable attorney fees and all other relief the court deems just.
If every time SBC loses a major case in arbitration, it refuses to abide by the arbitrators decision or takes the Union to Court, one might ask why then continue to abide by the no-strike clause in the contract. There are many answers to this question, but one that stands out is Integrity. Both sides signed and agreed to the terms of the contract. One side continues to violate it, and one side continues to represent the rights of the workers covered by it. One side represents runaway corporate power and greed and one side fights every day for a better life for all working families, at work and at home in our communities. SBC pathetic attempt of a knockout punch in round twelve of a ten round fight is indicative of their desire to become the Wal-Mart of the Telecommunications Industry. In spite of all the legal mumbo-jumbo and explanation of the law, this fight is not about lawsuits or who makes the next legal move, this fight is about the lives of our laid off brothers and sisters and their families and their right to a decent job - a union job. Many still have not found work and are truly hurting and SBC could care less, as they continue using outside contractors to perform jobs right here in our jurisdiction. We must never forget that an injury to one is an injury to all.
Our union is not taking SBC’s lawsuit or their continued delays lightly. We are immediately countersuing SBC asking simply that the judge issue an order to the company to comply with Arbitrators award.
SBC is attempting to manipulate the law, the courts, the integrity of the arbitration procedure and even the collective bargaining agreement, but most important, SBC is injuring our brothers and sisters waiting for recall. In suits to enforce arbitration awards, the law says that the courts should not accept even serious error of fact or contract interpretation as grounds for vacating an award. As long as the arbitrator is even arguably acting within the scope of the contractual authority, the award should be enforced.
As involved members of IBEW Local 21, we ask that each and every member raise this issue daily with each and every SBC manager, and let’s ride them each and every day until they are sick and tired of hearing about it and until we have justice in this dispute. Because when there is no justice – there must be no peace.
Two Minnesota Electrical Coops to Receive $170 Million Loans
Two co-ops receive electric loans from USDA
Last Updated: 09-28-2004 09:42:08 AM
(AP) - Two electric cooperatives serving rural communities in Minnesota will receive almost 170 (m) million dollars in loans from the USDA's utilities program.
Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Meeker Cooperative Light and Power Association in Litchfield will receive part of more than 405 (m) million dollars in total funding to expand rural electric services for 16 projects nationwide.
Dairyland Power serves Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties in southastern Minnesota, along with counties in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. A 167-(m)-million-dollar loan will allow Dairyland to finance system improvements and environmental control projects.
Meeker Cooperative Light and Power serves Wright, Stearns, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker and Renville counties. A two-(m)-million-dollar loan will help the co-op finance additions to its new headquarters.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
IBEW Local 1245 (Walnut Creek CA) Line Workers Face Additional Hazards in Florida
Hayward crew off to Florida
PG&E sends teams to restore electric service
in hurricane-ravaged state
By Michelle Meyers
STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, September 28, 2004 - HAYWARD -- They've dealt with firestorms in San Diego and windstorms in Anaheim.
But the Hayward-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co. construction crew en route to help out in Florida said it might have a couple of new deadly forces with which to contend.
"Crocodiles and hepatitis," said Mike Agnew, referring to the possible spread of disease due to spilled sewage in the wake of Hurricane Jeanne.
Agnew, a Castro Valley resident, belongs to one of two East Bay PG&E crews traveling to Florida to help restore power to the thousands of residents left in the dark because of damage from four recent hurricanes, said spokesman Brian Swanson. The other Florida-bound crew is based in Antioch.
Agnew and his crew mates, foreman Todd Walker of San Ramon, Greg Foster of Oakley and Micah Williams of Sacramento, were busy Monday morning cleaning and packing up their line and bucket trucks, which were to be shipped on trailers to Florida.
They were scheduled to meet up later in Davis with the other 23 PG&E crews from Northern and Central California also going to Florida. All 130 workers were expected to fly out of Sacramento this morning.
Walker anticipates his crew will start out in Florida with a 36-hour shift, and then continue with 16 hours on and eight hours off for at least one month, he said. "They've had to pretty much start from scratch," he said.
Despite some dread about humidity and mosquitoes, the crew seemed excited to get going. "You know you're going to help people, so that's kind of neat," Walker said.
PG&E is one of the few utilities in the country that still has its own "general construction" division, Walker said. General construction crews, which maintain infrastructure for electric systems, are considered mobile units, so they are used to traveling where they are needed, he said.
The crews are also unique in their "turn-key" training on everything from transmission to distribution, Walker added. "You can see (us) working on everything from steel towers to underground boxes," he said.
PG&E is responding to a request by a storm-battered Florida utility, according to a company statement. The crews will be rebuilding distribution and transmission lines by replacing poles and hanging new wire, the statement said.
Michelle Meyers covers Hayward, Cherryland and Fairview. Call her at (510) 293-2463 or e-mail mmeyers@angnewspapers.com .
IBEW Local 1505 (Waltham MA) Reaches 3 year tentative agreement with IDS
Press Release Source: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
Raytheon and Massachusetts Union Agree on New Contract
Saturday October 2, 11:47 am ET
TEWKSBURY, Mass., Oct. 2, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems has been informed by the leadership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1505 that a tentative agreement for a new three year labor contract reached late Thursday night, has been ratified by a vote of the membership today.
The company is pleased with the negotiations process, the ratification and the new contract. The new agreement contains improvements in wages and benefits, and the parties reached agreement on a number of key issues which help keep Raytheon competitive.
Based in Tewksbury, Mass., Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in mission systems integration. With a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. armed forces and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Integrated Defense Systems provides integrated solutions for the air, surface and subsurface battlespace.
Raytheon Company, with 2003 sales of $18.1 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs more than 78,000 people worldwide.
Contact
Steve Brecken
978.394.3315
Source: Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems
IBEW Local 97 (Syracuse NY) plans vote but management makes no offer
Niagara Mohawk workers to strike?
Updated: 10/2/2004 7:23 AM
By: News 10 Now Staff
The Union representing Niagara Mohawk workers says they could strike as early as October 16th if their demands aren't met.
Union leaders for Local 97 say Nimo walked away from the bargaining table Thursday without a resolution and will not be back until Sunday with their new considerations.
A union vote is set up for next week, but until a proposal is made there is nothing to vote on.
The union represents 2,000 employees that work in billing, service, and emergency.
The Union President says line work will be affected by these negotiations.
WATCH THE VIDEO
More Information
Niagara Mohawk workers to strike?
The Union representing Niagara Mohawk workers says they could strike as early as October 16th if their demands aren't met.
"It is a very serious problem they are an extremely stock rich company, doing very well. In pension medical retiring benefits and job security are all open issues at the table. If these issues can not be resolved then on the 16th of October there would be nothing else for us to do but call for a strike," said David Falletta, president of IBEW, Local Union 97.
Falletta says if Nimo comes back Sunday ready to bargain seriously, the union will be ready to bargain with them.
Niagara Mohawk could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
IBEW Local 18 (Los Angeles CA) Workers' pay passes some management, supervision calls a sickout, but no one notices!
NBC 4
DWP Managers Turn To Sickout For Pay Raises
Line Workers' Salaries Pass Those Of Some Supervisors
POSTED: 1:03 PM PDT October 1, 2004
LOS ANGELES -- Some Los Angeles Department of Water and Power superintendents trying to get pay raises called in sick Friday, leaving 11 of the municipal utility's service yards without managers.
A new contract giving 5 percent raises to the superintendents' subordinates -- members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 -- went into effect Friday, pushing some line workers' salaries higher than their supervisors', said C. Edward Miller, DWP's director of power system operations and maintenance.
"We've been in discussions for quite some time to resolve this issue, and it will eventually be resolved," Miller said. He added, though, that the sickout had only a ripple of an effect on overall operations. "Fridays and Saturdays are always a light day, so there was no impact on providing service."
An official with IBEW Local 18 -- which represents about 98 percent of DWP employees -- agreed, saying the superintendents were hardly missed.
"It took about an hour to square it away," said business manager Brian D'Arcy. "We jokingly say they need to leave a note to say they're gone."
Copyright 2004 by NBC4.tv. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
IBEW Local 1547 (Fairbanks AK) wins arbitration for health care and leave for Fairbanks City employees
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
City ordered to pay contracts
By TOM MORAN
Staff Writer
Saturday, October 02, 2004 - An arbitrator has ordered Fairbanks city officials to pay for portions of a city contract they elected not to fund in the 2004 city budget.
In a Sept. 10 decision, arbitrator Robert Landau ruled in favor of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547--which represents white-collar city employees--in three different grievances, mostly stemming from the council's decision to balance this year's budget by not fully funding leave and health care provisions in employee contracts. Landau ruled that the council violated the IBEW contract by not fully funding it.
"They can't agree to fund it and then go back and say 'No, we're not going to fund it now,'" said IBEW Assistant Business Manager John Giuchici.
Mayor Steve Thompson said city council members have discussed the ruling and are awaiting more information on the potential financial impact of restoring the funding. He said he didn't know whether the arbitrator's finding would make them more likely to consider it.
"That's going to depend on what the council's going to think about the hard numbers we have to look at," he said.
Giuchici said if the city refuses to fund the contracts it will mean a lawsuit from the union, which represents about 30 city workers.
"The contract says that we've agreed that if we cannot resolve issues, then we go to binding arbitration," he said. "And If they refuse to abide by it, we will be going to court."
The council's budget vote came after Thompson proposed making up for a city deficit of around $1.5 million partly by capping city contributions to employee health plans at $750 a year, and by eliminating "longevity" or "bonus" leave, which is time awarded to employees on top of their leave time that grows with their length of service. The proposal drew vehement objections from the unions, and the council voted in December to fund the contracts for the first three months of 2004 to search for other ways to cut spending. None were forthcoming.
Three of the four city unions have since taken action over the decision. The local chapter of the Public Safety Employees Association, which represents the police department, filed a pair of unfair labor practices complaints and is continuing to pursue a lawsuit filed late last year that charges the city with breaking their contract through a separate decision made last August. While the suit doesn't directly deal with the 2004 budget cuts, PSEA executive director and general counsel Jim Gasper said he believes a ruling in the union's favor on that issue would bear on the other matters as well.
"Based on the principles of law that are considered in this suit, we'll be able to extrapolate a result from that," he said.
The Fairbanks Fire Fighters Association filed an unfair labor practice complaint as well as several grievances--over the health care, leave time, and the city's decision not to fund firefighter clothing or training allowances. Those were dropped after the union was informed the city wouldn't pay for them even if an arbitrator ruled in the union's favor, according to FFFA business agent Steve Sundborg. The FFFA now plans to bring up the same matters in a lawsuit.
Most of what would be settled in a lawsuit is the question of whether the council is legally entitled to not fund parts of a negotiated contract. Previous court decisions have indicated that such a move is allowed, but Sundborg said the FFFA is seeking a concrete indication of how far the city can go.
"We wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get all the money the city owed us out of this lawsuit," he said. "But even if we don't get funded all the way, we would like the courts to draw a line in the sand as to the effect nonfunding has had."
The IBEW arbitrator ruled that the city should fund health care for the union at $888 a month this year, restore the leave time, and also give the employees retroactive payments and leave time to make up for their losses.
Thompson has estimated that completely restoring all of the cuts to the IBEW and other contracts would cost the city about $660,000 a year. But with the city's annual payments on its huge debt to the state retirement system rising at more than $300,000 a year, he said he doesn't know whether the city can afford to reverse the cut--even with what is expected to be a $1 million city surplus this year due to a big construction season.
"This is what we have to look at," Thompson said. "We might be able to come up with a fix for one year, but the council is going to be having to look at the long-range effects."
Reporter Tom Moran can be reached at tmoran@newsminer.com or 459-7590.
Ameren Corp. Buys Illinois Power from Dynegy, claims only 25 employees will lose jobs
Ameren Explains IP Plans
Posted October 1, 2004 11:59am
Illinois Power Company is now officially under new ownership.
Ameren Corporation completed its purchase of the utility from Dynegy Incorporated.
Now IP will be doing business as AmerenIP. Under terms of the sale, its headquarters will remain in Decatur for at least five years and IP's workforce reduction will not exceed 25 employees during the next four year, unless they are voluntary.
Ameren bought the utility for $2.3 billion dollars.
The company announced its intent to purchase IP in February and just received approval from all the required agencies.
Ameren says it will commit more than $275 million in energy infrastructure in its first two years of ownership.
The company says it will increase total contributions to charitable and social service organizations in the IP service territory to one and a half million dollars.
With this acquisition, Ameren will now serve nearly 2-million electric and natural gas customers in Illinois.
IBEW Local 51 (Springfield IL) Rejects Mandatory overtime and a Cut in Health Benefits, But Pledges to Continue to Negotiate
Posted on Fri, Oct. 01, 2004
Union rejects AmerenCILCO contract offer
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ill. - AmerenCILCO electrical union workers rejected a company contract proposal but have pledged to negotiate again, officials said.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 51 voted 229-55 to reject the proposal from St. Louis-based Ameren Corp. - the parent company of AmerenCILCO.
The 330 affected union workers in Peoria, Lincoln, Springfield and Tuscola will continue working without a contract, which expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Local 51 business representative Matt Moore said.
The two sides are scheduled to meet Oct. 6, Moore said, though an Ameren spokesman said no date had been set.
Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said Ameren is willing to meet again with the union but would not say if the company will make any more offers.
"We will just have to wait to see what happens at the meeting," he said.
The union also rejected an Ameren contract in July.
"It's still about the health insurance costs and mandatory overtime, basically," Moore said.
Local 51 wants Ameren to drop demands that the company be allowed to mandate overtime for hourly employees. Ameren has also asked workers to pay too much for health insurance premiums, Moore said.
IBEW Local 97 (Syracuse NY) Rallies to Support Niagra-Mohawk Power Employees
NiMo workers plan rally to bolster talks
Electrical union in first negotiations with new owner National Grid
By SARA CLEMENCE
, Business writer
First published: Friday, October 1, 2004
With tough contract talks between Niagara Mohawk and labor negotiators going into their seventh week, the union representing thousands of NiMo workers will hold a rally in Syracuse on Saturday.
After a brief breakdown in discussions last week, bargainers are back at the table, haggling over issues such as pensions, retiree benefits, outside contractors and -- in particular -- health care. But both sides have said they are prepared to handle a strike.
"Our people are always hopeful," said Kirk Campbell, business representative Electrical Workers. "We've never had a strike on this company's property. But we never worked for National Grid before."
This is the first contract renegotiation since the British firm National Grid Transco plc bought the Syracuse-based utility in 2001.
"Niagara Mohawk's goal is to reach a contract with the union that continues to provide competitive, desirable wages and benefits, and brings the union's benefits in line with their co-workers," said Al Bianchetti, NiMo spokesman, reading a prepared statement. "We continue to negotiate, but as a prudently run business we're prepared for all possible outcomes."
The union's 4,000 NiMo members make up three-quarters of the company's New York work force. That includes about 1,100 in the eastern part of the state, reaching from Gloversville in the west to the Massachusetts border in the east, north to Indian Lake and south to Hudson.
The two sides have been negotiating since Aug. 26, according to the union's Web site. The three-year contract was set to expire Thursday, but was extended until Oct. 16.
The last rally, held in 1996, drew more than 3,000 workers, a union representative said.
"I believe it is imperative to demonstrate to Niagara Mohawk that our members stand united in our cause," David Falletta, president of Local Union 97, said in a written statement.
Sara Clemence can be reached at 454-5476 or by e-mail at sclemence@timesunion.com.
**
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