Union Chief at Northwest Picket Line
The national director of the mechanics' union at Northwest Airlines has tried to rally his striking troops, amid signs of discontent among pickets and with no end in sight to a 10-day walkout.
The unannounced visit here on Monday by O.V. Delle-Femine, who heads the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, was part of a morale-boosting trip he is making to airports across the country this week. He insisted that workers' spirits remained high, even though no talks with the airline have been held since the walkout began on Aug. 20. "The guys are here for the long haul," Delle- Femine said, a picket sign in his hand.
About 4,430 mechanics and other employees represented by the union struck Northwest over the airline's demand for $176 million in wage and benefit cuts and the elimination of 2,000 jobs.
Northwest, which is based in Eagan, Minnesota, is operating with 1,900 substitutes, including temporary replacement workers, supervisors and contractors. Other airline employees, including pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers, are not honoring the picket lines.
Although the 40-year-old union prides itself on encouraging input from its members, its leaders decided not to take Northwest's last offer to members for a vote. Delle-Femine has defended that decision, pointing out that workers voted 93 percent in favor of a strike in July and calling the airline's final offer "unworthy."
But workers on the picket lines are not receiving strike pay, and their health care coverage from the airline runs out on Thursday. Some are looking for new jobs, unable to get by without a paycheck.
AMFA, which is not a member of the AFL-CIO labor federation, is feeling hostility from other unions. In Detroit on Saturday, the mechanics' union had to find a new location for a fund-raising dinner after a local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers withdrew its invitation to let the union use its hall.
AMFA officials contended that the AFL-CIO and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had pressured the electricians' union into rescinding the invitation. The mechanics voted in 1998 to leave the machinists' union and join AMFA instead. But officials at the electricians' union, the AFL-CIO and the machinists' union said on Monday that they were not aware of any dispute.
Delle-Femine said he was not letting the lack of support from other unions bother him. "That's normal," he said. "They're going to see that we're strong, and we're going to hang in there."
Although no talks are scheduled with the mechanics, Northwest was set to resume discussions Tuesday with the Professional Flight Attendants Association. It is also holding negotiations with the machinists' union, which includes baggage handlers, customer service agents, reservations clerks and some ground crew workers. The National Mediation Board is overseeing both sets of talks.
Northwest is seeking a total of $1.1 billion in cuts from its unions, saying it could be forced to seek bankruptcy-court protection without them.
Story from REDNOVA NEWS:
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=225971
Published: 2005/08/31 12:00:51 CDT
© Rednova 2004
Saturday, September 03, 2005
IBEW Local 180 (Vallejo CA) Teams Up With Business and NGOs to form
| Article Last Updated: 9/01/2005 06:37 AM |
| Council hopefuls discuss the issues |
| By CHRIS G. DENINA, Times-Herald staff writer Vallejo Times Herald |
| Vallejo's new batch of council hopefuls agree the city needs to lure more businesses here to boost city revenues and pay for public services. But where they stand on how to accomplish that is another matter. In the first major forum of the election season, all 11 Vallejo City Council candidates answered questions from the Business/Labor Partnership of Vallejo. The candidates are vying for three open seats in the Nov. 8 election. Hundreds attended the event at California Maritime Academy, and listened for two hours as the political hopefuls tackled issues including public safety, parks and recreation and the city's budget crisis. The candidates are seeking to replace Councilmembers Joanne Shivley, Pamela Pitts and Tom Bartee. Schivley and Pitts are termed out while Bartee is running for re-election. The city's economy was at the heart of the discussion. "We have to generate new income throughout the city," said former Councilmember Ray Martin. More money should help the city minimize cuts to city services, Martin said. The city needs to bring businesses that will benefit residents, said Bartee, the incumbent finishing the late Pete Rey's term. "We need to get businesses with good paying jobs," Bartee said. Bring new development, but not just any development, said Stephanie Gomes, a communications specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. She is proposing an alternative to developer Callahan De Silva's waterfront plan. "We cannot settle for mediocrity now," Gomes said, calling the Callahan plan "suburban sprawl." Vicki Gray, a local activist fighting a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Vallejo, said the same goes for supercenters. "We have to take more pride in who we are and what we are in Vallejo and don't settle for anything that comes down the pike," Gray said. The city needs to focus on marketing Mare Island to the biotech and health care sectors, said Richard Hassel, vice president of administration at Touro University, which is a tenant on the former naval shipyard. "We need to use our assets and get off our assets," Hassel said. Economic development should focus on services the city doesn't have now, Vallejo Planning Commissioner Hermie Sunga said. "The first thing I want to see is a bookstore in Vallejo," Sunga said. The city should strive to attract larger stores, John Estes, a former business agent for a labor union. "We need to look at department stores," Estes said. "We need to keep those sales taxes here. But focusing on luring American businesses is limiting, said Vallejo City Unified School District board member Rozzana Verder-Aliga. "We need to think of the global economy," Verder-Aliga said. "There's so much potential for Vallejo." People wanting to open shop here may have trouble getting a permit, said Hal Boex, a developer, investor and contractor. "The biggest problem we have is City Hall is closed half the day for a siesta," Boex said, adding that he wants service hours expanded. The current system is inconvenient for applicants who sometimes must go to different offices at City Hall, said Vallejo Planning Commissioner Linda Engelman. "We need to streamline the process for permitting," Engelman said. "We need to be more business friendly." To accomplish that, the city needs more resources, said Vallejo Community Development Commissioner Darrell Edwards. "I think we need more people in our economic development department," Edwards said. The Business/Labor Partnership of Vallejo includes the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce, International Association of Fire Fighters No. 1186, Solano Association of Realtors, Vallejo Police Officers Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 180. The partnership also is made up of the National Electrical Contractors Association, Vallejo Business Alliance, Vallejo Education Association, Service Employees international Union, Napa/Solano Building Trades and Central Labor Council. - E-mail Chris G. Denina at cdenina@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6835. |
IBEW LOcal 21 (Downers Grove IL) Member Dennis McCafferty Gives Letter to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) Requesting Aid for Comcast Workers
Governor gets earful about BMV
Friday, Sept. 2, 2005
By Diane Krieger Spivak / Post-Tribune staff writer
CHESTERTON — Eggs and coffee weren’t the only things on the lips of customers at Northside Diner on Thursday morning.
The closing of the Chesterton Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch, unions and Hurricane Katrina were on the menu when Gov. Mitch Daniels dropped in, sleeves rolled up, to press the flesh and eat breakfast with locals.
As he made his way from table to table, Daniels listened to concerns and more than once defended the closing of BMV branches throughout the state, including Chesterton’s, saying the closings were necessary to cut waste and make the bureau more efficient.
Indiana, behind only California and Texas in the number of BMV branches, wants more people to use the Internet and U.S. mail to conduct BMV business.
“There are still a lot of people who are never going to have access to computers,” Westchester Township Assessor Candy Crone, a Republican, told the GOP governor.
Her husband, former Chesterton Town Council member Bob Crone, told Daniels of one person who had to wait 31Ú2 hours at the Valparaiso branch.
Duneland school bus driver Karen Mitchell said she can’t conduct BMV business on the Internet because bus drivers must take several tests in person at a bureau.
“I don’t want to go 20 miles away to get to one,” she said.
Daniels said BMV improvements, including a major computer system upgrade would take time, but that changes including longer periods between renewals than were previously required should help in the long run.
Daniels said Burns Harbor could be directly affected by the hurricane since Louisiana’s port can’t operate, due to the hurricane.
“That could lead to more traffic in Burns Harbor,” Daniels said.
Indiana is sending assistance to the hurricane disaster area, concentrating in Mississippi, Daniels said.
Jerome Davidson, president of the Northwest Indiana Federation of Labor, and Dennis McCafferty, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21, gave Daniels a letter addressed to him and the governors of Illinois and Pennsylvania. The letter was asking for help toward Comcast cable workers’ struggle to form a labor union.
Daniels said he was comfortable with Indiana’s labor laws.
“If you can organize a labor union, more power to you,” he said.
Davidson also passed along his concerns about education funding, noting that his wife, a teacher with 30 students has no classroom aide.
“You’d be amazed how little of it (funding) gets to a classroom,” Daniels said. “Next year we’re getting more dollars into the classroom.”
Indiana is 48th of all states in the nation in percentage of money spent on teachers, he said.
“The dollars are getting swallowed up in something,” Daniels said.
Diane Krieger Spivak can be reached at 477-6019 or dspivak@post-trib.com.
Friday, Sept. 2, 2005
By Diane Krieger Spivak / Post-Tribune staff writer
CHESTERTON — Eggs and coffee weren’t the only things on the lips of customers at Northside Diner on Thursday morning.
The closing of the Chesterton Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch, unions and Hurricane Katrina were on the menu when Gov. Mitch Daniels dropped in, sleeves rolled up, to press the flesh and eat breakfast with locals.
As he made his way from table to table, Daniels listened to concerns and more than once defended the closing of BMV branches throughout the state, including Chesterton’s, saying the closings were necessary to cut waste and make the bureau more efficient.
Indiana, behind only California and Texas in the number of BMV branches, wants more people to use the Internet and U.S. mail to conduct BMV business.
“There are still a lot of people who are never going to have access to computers,” Westchester Township Assessor Candy Crone, a Republican, told the GOP governor.
Her husband, former Chesterton Town Council member Bob Crone, told Daniels of one person who had to wait 31Ú2 hours at the Valparaiso branch.
Duneland school bus driver Karen Mitchell said she can’t conduct BMV business on the Internet because bus drivers must take several tests in person at a bureau.
“I don’t want to go 20 miles away to get to one,” she said.
Daniels said BMV improvements, including a major computer system upgrade would take time, but that changes including longer periods between renewals than were previously required should help in the long run.
Daniels said Burns Harbor could be directly affected by the hurricane since Louisiana’s port can’t operate, due to the hurricane.
“That could lead to more traffic in Burns Harbor,” Daniels said.
Indiana is sending assistance to the hurricane disaster area, concentrating in Mississippi, Daniels said.
Jerome Davidson, president of the Northwest Indiana Federation of Labor, and Dennis McCafferty, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21, gave Daniels a letter addressed to him and the governors of Illinois and Pennsylvania. The letter was asking for help toward Comcast cable workers’ struggle to form a labor union.
Daniels said he was comfortable with Indiana’s labor laws.
“If you can organize a labor union, more power to you,” he said.
Davidson also passed along his concerns about education funding, noting that his wife, a teacher with 30 students has no classroom aide.
“You’d be amazed how little of it (funding) gets to a classroom,” Daniels said. “Next year we’re getting more dollars into the classroom.”
Indiana is 48th of all states in the nation in percentage of money spent on teachers, he said.
“The dollars are getting swallowed up in something,” Daniels said.
Diane Krieger Spivak can be reached at 477-6019 or dspivak@post-trib.com.
IBEW Local 124 (Kansas City MO) President and KC United Way Campaign Co-Chair Rudy Chavez Speaks Out on Gulf States Disaster
Posted on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005
United Way: Don’t forget local needs
By DEBRA SKODACK
The Kansas City Star
United Way officials said Wednesday that they were hopeful that the devastation from Hurricane Katrina and skyrocketing gasoline prices would not deter people from giving to their community.
In fact, a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina gives donors an excellent example of why it is important to “focus on people who need help,” said Bill Zollars, who is co-chairman of the 2005 Kansas City area United Way campaign.
Zollars was among the United Way leaders who met with The Kansas City Star editorial board to discuss the nonprofit organization’s upcoming campaign, which begins Thursday.
Zollars, chief executive of Yellow Roadway Corp., said this year’s United Way campaign will include some innovations, such as an Oct. 8 race at Kansas Speedway. Yellow Transportation and Sprint Corp. are sponsoring the track’s annual NASCAR Busch Series race on behalf of the Alliance of Greater Kansas City United Ways.
The race, the United Way 300, will be nationally televised and is expected to draw a sold-out crowd of 100,000 people. United Way officials hope the race will generate more excitement and visibility for the campaign, stimulating giving.
Rudy Chavez, also a campaign co-chairman, said it was important to understand that United Way programs reach almost everyone.
“It is closer to home than we think,” said Chavez, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124.
Trudie Hall, past chairwoman of the regional board of trustees of the alliance, said she thinks most people understand the importance of supporting the charity. She said United Way provides services for the entire community, “not just for poor people.”
“Would you shut down Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts because gas is $3.09?” Hall asked.
To reach Debra Skodack, call (816) 234-4738 or send e-mail to dskodack@kcstar.com .
© 2005 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansascity.com
United Way: Don’t forget local needs
By DEBRA SKODACK
The Kansas City Star
United Way officials said Wednesday that they were hopeful that the devastation from Hurricane Katrina and skyrocketing gasoline prices would not deter people from giving to their community.
In fact, a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina gives donors an excellent example of why it is important to “focus on people who need help,” said Bill Zollars, who is co-chairman of the 2005 Kansas City area United Way campaign.
Zollars was among the United Way leaders who met with The Kansas City Star editorial board to discuss the nonprofit organization’s upcoming campaign, which begins Thursday.
Zollars, chief executive of Yellow Roadway Corp., said this year’s United Way campaign will include some innovations, such as an Oct. 8 race at Kansas Speedway. Yellow Transportation and Sprint Corp. are sponsoring the track’s annual NASCAR Busch Series race on behalf of the Alliance of Greater Kansas City United Ways.
The race, the United Way 300, will be nationally televised and is expected to draw a sold-out crowd of 100,000 people. United Way officials hope the race will generate more excitement and visibility for the campaign, stimulating giving.
Rudy Chavez, also a campaign co-chairman, said it was important to understand that United Way programs reach almost everyone.
“It is closer to home than we think,” said Chavez, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124.
Trudie Hall, past chairwoman of the regional board of trustees of the alliance, said she thinks most people understand the importance of supporting the charity. She said United Way provides services for the entire community, “not just for poor people.”
“Would you shut down Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts because gas is $3.09?” Hall asked.
To reach Debra Skodack, call (816) 234-4738 or send e-mail to dskodack@kcstar.com .
© 2005 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.kansascity.com
RIP Local 43 (Syracuse NY) Member, IVP-3 and former International President, Brother JJ "Jack Barry"
from washingtonpost.com
J.J. 'Jack' Barry; President [Emeritus] Of Electrical Workers Union
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; B05
J.J. "Jack" Barry, 81, who served as president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of the largest trade unions in North America, died Aug. 28 at his home in Chevy Chase. He had pulmonary fibrosis.
Mr. Barry succeeded Charles H. Pillard, who had weathered a transition to automation among many of the industries in which IBEW represents workers, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications and broadcasting.
Between 1986 and 2001, Mr. Barry was president of IBEW, a tenure marked by the deregulation of the electric utility industry. The construction branch, however, saw a rise in membership.
Membership had peaked in the 1970s at about 1 million and has been steady at about 750,000 for the past several years.
Mr. Barry was a former vice president and executive council member of the AFL-CIO, and he served under President Bill Clinton on the Competitiveness Policy Council and the President's Export Council. The councils gave him great say in legislation affecting workers' rights and the opening of foreign markets to goods produced by IBEW members.
John Joseph Barry was born in Syracuse, N.Y., the son of an electrician. After Navy service in the Pacific during World War II, he returned to his home town and became a union apprentice.
He worked for several contractors in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and rose within the union. In 1976, he became international vice president of the IBEW district that covers New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. From that post, he succeeded Pillard.
His marriage to Helen Dowling Barry ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Kitty Barry of Chevy Chase; four children from his first marriage, retired Navy Capt. John M. Barry of Annandale and Marie Murphy, Eileen Russell and Vincent Barry, all of Syracuse; a brother; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
J.J. 'Jack' Barry; President [Emeritus] Of Electrical Workers Union
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; B05
J.J. "Jack" Barry, 81, who served as president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of the largest trade unions in North America, died Aug. 28 at his home in Chevy Chase. He had pulmonary fibrosis.
Mr. Barry succeeded Charles H. Pillard, who had weathered a transition to automation among many of the industries in which IBEW represents workers, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications and broadcasting.
Between 1986 and 2001, Mr. Barry was president of IBEW, a tenure marked by the deregulation of the electric utility industry. The construction branch, however, saw a rise in membership.
Membership had peaked in the 1970s at about 1 million and has been steady at about 750,000 for the past several years.
Mr. Barry was a former vice president and executive council member of the AFL-CIO, and he served under President Bill Clinton on the Competitiveness Policy Council and the President's Export Council. The councils gave him great say in legislation affecting workers' rights and the opening of foreign markets to goods produced by IBEW members.
John Joseph Barry was born in Syracuse, N.Y., the son of an electrician. After Navy service in the Pacific during World War II, he returned to his home town and became a union apprentice.
He worked for several contractors in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and rose within the union. In 1976, he became international vice president of the IBEW district that covers New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. From that post, he succeeded Pillard.
His marriage to Helen Dowling Barry ended in divorce.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Kitty Barry of Chevy Chase; four children from his first marriage, retired Navy Capt. John M. Barry of Annandale and Marie Murphy, Eileen Russell and Vincent Barry, all of Syracuse; a brother; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
RIP Las Vegas Brother Scott McConnell
Scott McConnell
Visitation was held Thursday for Scott Anthony McConnell, 31, who passed away Aug. 29 in Las Vegas.
He was born April 17, 1974 in Fallon and lived in Southern Nevada for 25 years.
He grew up in Pahrump and graduated from Pahrump Valley High School. He served in the U.S. Marines and worked as an electrician for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
His mother and stepfather, Patricia and John Sena of North Las Vegas; father and stepmother Ken and Julie McConnell of Tuscon, Ariz.; daughter Tori McConnell of Pahrump; son Myles McConnell of North Carolina; sister Brandi McConnell (Pete Ligeros) of Las Vegas; brothers Steve McConnell of Carlin and Kyle McConnell of Tuscon; maternal grandparents I. V. and Alemeda Meeks of Fallon; aunt and uncle Linda and Jim Loepky of Fallon; uncle and aunt Larry and Sherry Meeks of Fallon; uncle Jack Sena of Trinidad, Colo.; paternal grandmother Glenmar McConnell of Hawthorne; uncle and aunt Tom and Delores McConnell of Ridgecrest, Calif.; aunt and uncle Bonnie and Reo DeMars of Hawthorne; and uncle and aunt Mike and Suzy McConnell of Hawthorne survive him.
An open house in remembrance of Scott's life will be held from 1-5 p.m. Sept. 10 at 5029 Ridge Vista Way in Las Vegas. Call Leo Verzilli at 727-4901 or Sara Hopkins at 910-9718 for precise directions to the home.
Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne handled the arrangements. (8/29/05)
Visitation was held Thursday for Scott Anthony McConnell, 31, who passed away Aug. 29 in Las Vegas.
He was born April 17, 1974 in Fallon and lived in Southern Nevada for 25 years.
He grew up in Pahrump and graduated from Pahrump Valley High School. He served in the U.S. Marines and worked as an electrician for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
His mother and stepfather, Patricia and John Sena of North Las Vegas; father and stepmother Ken and Julie McConnell of Tuscon, Ariz.; daughter Tori McConnell of Pahrump; son Myles McConnell of North Carolina; sister Brandi McConnell (Pete Ligeros) of Las Vegas; brothers Steve McConnell of Carlin and Kyle McConnell of Tuscon; maternal grandparents I. V. and Alemeda Meeks of Fallon; aunt and uncle Linda and Jim Loepky of Fallon; uncle and aunt Larry and Sherry Meeks of Fallon; uncle Jack Sena of Trinidad, Colo.; paternal grandmother Glenmar McConnell of Hawthorne; uncle and aunt Tom and Delores McConnell of Ridgecrest, Calif.; aunt and uncle Bonnie and Reo DeMars of Hawthorne; and uncle and aunt Mike and Suzy McConnell of Hawthorne survive him.
An open house in remembrance of Scott's life will be held from 1-5 p.m. Sept. 10 at 5029 Ridge Vista Way in Las Vegas. Call Leo Verzilli at 727-4901 or Sara Hopkins at 910-9718 for precise directions to the home.
Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne handled the arrangements. (8/29/05)
IBEW Local 1426 (Grand Forks ND) Appoints Tim Hughes to VP/E-Board Membership
Hughes appointed IBEW (Local 1426) vice president
Tim Hughes, Grand Forks, has been appointed vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1426.
Hughes was appointed by the local's executive board to replace Scott Sansburn, who resigned.
Local 1426, with offices in Fargo and Grand Forks, has 900 members in eastern North Dakota and the 16 northwestern counties of Minnesota, doing inside construction, outside construction and utility work.
Hughes, a journeyman electrician and employee of Apollo Electric in Grand Forks, has belonged to Local 1426 since 1992.
As vice president, he will serve as a member of the Local 1426 Executive Board, the unit's official governing body.
Tim Hughes, Grand Forks, has been appointed vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1426.
Hughes was appointed by the local's executive board to replace Scott Sansburn, who resigned.
Local 1426, with offices in Fargo and Grand Forks, has 900 members in eastern North Dakota and the 16 northwestern counties of Minnesota, doing inside construction, outside construction and utility work.
Hughes, a journeyman electrician and employee of Apollo Electric in Grand Forks, has belonged to Local 1426 since 1992.
As vice president, he will serve as a member of the Local 1426 Executive Board, the unit's official governing body.
IBEW Local 266 (Phoenix AZ) Member Tom Rees Speaks Out: IBEW is a "Good Steward"
Unions facing choice: Contract or infighting
Judd Slivka Special for The Republic (AZ)
Special for The Republic
Sept. 3, 2005 12:00 AM
It came down to the wire; the last six hours.
All the talking paid off. Management compromised with labor, and a strike was averted last week at one of Sara Lee's Phoenix-area bakeries.
Mark that one up as a victory for both sides. It's been a tough summer for organized labor. Two of the largest unions split with the AFL-CIO, and folks on both sides are still taking potshots at one another. Closer to home, a mine workers' strike against Asarco Inc. in Kearny and Winkelman has had little effect on the mining giant.
Closer to the Valley, America West's unionized aircraft maintenance workers are wondering if the airline will ever get closer to the union on changing a contract that's been open for two years.
But if you talk to the union guys, things are pretty good. They say the union is still the word and the shield of the worker, even in a right-to-work state where organized labor is a relatively minor player.
"We provide the labor, the technical skills that make a company profitable," said Greg Bell, the business agent for the Bakers' Union Local 232 in Phoenix. "Someone way up there, more often than not, is making a lot of money. We're here to make sure the guy slaving away in a bakery gets a living wage."
That's the ideal, anyway. This summer has shown organized labor as fractured. The three largest unions - the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers - broke away from the AFL-CIO over a difference in tactics. As organized labor has lost political power over the past decade - signified by fewer Democrats in Congress - the AFL-CIO's political spending practices have come under fire.
To the guy on the street, it doesn't mean much. Except that one day the guy on the street may need his union, and a fractured union doesn't offer as much representation as a united one.
"Our life has not dramatically changed because of this," said David Hernandez, the director of industrial relations for the Valley's postal workers union. "Most workers, because we're focused on a 40-60 hour job, haven't had the time to look at it and analyze it."
Hernandez, of Phoenix, gets paid to examine the situation, and he likens it to a family feud.
"The strength of a democracy is in a diversity of opinion," he said. "We have to allow for that. Sometimes it gets so contentious that that someone has to leave the table.
"But, like a family, they always get back. We all have the same goal and there's more than one way to get there."
Tom Rees, of Apache Junction, is a substation electrician for the Salt River Project. Rees worked the mines in Morenci and was working there when Phelps-Dodge decertified the union in the 1980s. So he's been on both sides of that coin. When he came to work in Phoenix for a union crew - the SRP's electrical employees are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 266 - he liked what he saw.
"I've always believed that the union has to be a good steward, and all the members had to be good stewards of their jobs," Rees said. "I see that here.
"What I like the most is the relationship between the union and SRP. It's very amicable."
The two sides have worked hard to keep it that way - union members work side-by-side with non-union managers during volunteer work, for instance.
But the union contract is open again this November, and that's always a cause for a little nervousness.
Down at the worker's level, it doesn't really matter if the AFL-CIO is fighting with itself. What matters is that next contract.
"There's been ups and downs of unions," Rees said, "and I've seen 'em. I hope everybody can just work together and solve the issues."
Judd Slivka Special for The Republic (AZ)
Special for The Republic
Sept. 3, 2005 12:00 AM
It came down to the wire; the last six hours.
All the talking paid off. Management compromised with labor, and a strike was averted last week at one of Sara Lee's Phoenix-area bakeries.
Mark that one up as a victory for both sides. It's been a tough summer for organized labor. Two of the largest unions split with the AFL-CIO, and folks on both sides are still taking potshots at one another. Closer to home, a mine workers' strike against Asarco Inc. in Kearny and Winkelman has had little effect on the mining giant.
Closer to the Valley, America West's unionized aircraft maintenance workers are wondering if the airline will ever get closer to the union on changing a contract that's been open for two years.
But if you talk to the union guys, things are pretty good. They say the union is still the word and the shield of the worker, even in a right-to-work state where organized labor is a relatively minor player.
"We provide the labor, the technical skills that make a company profitable," said Greg Bell, the business agent for the Bakers' Union Local 232 in Phoenix. "Someone way up there, more often than not, is making a lot of money. We're here to make sure the guy slaving away in a bakery gets a living wage."
That's the ideal, anyway. This summer has shown organized labor as fractured. The three largest unions - the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers - broke away from the AFL-CIO over a difference in tactics. As organized labor has lost political power over the past decade - signified by fewer Democrats in Congress - the AFL-CIO's political spending practices have come under fire.
To the guy on the street, it doesn't mean much. Except that one day the guy on the street may need his union, and a fractured union doesn't offer as much representation as a united one.
"Our life has not dramatically changed because of this," said David Hernandez, the director of industrial relations for the Valley's postal workers union. "Most workers, because we're focused on a 40-60 hour job, haven't had the time to look at it and analyze it."
Hernandez, of Phoenix, gets paid to examine the situation, and he likens it to a family feud.
"The strength of a democracy is in a diversity of opinion," he said. "We have to allow for that. Sometimes it gets so contentious that that someone has to leave the table.
"But, like a family, they always get back. We all have the same goal and there's more than one way to get there."
Tom Rees, of Apache Junction, is a substation electrician for the Salt River Project. Rees worked the mines in Morenci and was working there when Phelps-Dodge decertified the union in the 1980s. So he's been on both sides of that coin. When he came to work in Phoenix for a union crew - the SRP's electrical employees are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 266 - he liked what he saw.
"I've always believed that the union has to be a good steward, and all the members had to be good stewards of their jobs," Rees said. "I see that here.
"What I like the most is the relationship between the union and SRP. It's very amicable."
The two sides have worked hard to keep it that way - union members work side-by-side with non-union managers during volunteer work, for instance.
But the union contract is open again this November, and that's always a cause for a little nervousness.
Down at the worker's level, it doesn't really matter if the AFL-CIO is fighting with itself. What matters is that next contract.
"There's been ups and downs of unions," Rees said, "and I've seen 'em. I hope everybody can just work together and solve the issues."
Sunday, August 28, 2005
IBEW Local 48 (Portland OR) Member Speaks Out About Conditions on "Jobs" in Iraq for KBR
Firsthand report
[published on Thu, Aug 25, 2005]
To the Editor:
The following was submitted to the July-August International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Journal by Daniel A. Poczynek of Local 48 of Portland, Ore.:
"KBR's desert wasteland:
"I just came home from 15 months building a new POW prison in southern Iraq for KBR [Halliburton], and I have never been treated this bad in my life. I worked 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, some 4,800 hours in one year.
"We couldn't order our own electrical material, so when it came in wrong, instead of sending it back, they would just dig a hole in the sand and throw it in. I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted at taxpayers' expense.
"When I got to Iraq, I stood with my hands in my pockets for well over a month. I ended up calling my wife to send my tool bag.
"I am glad they sent me home. I was tired of saying, 'I am sorry for KBR's games being played with the military and the taxpayers.' "
I believe that this letter has a lot to say about the conditions and deception in Iraq.
This is a firsthand account from a man who witnessed what most of us would not believe.
William Wiederkehr
Huntley
[published on Thu, Aug 25, 2005]
To the Editor:
The following was submitted to the July-August International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Journal by Daniel A. Poczynek of Local 48 of Portland, Ore.:
"KBR's desert wasteland:
"I just came home from 15 months building a new POW prison in southern Iraq for KBR [Halliburton], and I have never been treated this bad in my life. I worked 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, some 4,800 hours in one year.
"We couldn't order our own electrical material, so when it came in wrong, instead of sending it back, they would just dig a hole in the sand and throw it in. I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted at taxpayers' expense.
"When I got to Iraq, I stood with my hands in my pockets for well over a month. I ended up calling my wife to send my tool bag.
"I am glad they sent me home. I was tired of saying, 'I am sorry for KBR's games being played with the military and the taxpayers.' "
I believe that this letter has a lot to say about the conditions and deception in Iraq.
This is a firsthand account from a man who witnessed what most of us would not believe.
William Wiederkehr
Huntley
IBEW Local 339 (Thunder Bay ONT CAN) Faces Uncertainty With New Telus-TBay Tel "Partnership"
TBayTel, Telus sign letter of intent
By Jim Kelly - The Chronicle-Journal August 24, 2005
Now, it’s official.
The second largest telecommunications company in Canada could soon be involved in a partnership with TBay Tel.
The first step toward that alliance took place at a news conference Tuesday when the TBayTel municipal services board of directors announced it had entered into a letter of intent with Telus Communications.
It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering news.
The potential deal was reported last Thursday in The Chronicle-Journal in a story which stated the signing of the letter of intent was imminent. However, this is not a done deal.
Board chairman Don Paterson told a small gathering of community leaders, board members and politicians at the TBayTel Service Centre that the letter of intent is not a binding agreement between the two organizations.
He, said it does not rule out TBayTel requesting letters of intent from other telecommunications companies. This process is expected to take about eight weeks.
If it’s determined during this trial period that this is not a match made in heaven, then TBayTel could look to SaskTel and MTS of Manitoba as potential partners. Paterson also put the rumours to rest that TBayTel is for sale.
“TBayTel is not for sale,” he said. “We know the value of TBayTel as an integral economic engine in our community.”
Paterson said the letter of intent allows the management of both companies to define the level of support required to enable TBayTel to provide a full range of broadband, wireless and Internet services in Northwestern Ontario.
Also, if the partnership becomes formal, the financial contribution to the City of Thunder Bay will continue. “The only thing that will affect that is the revenue stream,” Paterson said.
He said the plan to strengthen TBayTel’s position in the marketplace and to take advantage of the evolution in the telecommunications industry began in April when it was decided a strategic alliance with a “strong, national industry leader.”
Paterson said the idea was to “enhance TBayTel’s momentum as a communication services company.” Paterson was reminded that just last week when asked if there was a deal with Telus in the works, he replied there was nothing. “And there wasn’t at that time,” he told reporters.
Paterson said if an agreement with Telus is made official, Telus will have no say about union contracts or management positions.
“TBayTel is owned by the city so only city council can make those decisions.”
However, the business manager for Local 339 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers said he is nervous about the TBayTel-Telus liaison.
“You’re always nervous going into the unknown,” Jim Howie said from Ottawa.
“We’re headed for more changes and our employees have already experienced a lot of changes,” he said.
“Our concern is whatever is done is for the good of TBayTel.”
Paterson was asked if the sacking last week of TBayTel chief executive officer Phil Comrie was linked to the fact Comrie did not agree with the direction the company was taking with the letter of intent.
Paterson would only say that Comrie “did not share a parallel vision with the board.”
Comrie was replaced as acting CEO by Ken Esau, TBayTel’s vice-president of field operations.
“Our customers want the full range of technology and they deserve it,” Esau said.
“The benefit of a strategic alliance for TBayTel is paramount. I look forward to the next step in out evolution.”
Telus is the largest telecommunications company in Western Canada and the second largest in Canada with $7.9 billion of annual revenue, 4.7 million network access lines and 4.1 million wireless customers.
TBayTel is the largest independently owned telecommunications company in Canada.
It has the region’s largest digital cellular coverage and extensive products and services that include data, voice and wireless.
By Jim Kelly - The Chronicle-Journal August 24, 2005
Now, it’s official.
The second largest telecommunications company in Canada could soon be involved in a partnership with TBay Tel.
The first step toward that alliance took place at a news conference Tuesday when the TBayTel municipal services board of directors announced it had entered into a letter of intent with Telus Communications.
It wasn’t exactly earth-shattering news.
The potential deal was reported last Thursday in The Chronicle-Journal in a story which stated the signing of the letter of intent was imminent. However, this is not a done deal.
Board chairman Don Paterson told a small gathering of community leaders, board members and politicians at the TBayTel Service Centre that the letter of intent is not a binding agreement between the two organizations.
He, said it does not rule out TBayTel requesting letters of intent from other telecommunications companies. This process is expected to take about eight weeks.
If it’s determined during this trial period that this is not a match made in heaven, then TBayTel could look to SaskTel and MTS of Manitoba as potential partners. Paterson also put the rumours to rest that TBayTel is for sale.
“TBayTel is not for sale,” he said. “We know the value of TBayTel as an integral economic engine in our community.”
Paterson said the letter of intent allows the management of both companies to define the level of support required to enable TBayTel to provide a full range of broadband, wireless and Internet services in Northwestern Ontario.
Also, if the partnership becomes formal, the financial contribution to the City of Thunder Bay will continue. “The only thing that will affect that is the revenue stream,” Paterson said.
He said the plan to strengthen TBayTel’s position in the marketplace and to take advantage of the evolution in the telecommunications industry began in April when it was decided a strategic alliance with a “strong, national industry leader.”
Paterson said the idea was to “enhance TBayTel’s momentum as a communication services company.” Paterson was reminded that just last week when asked if there was a deal with Telus in the works, he replied there was nothing. “And there wasn’t at that time,” he told reporters.
Paterson said if an agreement with Telus is made official, Telus will have no say about union contracts or management positions.
“TBayTel is owned by the city so only city council can make those decisions.”
However, the business manager for Local 339 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers said he is nervous about the TBayTel-Telus liaison.
“You’re always nervous going into the unknown,” Jim Howie said from Ottawa.
“We’re headed for more changes and our employees have already experienced a lot of changes,” he said.
“Our concern is whatever is done is for the good of TBayTel.”
Paterson was asked if the sacking last week of TBayTel chief executive officer Phil Comrie was linked to the fact Comrie did not agree with the direction the company was taking with the letter of intent.
Paterson would only say that Comrie “did not share a parallel vision with the board.”
Comrie was replaced as acting CEO by Ken Esau, TBayTel’s vice-president of field operations.
“Our customers want the full range of technology and they deserve it,” Esau said.
“The benefit of a strategic alliance for TBayTel is paramount. I look forward to the next step in out evolution.”
Telus is the largest telecommunications company in Western Canada and the second largest in Canada with $7.9 billion of annual revenue, 4.7 million network access lines and 4.1 million wireless customers.
TBayTel is the largest independently owned telecommunications company in Canada.
It has the region’s largest digital cellular coverage and extensive products and services that include data, voice and wireless.
IBEW Local 483 (Tacoma WA) Members To Vote Thursday on Strike At Peninsula Light
Tacoma, WA -Sunday, August 28, 2005
Utility union to vote on contract, strike
ANDRE CHERRY; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 23rd, 2005 09:01 AM (PDT)
Union members of a small utility are scheduled to vote on a contract Thursday that could impact utility services of western Pierce County residents.
Utility union to vote on contract, strike
ANDRE CHERRY; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 23rd, 2005 09:01 AM (PDT)
Union members of a small utility are scheduled to vote on a contract Thursday that could impact utility services of western Pierce County residents.
The Peninsula Light Co. is a Gig Harbor-based, member-owned utility that serves more than 25,000 residents of Gig Harbor and other communities on the Key Peninsula.
“This is not a situation that our people want to be in,” said Alice Phillips, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 483.
The union represents 67 workers – more than half of the Peninsula Light Company employees – including linemen, engineers and customer service representatives.
Two key sticking points in negotiations involve health care and annual cost of living adjustments.
“PLC wants to convert medical plans, but members have several concerns, including whether or not their doctors are on the network and medical premium sharing that isn’t being addressed,” Phillips said.
Peninsula Light representatives would not comment on the situation.
The contract to be voted on Thursday was rejected a month ago, and Phillips said she expects similar results this time.
“I believe the contract will fail again and a strike will be voted for,” Phillips said. Members also will take a strike authorization vote on Thursday.
Andre Cherry: 253-597-8650
andre.cherry@thenewstribune.com
Originally published: August 23rd, 2005 12:01 AM (PDT)
IBEW Local 659 (Medford OR) Questions Inmate Labor After 96 Month Sentence Becomes Death Sentence for Inmate-Line Clearance Worker
Posted: Aug 26, 2005 - 08:11:58 PDT
Inmate on [Line Clearance] work crew killed by falling tree
By Steve Card and Gail Kimberling Of the News-Times
A prison inmate who was part of a work crew in the Mapleton [Blog ed note: Oregon] area was killed Tuesday morning when a tree fell on him.
Central Lincoln Peoples Utility District had contracted with Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in North Bend to provide a work crew for clearing trees and brush from underneath power lines. Carlin Samar Wortham, 24, was one of eight inmates supervised by a correctional officer at that work site. Wortham was cutting a tree at around 10:30 a.m. when it fell the wrong way and struck him.
When the accident occurred, the correctional officer and trained inmates immediately began CPR, but Wortham was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wortham was serving 96 months for three counts of third-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in Lane County. He was convicted on Feb. 21, 2001 and was scheduled for release in February of next year.
Gary Cockrum, communications manager for Central Lincoln PUD, said there were no company employees on scene at the time of the accident. "One arrived shortly thereafter and called for help," Cockrum said.
He also noted inmate work crews from Shutter Creek "have been doing work for us since 1994, and we have had a very good experience with no problems or safety issues."
This is the first inmate fatality in the prison's 15-year history. Approximately 100 minimum-custody inmates per day are dispatched in work crews from the 250-bed prison.
The practice of using prison work crews on projects that require some degree of experience and/or training is being called into question by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers #659, the union that represents Central Lincoln PUD workers. Kelly MacDonald, assistant business manager of the electrical union, said PUD employees are specifically trained for this type of work, and Tuesday's tragedy could have been avoided. "You have unqualified people taking risks, taking work from qualified people," he said.
Cockrum acknowledged these concerns, saying, "There have been questions about what they can do; there's an overlap of areas. We have made adjustments to the scope of work they perform for us. We try to be sensitive to union members' concerns, and try to be financially realistic, as well."
He called this week's accident "a real unfortunate incident, a tragedy," and said, "We all feel bad about it. It's a valid program for both prisoners and us, and we hope it doesn't affect it."
Inmate on [Line Clearance] work crew killed by falling tree
By Steve Card and Gail Kimberling Of the News-Times
A prison inmate who was part of a work crew in the Mapleton [Blog ed note: Oregon] area was killed Tuesday morning when a tree fell on him.
Central Lincoln Peoples Utility District had contracted with Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in North Bend to provide a work crew for clearing trees and brush from underneath power lines. Carlin Samar Wortham, 24, was one of eight inmates supervised by a correctional officer at that work site. Wortham was cutting a tree at around 10:30 a.m. when it fell the wrong way and struck him.
When the accident occurred, the correctional officer and trained inmates immediately began CPR, but Wortham was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wortham was serving 96 months for three counts of third-degree robbery and first-degree burglary in Lane County. He was convicted on Feb. 21, 2001 and was scheduled for release in February of next year.
Gary Cockrum, communications manager for Central Lincoln PUD, said there were no company employees on scene at the time of the accident. "One arrived shortly thereafter and called for help," Cockrum said.
He also noted inmate work crews from Shutter Creek "have been doing work for us since 1994, and we have had a very good experience with no problems or safety issues."
This is the first inmate fatality in the prison's 15-year history. Approximately 100 minimum-custody inmates per day are dispatched in work crews from the 250-bed prison.
The practice of using prison work crews on projects that require some degree of experience and/or training is being called into question by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers #659, the union that represents Central Lincoln PUD workers. Kelly MacDonald, assistant business manager of the electrical union, said PUD employees are specifically trained for this type of work, and Tuesday's tragedy could have been avoided. "You have unqualified people taking risks, taking work from qualified people," he said.
Cockrum acknowledged these concerns, saying, "There have been questions about what they can do; there's an overlap of areas. We have made adjustments to the scope of work they perform for us. We try to be sensitive to union members' concerns, and try to be financially realistic, as well."
He called this week's accident "a real unfortunate incident, a tragedy," and said, "We all feel bad about it. It's a valid program for both prisoners and us, and we hope it doesn't affect it."
IBEW Local 130 (New Orleans LA) Looks Forward to Convention Center--Finally After TWO YEARS
CENTER STAGE
Long entangled in litigation,
the expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
is finally poised to get under way
Sunday, August 28, 2005
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer
An overgrown field next to the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the site of the center's ambitious Phase IV expansion, saw its first signs of activity in a long time this week.
Workers on Monday began clearing brush that accumulated during 22 months of litigation that nearly scuttled plans for the expansion. Their speedy report to the job site, only days after Convention Center officials and Broadmoor LLC signed a contract to build the 524,000-square-foot addition, is a sign of just how eager everyone is to move forward with what may be one of the largest state-financed construction projects in Louisiana's history.
"What happened has happened, and that's behind us now," said Ralph Brennan, chairman of the center's board, formally known as the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority. "We need to get these construction workers going, and we need to start selling" the Phase IV space to convention groups. Construction of the expansion is scheduled to begin next month.
A lot is riding on the three-year project, which would expand the center from 1.1 million square feet to 1.6 million. Tourism officials are hoping Phase IV will help revive the state's sagging convention business, which has been in decline since shortly after the completed Phase III expansion opened in 1999.
Proponents say Phase IV's planned bright and airy environment, strong technological capabilities and elegant 60,000-square-foot ballroom overlooking the Mississippi River will enable New Orleans to crack the lucrative corporate meetings market and retrieve lost convention customers.
"We expect it to be a real catalyst for recapturing some market share that was lost by the building of all the new centers in other cities," said Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The fortunes of numerous small construction companies, many of whom had cleared their calendars in anticipation of a project that ended up being delayed for years, are also tied to the project, as is the future of downtown development.
Observers predict that Phase IV, to be located across Henderson Street from the rest of the convention center, will prompt development along the Mississippi riverfront. As more people participate in events in Phase IV, far from the major hotels along Canal Street, it may also renew demand for a Convention Center hotel near the upriver end of the exhibition hall.
"It's going to bring an awful lot of people to town. That brings new money into the community. I think you're going to see more hotels built, and you'll certainly see more restaurants," said Brennan, a restaurateur.
A tangled web
But the visions of new visitors and new development remained a dream while Phase IV languished in court.
The trouble began in October 2003 when the Convention Center accepted bids from three companies: Yates/Landis , a joint venture of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Co. of Mississippi and Landis Construction Co. of New Orleans, which submitted the low bid of $274.8 million; Broadmoor, the middle bidder at $281.3 million; and McDonnel/PCL , a joint venture of the McDonnel Group of Metairie and PCL Construction of Denver, which submitted the highest bid at $284.2 million.
Broadmoor immediately challenged the winning Yates/Landis bid, citing several technical shortcomings including the fact that the Yates group did not have a certificate of builder's risk insurance.
In March of 2004, the Louisiana Supreme Court found in favor of Broadmoor and ordered the Convention Center to strip Yates/Landis of the contract. The center's board, unsure of how to proceed, decided to restart the bidding process from scratch. That action jump-started a new round of hearings about whether the board had acted properly in throwing out the first round of bidding. A court ultimately ruled that the Convention Center couldn't abandon the process it had started, and ordered the board to award the contract to Broadmoor.
But the project was destined to hit several other snags. In July 2004, Gov. Kathleen Blanco put the deal on hold while the state spent several months considering a proposal to scale back Phase IV and pair it with a new football stadium for the Saints. The idea was eventually abandoned.
A final hang-up involved costs cited in the original bid. Prices on key construction materials such as steel and cement had risen so dramatically since the original Broadmoor bid was submitted that the Convention Center again faced the possibility of having to start the bidding process over. Additionally, higher prices had pushed the project beyond the Convention Center's budget.
The final breakthrough came this spring, when the Convention Center made a bold move and got the Legislature to suspend public bid law so it could retain Broadmoor as contractor but still negotiate a new contract price that reflected the current prices of materials.
And in a final collaborative push, Broadmoor called on its subcontractors to come up with ideas for substitutions and other ways to whittle the price back into -- or at least closer to -- budget.
In the end, they got the construction price down to $315 million. The contract was signed Aug. 17.
"We believe that the facility is good for the city and the economy. We're thrilled that it's going to get built and that we're going to be able to help do it," said John Stewart, president of Broadmoor, a division of the New Orleans company Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC.
Paying the price
Though the project is finally moving forward, the two-year delay exacted a price.
The Convention Center, a state entity, has spent $673,000 in legal fees since the litigation began in October 2003. And the figures would have been higher if the state didn't pay discounted rates for outside legal services.
Because of the delays, the Convention Center says it probably lost 20 to 30 conventions that had been considering holding meetings in New Orleans between 2007 and 2009, when Phase IV was supposed to be open.
Moreover, because of price increases, taxpayers are paying $34 million to $40 million more than they would have if Yates/Landis or Broadmoor had moved forward on the job two years ago. William Yates, president of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, the company that was stripped of the contract, is bitter about the outcome.
Yates said he felt that Louisiana politics ultimately came into play. "We underestimated the power of the Boh family. We thought it would be so ridiculous that the Legislature would suspend public bid law for one job, for one company."
Though Yates conceded that it is Broadmoor that will build Phase IV, his company hasn't ruled out suing for damages. "We're still evaluating that. We're not necessarily giving up," he said.
The costly delay for the many small construction companies that plan to work on the project is ironic because one reason the state supported the project is the construction impact on the economy. At the peak of the job, there will be 50 to 60 subcontractors and 1,200 to 1,400 workers on the project.
The project is one of the largest publicly financed capital outlay projects ever in Louisiana, according to Jerry Jones, director of facility planning and control for the state, but it's not the biggest if you adjust for inflation. The Louisiana Superdome, which cost $163 million to build in 1975, would cost $610.5 million in today's dollars, about 25 percent more than the $455 million total budget for the Phase IV project.
Derrell Cohoon, chief executive officer of the Louisiana Associated General Contractors trade association, said the delays wreaked havoc on many local companies because they had cleared their decks of other jobs in anticipation of the Phase IV project. When the job got tied up in court, they found themselves short on work but unsure about looking for more, because the duration of the litigation was unclear.
But now that it is moving forward, hundreds of union employees are looking forward to picking up work, said Robert "Tiger" Hammond, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 130 and president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.
"This is the kind of project we've been waiting for for many years," Hammond said. "It's going to put many meals on many families' tables."
For some, the Convention Center job is a catalyst for growth. At Gallo Mechanical Contractors Inc., which will install the heating, air-conditioning and plumbing systems in Phase IV, the Convention Center job represents more business than what the entire company would do in a normal year. Gallo is using the job as a means to expand, and plans to increase its work force from 128 full-time employees to about 175 employees. "This job is by far the largest job we've ever tried to tackle," said David Gallo, president of the 60-year-old New Orleans firm.
But the nearly two years of waiting has been difficult. To make sure Gallo would be able to devote all of its resources to the Convention Center job, it refrained from taking on other jobs, and as the litigation dragged on throughout 2004, sales at Gallo ended up dropping about 10 percent.
Gallo said other subcontractors and suppliers are in the same position. "The bottom line is, it's everybody's largest job. From the smallest subcontractor on up to Broadmoor, everybody's held off on doing other things," Gallo said. "We're excited about moving forward. It was a long 22 months."
The story is similar at Capitol Steel of Slidell, which will provide the reinforcing steel bar, or rebar, for the concrete structure of the building. The job is so big that it will take half of Capitol Steel's production capacity for a year.
Unlike Gallo, which says the cost escalations negotiated by Broadmoor and the Convention Center will take care of the increases in the prices of pipes and ducts, Capitol Steel says it's still a gamble because steel prices may yet change from the price in the contract.
"We're still rolling the dice," said Guy Davis, general manager of the firm.
The big question
Where the convention business will be when the expansion opens in 2009 is anybody's guess.
Michael Hughes, director of research at Tradeshow Week, said that right now attendance is up. The number of exhibitors at trade shows, and the amount of space they're using, is also increasing. However, a boom in convention center construction in recent years means there is now far more space available than what is needed by exhibitors, and very few new trade shows are being launched.
New Orleans has been hard hit by competition from other centers. Attendance at the Convention Center peaked in 1999 at 885,997 attendees when Phase III opened but then fell for five years straight to 523,761 in 2004, a drop of 41 percent.
Fortunately, business appears to be rebounding, as occupancy at the Morial Convention Center is projected to increase from a low of 46 percent last year to between 57 percent and 59 percent over the next few years. But that's still well below the period of 1999 to 2001, when Convention Center space was in use 69 percent to 75 percent of the time.
Not everyone is optimistic that Phase IV will bring new convention business to New Orleans.
"The likelihood is that more space will not bring substantially increased attendance. The reality that New Orleans faces is that a lot of cities are expanding," said Heywood Sanders, a public policy professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who studies the convention business nationally.
More likely, Sanders said, New Orleans will increasingly find itself doing what its competitors are doing: offering incentives, offering discounts or just plain giving away the trade show floor space to fill the building.
Jimmie Fore, general manager of the Convention Center, doesn't agree with that assertion. He hopes Phase IV's first client in early January 2009, the Professional Convention Management Association, will give expansion an auspicious start and ignite a buzz in the industry. "You couldn't pick an event that would highlight the building more than that event," Fore said.
Brennan, the exhibition hall's chairman, said it's imperative that the Convention Center and convention bureau sales staff continue to increase their collaboration and find new ways to sell the additional convention space. That's the next frontier. "We need to be able to increase our efforts and the efforts of the CVB to sell the Convention Center," Brennan said. "This is a huge investment for the state, and we need to make sure it pays off."
. . . . . . .
Rebecca Mowbray can be reached at rmowbray@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3417.
Long entangled in litigation,
the expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
is finally poised to get under way
Sunday, August 28, 2005
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer
An overgrown field next to the upriver end of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the site of the center's ambitious Phase IV expansion, saw its first signs of activity in a long time this week.
Workers on Monday began clearing brush that accumulated during 22 months of litigation that nearly scuttled plans for the expansion. Their speedy report to the job site, only days after Convention Center officials and Broadmoor LLC signed a contract to build the 524,000-square-foot addition, is a sign of just how eager everyone is to move forward with what may be one of the largest state-financed construction projects in Louisiana's history.
"What happened has happened, and that's behind us now," said Ralph Brennan, chairman of the center's board, formally known as the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority. "We need to get these construction workers going, and we need to start selling" the Phase IV space to convention groups. Construction of the expansion is scheduled to begin next month.
A lot is riding on the three-year project, which would expand the center from 1.1 million square feet to 1.6 million. Tourism officials are hoping Phase IV will help revive the state's sagging convention business, which has been in decline since shortly after the completed Phase III expansion opened in 1999.
Proponents say Phase IV's planned bright and airy environment, strong technological capabilities and elegant 60,000-square-foot ballroom overlooking the Mississippi River will enable New Orleans to crack the lucrative corporate meetings market and retrieve lost convention customers.
"We expect it to be a real catalyst for recapturing some market share that was lost by the building of all the new centers in other cities," said Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The fortunes of numerous small construction companies, many of whom had cleared their calendars in anticipation of a project that ended up being delayed for years, are also tied to the project, as is the future of downtown development.
Observers predict that Phase IV, to be located across Henderson Street from the rest of the convention center, will prompt development along the Mississippi riverfront. As more people participate in events in Phase IV, far from the major hotels along Canal Street, it may also renew demand for a Convention Center hotel near the upriver end of the exhibition hall.
"It's going to bring an awful lot of people to town. That brings new money into the community. I think you're going to see more hotels built, and you'll certainly see more restaurants," said Brennan, a restaurateur.
A tangled web
But the visions of new visitors and new development remained a dream while Phase IV languished in court.
The trouble began in October 2003 when the Convention Center accepted bids from three companies: Yates/Landis , a joint venture of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Co. of Mississippi and Landis Construction Co. of New Orleans, which submitted the low bid of $274.8 million; Broadmoor, the middle bidder at $281.3 million; and McDonnel/PCL , a joint venture of the McDonnel Group of Metairie and PCL Construction of Denver, which submitted the highest bid at $284.2 million.
Broadmoor immediately challenged the winning Yates/Landis bid, citing several technical shortcomings including the fact that the Yates group did not have a certificate of builder's risk insurance.
In March of 2004, the Louisiana Supreme Court found in favor of Broadmoor and ordered the Convention Center to strip Yates/Landis of the contract. The center's board, unsure of how to proceed, decided to restart the bidding process from scratch. That action jump-started a new round of hearings about whether the board had acted properly in throwing out the first round of bidding. A court ultimately ruled that the Convention Center couldn't abandon the process it had started, and ordered the board to award the contract to Broadmoor.
But the project was destined to hit several other snags. In July 2004, Gov. Kathleen Blanco put the deal on hold while the state spent several months considering a proposal to scale back Phase IV and pair it with a new football stadium for the Saints. The idea was eventually abandoned.
A final hang-up involved costs cited in the original bid. Prices on key construction materials such as steel and cement had risen so dramatically since the original Broadmoor bid was submitted that the Convention Center again faced the possibility of having to start the bidding process over. Additionally, higher prices had pushed the project beyond the Convention Center's budget.
The final breakthrough came this spring, when the Convention Center made a bold move and got the Legislature to suspend public bid law so it could retain Broadmoor as contractor but still negotiate a new contract price that reflected the current prices of materials.
And in a final collaborative push, Broadmoor called on its subcontractors to come up with ideas for substitutions and other ways to whittle the price back into -- or at least closer to -- budget.
In the end, they got the construction price down to $315 million. The contract was signed Aug. 17.
"We believe that the facility is good for the city and the economy. We're thrilled that it's going to get built and that we're going to be able to help do it," said John Stewart, president of Broadmoor, a division of the New Orleans company Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC.
Paying the price
Though the project is finally moving forward, the two-year delay exacted a price.
The Convention Center, a state entity, has spent $673,000 in legal fees since the litigation began in October 2003. And the figures would have been higher if the state didn't pay discounted rates for outside legal services.
Because of the delays, the Convention Center says it probably lost 20 to 30 conventions that had been considering holding meetings in New Orleans between 2007 and 2009, when Phase IV was supposed to be open.
Moreover, because of price increases, taxpayers are paying $34 million to $40 million more than they would have if Yates/Landis or Broadmoor had moved forward on the job two years ago. William Yates, president of W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, the company that was stripped of the contract, is bitter about the outcome.
Yates said he felt that Louisiana politics ultimately came into play. "We underestimated the power of the Boh family. We thought it would be so ridiculous that the Legislature would suspend public bid law for one job, for one company."
Though Yates conceded that it is Broadmoor that will build Phase IV, his company hasn't ruled out suing for damages. "We're still evaluating that. We're not necessarily giving up," he said.
The costly delay for the many small construction companies that plan to work on the project is ironic because one reason the state supported the project is the construction impact on the economy. At the peak of the job, there will be 50 to 60 subcontractors and 1,200 to 1,400 workers on the project.
The project is one of the largest publicly financed capital outlay projects ever in Louisiana, according to Jerry Jones, director of facility planning and control for the state, but it's not the biggest if you adjust for inflation. The Louisiana Superdome, which cost $163 million to build in 1975, would cost $610.5 million in today's dollars, about 25 percent more than the $455 million total budget for the Phase IV project.
Derrell Cohoon, chief executive officer of the Louisiana Associated General Contractors trade association, said the delays wreaked havoc on many local companies because they had cleared their decks of other jobs in anticipation of the Phase IV project. When the job got tied up in court, they found themselves short on work but unsure about looking for more, because the duration of the litigation was unclear.
But now that it is moving forward, hundreds of union employees are looking forward to picking up work, said Robert "Tiger" Hammond, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 130 and president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.
"This is the kind of project we've been waiting for for many years," Hammond said. "It's going to put many meals on many families' tables."
For some, the Convention Center job is a catalyst for growth. At Gallo Mechanical Contractors Inc., which will install the heating, air-conditioning and plumbing systems in Phase IV, the Convention Center job represents more business than what the entire company would do in a normal year. Gallo is using the job as a means to expand, and plans to increase its work force from 128 full-time employees to about 175 employees. "This job is by far the largest job we've ever tried to tackle," said David Gallo, president of the 60-year-old New Orleans firm.
But the nearly two years of waiting has been difficult. To make sure Gallo would be able to devote all of its resources to the Convention Center job, it refrained from taking on other jobs, and as the litigation dragged on throughout 2004, sales at Gallo ended up dropping about 10 percent.
Gallo said other subcontractors and suppliers are in the same position. "The bottom line is, it's everybody's largest job. From the smallest subcontractor on up to Broadmoor, everybody's held off on doing other things," Gallo said. "We're excited about moving forward. It was a long 22 months."
The story is similar at Capitol Steel of Slidell, which will provide the reinforcing steel bar, or rebar, for the concrete structure of the building. The job is so big that it will take half of Capitol Steel's production capacity for a year.
Unlike Gallo, which says the cost escalations negotiated by Broadmoor and the Convention Center will take care of the increases in the prices of pipes and ducts, Capitol Steel says it's still a gamble because steel prices may yet change from the price in the contract.
"We're still rolling the dice," said Guy Davis, general manager of the firm.
The big question
Where the convention business will be when the expansion opens in 2009 is anybody's guess.
Michael Hughes, director of research at Tradeshow Week, said that right now attendance is up. The number of exhibitors at trade shows, and the amount of space they're using, is also increasing. However, a boom in convention center construction in recent years means there is now far more space available than what is needed by exhibitors, and very few new trade shows are being launched.
New Orleans has been hard hit by competition from other centers. Attendance at the Convention Center peaked in 1999 at 885,997 attendees when Phase III opened but then fell for five years straight to 523,761 in 2004, a drop of 41 percent.
Fortunately, business appears to be rebounding, as occupancy at the Morial Convention Center is projected to increase from a low of 46 percent last year to between 57 percent and 59 percent over the next few years. But that's still well below the period of 1999 to 2001, when Convention Center space was in use 69 percent to 75 percent of the time.
Not everyone is optimistic that Phase IV will bring new convention business to New Orleans.
"The likelihood is that more space will not bring substantially increased attendance. The reality that New Orleans faces is that a lot of cities are expanding," said Heywood Sanders, a public policy professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who studies the convention business nationally.
More likely, Sanders said, New Orleans will increasingly find itself doing what its competitors are doing: offering incentives, offering discounts or just plain giving away the trade show floor space to fill the building.
Jimmie Fore, general manager of the Convention Center, doesn't agree with that assertion. He hopes Phase IV's first client in early January 2009, the Professional Convention Management Association, will give expansion an auspicious start and ignite a buzz in the industry. "You couldn't pick an event that would highlight the building more than that event," Fore said.
Brennan, the exhibition hall's chairman, said it's imperative that the Convention Center and convention bureau sales staff continue to increase their collaboration and find new ways to sell the additional convention space. That's the next frontier. "We need to be able to increase our efforts and the efforts of the CVB to sell the Convention Center," Brennan said. "This is a huge investment for the state, and we need to make sure it pays off."
. . . . . . .
Rebecca Mowbray can be reached at rmowbray@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3417.
IBEW Local 246 (Steubenville OH) Sponsors Gem City Labor Day Festival
Toronto ready for Labor Day
TORONTO - The Gem City will host this year's 14th annual Tri-State Labor Day celebration Sept. 5 at the high school's Clarke Hinkle Stadium.
This year's celebration has moved from Steubenville to Toronto, and activities that day will range from speakers hailing the American worker to former National Football League stars signing autographs and a fireworks display later in the evening, according to Mel Clark, celebration chairman."This year former Pittsburgh Steeler Steve Courson will be the festival grand marshal," said Clark, adding former New York Jets star Lance Mehl, a Bellaire native, also will be there to meet and greet the public.
"They will be signing autographs and saying a few words," continued Clark.
Speakers are to include Mayor John Geddis and, hopefully, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon, said Clark.
"We're also going to have free covered wagon rides for the kids," said Clark. "It's a good time for everybody. Everything is free."
Activities at the stadium kick off at 5 p.m. with the singing of the National Anthem by Vince Pino of Pittsburgh, followed by local resident Catherine Losey at 5:30 p.m., said Clark.
"The Weirton Tri-State Marines will be performing during the national anthem," said Clark. "(Losey) is going to be the next Britney Spears."
Susan Laughlin Varitek, a performer who regularly appears at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort, will begin singing at 6 p.m.
"She's a lot like (singer) Anne Murray," Clark said, adding Varitek will sing pop standards. "She's fabulous."
The Mansfield Five from Carnegie, Pa., will begin at 7 p.m. and sing pop and rock from the 1960s and '70s, said Clark. The Vogues will perform at 8 p.m., he added. Following will be a small fireworks display coordinated by Bob "Slim" Neal, chairman of the Toronto Fourth of July Committee.
Food and beverages will be available from the Toronto Band Parents organization.
Clark said the celebration is a way for people to get together, honor labor and enjoy a day of entertainment.
It's a get-together for the people of this valley," said Clark. "It's very important to honor labor. Everyone is welcome. We're also going to honor (Marine Sgt.) Nathan Rock, one of our heroes, that day." Rock, a Toronto native, was killed in Iraq Aug. 1.
Clark said sponsors of the event include Mountaineer; the Wal-Mart Distribution Center; Local 246 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 495 of Cambridge and Steubenville; and the Upper Ohio Valley Building and Trades Union.
Committee members include Anna Modiguidas, Nancy Antill, Mary Jane Zinno, Tina Juomar and Terri Coulter.
For information, call (740) 537-4658.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)