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The Official Publication of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 — First Quarter 2008

Sound TransitSound TransitAn Investment in Washington

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The cover story for this edition of the Loadline is about Washington’s

Sound Transit construction for a number of reasons. For one, I have been very proud of the work our members are doing on that multi-billion dollar project. Sound Transit got off to a rocky start with cost overruns and public-relations challenges during the initial phase of land purchasing and design. But once actual construction of

the Link light rail began, it’s no coincidence that pub-lic opinion of Sound Transit began to improve. Station construction has proceeded on time and within budget, the Beacon Hill tunneling has been a awe-inspiring feat of engineering, and there has been palpable public excite-ment as the Airport Link takes shape and people begin to envision the day when they will begin using the system. In other words, I truly believe in my heart that the skill and efficiency of members of Operating Engineers Local 302 have been a key factor in Sound Transit’s turnaround. That is so important. Not just because we can take pride in our accomplishment or take comfort that Sound Transit has been a steady source of good, family-wage jobs for this union’s members. It’s also important because infrastructure investments like these give our nation its competitive edge and will create and protect American jobs from moving overseas. None of the other nations with which we compete for manufacturing, technology or other jobs has America’s transportation, communications and energy infrastructure. No other nation is able to move people, goods, energy and information as efficiently from town to city, from plant to port. Now that the offshore outsourcing fad has faded somewhat, captains of industry are starting to learn what organized labor has been trying to tell them for years: that cost savings from chasing cheap labor are fleeting. Yes, first we tried to appeal to their national pride by urging them not to export our jobs, and then their sense of humanity and justice by urging them not to exploit foreign workers who have no rights. Neither worked. But lately, with some success, we’ve made our case that the efficien-cy of America’s skilled workforce, our (relative) political stability, and our superior infrastructure makes keeping

BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

Allan B. Darr

Business Manager and General Vice President

COVER PHOTO: Mowat Construction’s Airport Link project as of Feb. 28, 2008. (Read the Cover Story about Sound Transit on Pages 18-21.)

and adding jobs here the smart decision in the long term. India and China—the two most popular destinations for outsourcing manufacturing, IT, customer and financial services and other American jobs—suffer in comparison, especially when it comes to infrastructure. That’s why investments in modernizing and restor-ing our transportation system, like Sound Transit, are so important. And that’s a big reason why, under my admin-istration, Operating Engineers Local 302 will continue to strongly support legislation and ballot measures to invest in our infrastructure. It’s not just about the jobs (though, make no mistake, they are nice), it’s about creating and protecting good jobs for our children. It’s about keeping America competitive and strong. In the case of Alaska’s proposed natural gas pipeline, plus efforts to maintain and build capacity for the existing oil pipelines, it’s about America’s very national security. Reducing our dependence on foreign energy is a national imperative if we want to destabilize our enemies and de-fund terrorist organizations. We could be putting our sons and daughters to work on building America’s infrastruc-ture instead of sending them to wars in the Middle East. One of the biggest challenges we face in this en-deavor is distrust of our own government and distaste for paying higher taxes. Nobody, including me, likes to see our property, sales or other taxes go up. And everybody gets frustrated when we hear news reports about govern-ment boondoggles and wasted taxpayer money. That’s why we need to be vigilant to hold our elected officials accountable and make sure our money gets spent efficiently and productively. That’s why we need to insist that public works, road and bridge construction, and other infrastructure investments pay prevailing wages, promote apprenticeship and respect unions. We can’t let our national, state or local governments make the same short-sighted mistakes that outsourcing multinational cor-porations have made: building on the cheap and exploiting labor for short-term gain. You get what you pay for. When you hire Operating Engineers you get quality, skill and efficiency, and most importantly, you get a product that’s built to last. Our many signatory contractors have figured that out. The extent to which our government and our nation figures that out, and invests in itself with abundance and confidence, will determine whether America remains a superpower.

I’m very pleased to report that Local 302 continues to grow and get stronger. According to our latest per capita report for January 2008, we have 10,571 active

members, which is about 400 more than we had one year ago and more than 1,100 above our January 2006 report. I attribute that growth to our organizing successes; our ex-pansion of apprenticeship training (see Pages 16-17) plus our legislative and political success in promoting appren-

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BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

ticeship utilization on public-works projects; and the fact that we have achieved excellent master contract agreements for our members in both states that have served as our very best recruiting tool. We have a strong union in two of the strongest union states. Alaska and Washington rank 2nd and 4th, respec-tively, in the entire nation in terms of union density (see story on Page 22). In this edition of the Loadline you will read how our District and Field Representatives, Dispatchers and the rest of our staff continue to be very active—and proactive—about signing new contractors, getting more work for members, negotiating good contracts and making sure those con-tracts are honored. I’m very proud of the team we have in place here, and I’m particularly pleased with how positively they have responded to my challenges to make this local union more transparent. This union does a lot of good work, much of which is day-to-day handling of members’ grievances and inquiries, that doesn’t make the pages of the Loadline. That’s why I want everyone who is a member of this local to see what we are doing and understand why we are doing it.

I want this organization to set a new standard in terms of openness and responsiveness to our members. That’s why I’m pleased with the work Local 302 Communications Director David Groves is doing on this Load-line, our web site and press releases about our activities. I think the end result will be greater inclusion and more active participation from our members and the retirees who built this union. Remember, we are all in this to-gether. Believe me, there are unions out there that are divisive, that have all sorts of internal problems, that have no conscience about undermin-ing fellow trade unionists, and that spend more time engaged in counter-productive squabbling and infighting than they do servicing and recruiting their members. They will not survive. Local 302 is not one of those unions. Now more than ever we are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder for what’s right. We are supporting each other and offering a hand up to others who want a secure job, a decent wage, good benefits, and some respect at work. That’s why we will continue to grow and thrive. Remember: Not one of us is greater than all of us.

Business Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr, Alaska Gov-ernor Sarah Palin and Alaska Labor Commissioner Click Bishop at the Alaska AFL-CIO Legislative Confer-ence in January.

Members elect Delegates for IUOE Convention In February, Local 302 mem-bers elected Delegates to represent the local union at the 2008 General Convention of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Las Vegas on April 27-30. “I’m pleased that a great com-bination of rank-and-file members, union staffers and training center instructors from both states were chosen to represent us,” said Busi-ness Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr who, along with Financial Secretary Malcolm Auble, automatically serve as Del-egates according to Constitution. The following were elected as Delegates: Gerald Andrews, Char-lie Brown, John Brown, Chuck Campbell, David Erickson, Don Goble, Bruce Hyde, Sean Jeffries, Randy Loomans, Don Lowry, Taylor Mayfield, Matt Means, Gary Orsborn, Rob Peterson, and Efrain Saucedo. Elected as Alternates were: Daren Konopaski, David Preston, and Ron Dahl.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

With work relatively steady and mem-bership growing,

the financial condition of Local 302 is good. And just as each of our members should be doing when “times are good,” our Executive Board is always mindful that the next economic slowdown is always around the bend and we need to be braced for that so we can withstand it. Meanwhile, the Board is also making some investments in

our own union to accommodate our growth. The last edition of the Loadline reported that Local 302 has purchased land in Anchorage at Denali Street and 40th for a new union hall. Our members will build us a new 15,000-square-foot building there with a larger meeting hall and more office space. Similarly, we have purchased property in the Lemon Creek industrial area of Juneau for a new union hall big enough for our regular meetings and the training sessions we would like to pro-vide for our members in the region. These land purchases come on the heels of the grand opening of a new union office in Ellensburg, WA, that covers Districts 4 and 5. Just as Business Manager Allan Darr described in his column on the previous pages, we are investing in our infrastructure—our union’s infrastructure. This will create jobs for our members, better meet their needs, and importantly, grow in value as assets of this local union. After reading about these investments in the last Loadline, a few members contacted us to ask how we can afford to buy land and build new union halls when new

FINANCIAL SECRETARY’S REPORT

Malcolm Auble Financial Secretary

restrictions are being imposed on retiree health benefits and we are still waiting for a pension increase. The answer is that Local 302’s general fund, which pays for day-to-day operations of our local and for the building investments described above, is totally separate from the trust funds that administer our retirement and health benefits. And it’s not entirely up to your union how those trusts get administered and their money gets spent. Our pension plan is called the Locals 302 & 612 of the IUOE-Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan. The word “employers” is in there because they have a seat at the table in how the plan is administered. The plan’s Board of Trustees has five representatives from the unions and five from the participating employers. As it happens, our pension fund, like our general fund, is in good shape financially. Independent actuaries have found it is sufficiently funded that pension benefits can be increased—perhaps even retroactively—without negatively impacting the plan’s solvency. That’s exactly what the Union Trustees, including myself, Business Manager Allan Darr, Director of Field Operations David Preston and District Representative Rob Peterson, are trying to do. But first we need to have the agreement of the Employer Trustees. We will try again at our quarterly meeting in March, so stay tuned. The point is, that pension fund is entirely separate from our union’s general fund, and it’s not entirely up to your union to decide how that money is spent and how the pension plan is administered. The same is true of our health plan, the Locals 302 & 612 of the IUOE Construction Industry Health and Secu-rity Fund. Its board has a five-to-five split between union and employer representatives. Darr, Preston and I serve as Trustees, but neither the union nor the employers can unilaterally change policies. No dues money is paid into this plan; it is funded entirely by its participants.

Our health plan is experiencing the same challenges as those across this nation: skyrocket-ing costs for medical care and prescription drugs. In addition, because we offer retiree health ben-efits and our pension has an extraordinary early retirement option at 52, our health plan has been further strained because retiree costs to the plan must be subsidized by active members. Retiree self-payments do not cover their cost of coverage. Recently, Trustees changed the health plan to cap those subsidized costs at a fixed percentage in order to maintain this important retiree health benefit. That meant higher self-payments for some retirees, particularly younger retirees with fewer years of service. For more details on this, see the Retiree Health Care posting on our web site’s blog at www.iuoe302.org or call Communications Direc-tor David Groves at 425-806-0302.

Local 302 Dispatcher David Erickson stands by the sign announcing the site of our new union hall in Anchorage.

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Brothers and Sisters: Most economists say this country is headed into reces-sion, or we are already there. Without question, some of our members are feeling the effects, especially those who are saddled with an adjustable rate mortgage and a house pay-ment they can no longer afford. But the fact is, there are a whole lot more Local 302 mem-bers who probably wonder what the fuss is about. Some timely public infrastructure investment and continued commercial con-struction in Washington and Alaska has insulated our mem-bers and kept our union’s dispatch lists relatively short. In fact, now contractors calling us looking to sign a contract! That’s right. In the week leading up to writing this article, I’ve had three contractors call for information about becoming signatory with Local 302. Granted, one was a member starting his own outfit. But the others were contractors who primarily do residential work. They called because their jobs have dried up. Spurred by the mortgage

Brothers and Sisters: In recent years, organizers in Washington have focused on building a stronger union through member education, such as Take-It-Back Classes and Steward Training. Feedback from the thou-sands of members who have participated has been very positive, and their actions on the job sites are even more en-couraging. The days of conceding wages, benefits and condi-tions are over, and a new generation of members is being bred throughout Local 302’s jurisdiction that will stand together for the future. It makes me proud to be a member of this union. When workers stick together, they have the power to demand more. As our power increases, so does our pride. Those elements combine to make our union very attractive to the nonunion workforce. We have succeeded in at-

DIRECTORS’ REPORTS

Thank you for making Local 302 stronger

Contractors are coming to us

David PrestonDirector of Field Operations

Steve SchefferDirector of Union Programs

tracting and retaining many new mem-bers since starting the Take-It-Back and Steward Training programs, our

membership has grown from 9,400 to more than 10,500 in just two years. Those folks didn’t join with us because we are weak and timid. They joined because we are proud and strong, and they want to be a part of the powerhouse IUOE Local 302. As we

gain more members, we also gain sig-natory contractors. The two go hand in hand, and the sky is the limit for this union as long as we keep educating, activating and organizing members. Upcoming Take-It-Back classes are Saturday, March 29 and Sat-urday, April 26 both from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bothell Hall. The next Steward Training is Sunday, March 30 at 10 a.m. at the Bothell Hall. As you may be aware, our Brothers

and Sisters in Local 3 are entrenched in a battle with Valley Power Systems North, a miserable rat employer doing everything in its power to deny them a contract. (See story on Page 27.) Organizer Gabriel Chavez recent-ly signed up Construct Co., a contrac-tor that primarily performs prevailed wage work in our jurisdiction. Other organizers are involved in soon-to-be high-profile campaigns in District 2. In closing, I want to thank the Lo-cal 302 membership and staff for their support and dedication to our organiz-ing efforts in the last few years. It has been a pleasure to serve under Busi-ness Manager and General Vice Presi-dent Allan B. Darr and to serve the membership of this great local union. But as all good things must come to an end, so must my tenure here at Local 302. Although I have resigned, I hope to continue to help conduct Take-It-Back and Steward Trainings on occasion. And I’ll look forward to seeing you there.

crisis, the downturn has devastated residential construction in many areas, and now these contractors want access to some commercial and public-works jobs. What any contractor who ends up signing an agree-ment with our union will find out is that, even without this residential bust-cycle, signing with Local 302 is smart business. Here’s our message for all contractors: n Get the Best Hands: Local 302 operators are the most skilled in their area. Their uniform wages and benefits en-sure a stable, reliable and productive workforce that gets the job done safely and on time.n Avoid Hiring Hassles: Local 302’s hiring hall ensures access to the flexible, qualified, diverse workforce contrac-tors need—when they need them.n Training & Apprentices: Local 302’s state-of-the-art training center will recruit and screen new hires, diversify operators’ skills, and grant access to quality apprentices who’ll be the future workforce in this industry.n Win More Work: Having access to Local 302’s certi-fied operators and registered apprentices helps contractors meet job requirements. Paying prevailing wages while reducing overhead costs helps contractors bid with confi-dence and win more jobs.

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Tony HansenDistrict Representative

DISTRICT 6Anchorage office 907-561-5288

David EricksonDispatcher

Carl GambleField Representative

Paul WelchField Representative

Jared HamlinOrganizer

AT WORK IN ALASKA

Strike fund for Alaska?

It’s members’ responsibility to get registeredTIPS FROM DISPATCH

March is when Anchorage’s Dispatch office kicks into high gear, so it’s particu-larly important for members to come in and register to stay on the list. It only takes a couple of minutes to fill out the registration slip, but it makes a world of difference that members take care of this reponsibility. “Between the winding-down vaca-tions and other spring preparations, some members forget to register and can poten-tially drop off the list just when they are expecting to get dispatched to jobs,” said Dispatcher David Erickson. “Help me do my job, so I can get you back on the job.”

During this busy time, Erickson some-times dispatches dozens of people a day to different jobs and he isn’t in a position to contact every member who is about to drop off the list to help them re-register. He also points out that this paperwork is a vital link between contractors and your benefits. “Making sure you are properly regis-tered and dispatched helps ensure that all of your benefits are paid properly so you get everything you earned,” he said. So next time you’re in the neighbor-hood or in the office to pay dues, check to confirm your registration is current.

Union assessing support for fund similar to WA’s Last summer, Local 302 members in Washington voted to establish a strike fund. Members pay $9.75 a month into it and as of Jan. 31, the fund had nearly $190,000. Now the officers and staff of the union’s three Alaska districts are discussing institut-ing a strike fund up north. “We have a good master contract in place —one of the best ever—but three years down the road, things might be a little different,” said District Representative Tony Hansen. “We’re feeling a little chill in the air and rath-er than reacting, we think it’s a good idea to be proactive and make sure we are in a strong bargaining position down the road.” That chill is the result of a number of smaller local contractors being swallowed up by out-of-state, or even foreign, interests. Pacific Northwest-based Wilder Construction has been purchased by California-based Gran-ite Construction. QAP of Anchorage, Exclu-sive Landscaping & Paving of Fairbanks and Secon of Juneau have been absorbed by Co-laska Inc., a division of Colas International. “Alaska has traditionally been a strong labor state and hopefully will continue to be,” Hansen said. “But now may be the time to put other tools in our toolbox that we might need in the future.”

Initial reports indicate that Local 302 members are supportive of establishing an Alaska strike fund. An informal survey of members at the Anchorage hall over the course of the last year indicated support by a 3-to-1 margin. In March, Local 302 Business Manager Allan Darr and Director of Field Operations David Preston plan to attend all Alaska mem-bership meetings to describe Washington’s strike fund, how it works and safeguards to prevent its use for other purposes. Plus, they will answer any questions members have about the strike fund. So plan to attend!

Linse to replace retiring Welch After 29 years as a heavy equipment me-chanic and four years on the Local 302 staff, Field Representative Paul Welch plans to re-tire at the end of May. Shane Linse, a 6-year member from Wasilla, will replace Welch as Field Repre-sentative. Linse graduated the IUOE appren-ticeship program and has been working as an equipment operator. In his new position, he will provide di-rect member services—including negotiating and enforcing contracts—in the north side of Anchorage, north to the Mat-Su Valley, and the southern end of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, including Valdez. When you see our newest staffer, please welcome him on board.

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AT WORK IN ALASKA

In the last Loadline, we reported about a first-of-its-kind ballot measure, supported by a coalition of unions in-cluding Operating Engineers Local 302, that successfully granted City of Wasilla employees the freedom to form unions, if they so choose. Well, the first union vote under the measure was Feb. 5 for a group of public works employees, and they voted 13-2 to or-ganize with Local 302. Under Alaska’s Public Employees Relations Act, municipal governments can (and do) “opt out” and deny their employees the freedom of associa-tion and their right to collective bar-gaining. Ultimately, that anti-worker loophole should be closed by the State Legislature. But in the meantime, last fall’s successful campaign to grant

the freedom to choose unions is now considered a model for cities and bor-oughs throughout Alaska. “For the relatively conservative

The Port of Anchorage just announced that QAP (for-merly Quality Asphalt Paving) of Anchorage and MKB Constructors of Kirkland, WA, were low bidders for the next $95 million phase of the port’s expansion project. The overall $600 million project began in 2006 and is scheduled to finish in 2013. The new dock will more than double in size, will extend 400 feet further into the Inlet, and will add three new container cranes capable of un-

loading bigger ships. AIC is con-cluding the first phase, a 25-acre expansion and the placement of SOME 1 million cubic yards of fill material into the inlet. The $95 million question for Local 302 members: where will the Phase 2 gravel come from? “We’ve heard that the majority of good material on site was used up in the first phase, so gravel may

now have to be hauled in or barged in across the Inlet,” said Field Representative Jason Alward. “Where it comes from and how it’s delivered will affect the number of Phase 2 jobs that there will end up being for Local 302 members.”

QAP/MKB win Phase 2 at port

Local 302’s Anchorage staff recently celebrated David Erickson’s 70,000th hour of work at the union. Erickson (left) worked for 26 years, primarily as an HD Mechanic/Welder, before joining the union staff as Field Represen-tative in January 2000. For the past two years, he has literally put Local 302 members to work as Dispatcher.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to work alongside David,” said District Representative Tony Hansen (right). “He has demonstrated his passion for making this a stronger union, not just with his longevity, but every single day on the job.”

70,000 hours on the job

City of Wasilla workers, Local 302 lead the way

City of Wasilla, of all places, to ac-complish this sent waves throughout the whole state,” said Local 302 orga-nizer Jared Hamlin. “Too many other municipalities in Alaska don’t have the

same basic standards. It’s a black hole of labor rights and it’s shocking that it ex-ists in 2008. Now we have a road map for what workers can do if they want their freedom back.” The coalition of unions that worked together in Wasilla —Teamsters, Oper-ating Engineers and Laborers—are ready to take this campaign

on the road in 2009. So stay tuned. To our new Brothers and Sisters in Wasilla, welcome to the union! Now let’s get you the contract you want.

Jason AlwardField Representative

(Left to right) Ken Langlois, Jesse Craig, Lance Kopsack and Chuck Cooper attend an organizing meeting for Wasilla public works employees hosted at Langlois’ home.

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Charlie JurgensPresident & District Rep.

DISTRICT 7Fairbanks office 907-452-8131

Shawn LowryDispatcher

AT WORK IN ALASKA

Plans run for State House In February, Fairbanks agent John Brown retired after 33 years of service to Local 302, the last 15 years as Field Representative. He plans to run for State House of Representatives in District 10 against Republican Rep. Jay Ramras, who has a very poor voting record on behalf of working families. “John is an extraordinary individual who wholeheartedly believes in Local 302 and the labor movement,” said Local 302 President and District Representa-tive Charles Jurgens. “Those of us who had the pleasure of working with him know it is rare to find such a passionate, effective advocate for the union and our community. He’ll be sorely missed.” Jurgens adds that our union will ask members to support Brown’s campaign by putting up yard signs, attending rallies, call-ing radio stations, writing letters to the editor, waving signs, and most importantly, spreading the word to friends and family members that Brown will strongly represent them and their best interests in Juneau. “Our union was for-tunate to have John work for us,” Jurgens said. “Now it’s time for our local to get to work for him, so he has the oppor-tunity to serve our entire community.” In other news:n Major summer projects on the horizon in-clude Great NorthWest’s upgrades to Van Horn Road and continued work on their airport proj-ect; Exclusive Paving will be reconstructing the FIA runway and part of the Steese Hwy at the airport; HC Contractors will continue building the Dawson Road overpass over Richardson Hwy in North Pole; and AIC has two remote airport jobs in Minto and Northway. n Paving Products may add a second crew as the summer workload increases on its Eielson Air Force Base maintenance contract. Ray Electric and Interior Regional Housing Author-ity are also expecting to add new employees. n Norcon has a power plant project at the Fort Greely Missile defense site, which will fall under the Bechtel PLA and include installation

of five two-megawatt generators.n Nome Joint Utilities, Aurora Energy and Golden Valley are still in contract talks.n Sand-and-gravel negotiations have started with HC Redi-Mix, Browns Hill Quarry, Cowlthorpe Draglines and Colaska. We con-tinue efforts to standardize those contracts.

n Service Contract talks with Chugach at Fort Greely and Galena will begin in June. On the North Slope:n The North Slope Contractors Associa-tion signed a three-year North Slope Contract. Members at Nana Oil-

field Services have ratified a three-year deal.n AIC is busy with ice road work and pad work in Prudhoe Bay and has beguin a Rip-Rap haul below Pump Station 4 on the Dalton Hwy. to North Star Is., approximately 150 miles. n Cruz’s support contract continues with Chevron at Franklin Bluffs, but work at Happy Valley on the Renaissance project has ended.n HC Price’s BP pipeline work includes 6 Prudhoe Bay-area projects that run until May.n Doyon Associated has begun its Conoco-Phillips job, including pipeline replacement.n Norcon workload has increased due to additional “support and tie-ins” for BP.n Nanuq has been busy with multiple ice roads and gravel hauls, and will soon start construction of an offshore island for ENI.

Agent John Brown retires

Kyle BreesField Representative

Mike FriborgField Representative

Don LowryField Representative

TIPS FROM DISPATCH

MAKE SURE YOU RE-REGISTER every 90 days and update your qualifications. You don’t want to drop off the list now that work is picking up. Also, check your North Slope Training Card to make sure that it’s current and that the Fair-banks Dispatch office has a copy.

John Brown (center) celebrates at his retirement party with former District Representative Dave Rasley and his wife, Luella.

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commonly and successfully used in other cities in Local 302’s jurisdiction, we hope that this goes back before the assembly and passes soon,” said Busi-ness Manager and General Vice Presi-dent Allan B. Darr. “This is good for the city and good for our members.” Other news from Juneau: n Speaking of PLAs, two compan-ion bills up on the hill would allow nonunion workers on PLA projects to put money into 401(k) savings plans or other bogus retirement accounts, as opposed to real pension plans. The way the bills are drafted, they do not appear to be legal and hopefully will go nowhere. Meanwhile, it appears that un-employment benefits may finally be raised this year, for the first time in 10 years, putting Alaska somewhere in the middle of the pack among other states, instead of bringing up the rear. (See more on unemployment benefits and other legislative news on Page 25.)n Local 302 signed Durette Con-

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly is poised to approve a Project Labor Agreement requirement on all public works projects above $4 million.

Local 302 supports this because i t will promote loca l h i r -ing and as-sure that all jobs within the city and borough will pay union wages and benefits. The pro-posed PLA

ordinance hit a road bump in late Feb-ruary when City Manager Rod Swope pulled it from committee consideration so the city attorney can review its le-gality. The city has already been using PLAs for eight years. “Given that these ordinances are

AT WORK IN ALASKA

On Aug. 15, Doyon Utilities, LLC is scheduled to take over ownership and operations for the Government Utili-ties at Fort Wainwright, Fort Richardson, and Fort Greely. Doyon was awarded a 50-year contract that could be ex-

tended indefinitely. The company envisions more than 100 full-time employees at the three bases, the majority of whom would be Oper-ating Engineers, Electricians and Pipefitters. The Fairbanks Joint Craft Council, a coalition of unions in the area, has met with Doyon and talks have gone extremely well. Local 302 currently represents employees under FJCC contracts at Clear Air Force Base, Gilmore Tracking Station, Fort Wain-wright, Fort Richardson, and the

missile defense site on Fort Greely. Local 302 thanks Shaw Inc., which is under a FJCC contract at Fort Wainwright, for contacting Doyon and con-veying the benefits and advantages of FJCC contracts. The

rumor on the street is that Doyon will agree to a card-check election if the FJCC is chosen as employee representative. Unfortunately, the International Brotherhood of Electri-cal Workers has ignored FJCC efforts, and instead is attempt-ing to organize Doyon wall-to-wall on its own. Local 302 will continue its joint organizing efforts with the remaining FJCC locals, and together we will put pressure on the IBEW to get on board in solidarity with other unions. In other Fairbanks-area organizing news:n North Star Construction is working at Fort Knox Gold Mine under a joint venture with mine owner Kinross. A number of signatory contractors bid this work, which has historically been union, but Fort Knox rejected the low bid-der and decided to joint venture with a nonunion company. Local 302 has met with North Star’s owner, but we have been unable to reach an agreement. We could use our members’ help in identifying and organizing North Star employees.n A few workers at AES at Kuparik and Flint Hills Refin-ery in North Pole have contacted Local 302 and are interested in organizing. We are still in the early stages there, so if you know any of these workers, encourage them to organize and have them contact Lake Williams at the Fairbanks office. Thank you for helping us build this great union!

PLAs ‘good for Juneau, our members’

DISTRICT 8Juneau office 907-586-3850

Rob PetersonDistrict Representative

DISTRICT 7Fairbanks office 907-452-8131

Lake WilliamsOrganizer

Doyon Utilities wins 50-year contract

struction for the first time to do site work for the new Juneau public works facility and currently has two members working on the project.n “We’re still looking for a busy season if the DOT will get some of these major projects out to bid,” said District Representative Rob Peterson. He said those projects should include Petersburg Airport, Haines Highway, and the first phase of the Lynn Canal Highway.n Peterson is also putting out the call for more members in the Southeast area to step up and serve in the critically important role of Job Stewards. Call 907-586-3850 for more information.n Business Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr and Direc-tor of Field Operations David Preston will attend at the District 8 membership meeting in March, so please make a point to attend. Preston will be talking about the Strike Fund in Washington and how it could work in Alaska. (See the full story about this on Page 6.)

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AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Pumpers approve new contract

Conco was quick to return to the bargaining table after the old contract expired.

Some contractors refuse to sign new agreement

All-American Concrete Pumping, a new signatory contractor with Local 302, has added this 65-meter pump to its arsenal of equipment.

Members of Operating Engineers Locals 302 and 612 at Conco Con-crete Pumping in Washington voted Jan. 4 to approve an historic new con-tract agreement that raises the bar for concrete pumpers’ wages, fringes and conditions. Subsequently, All-Amer-ican Concrete Pumping signed this new master agreement in the industry. “By ratifying this contract, pump-ers just took a huge step forward to-ward getting the compensation they have been denied for too long,” said Local 302 Business Manager and Gen-eral Vice President Allan B. Darr. “The previous two-tiered contract was inherently divisive and created an incentive for contrac-tors to discourage participation in a real pen-sion. The new contract levels the playing field for contractors and provides a foundation that our members can build upon.” The new master agreement was negotiat-ed after contractors terminated their relation-ship with the Union upon expiration of the previous 7-year contract on Dec. 31. Mem-bers resoundingly rejected a last-minute sub-standard contract offer presented by Brund-age Bone, Ralph’s and Pacific on Dec. 30. The new contract eliminates a two-tiered set of benefits, so all pumpers participate in the Union pension and fringes. For the first time, it also awards overtime pay after 10 hours, includes lunch language, show-up pay and a shorter 3½-year duration with a May expiration. It also increases yard pay for the first time in seven years. But the new deal has not been without contro-versy. Some contractors that want to continue to do union jobs have refused to sign the new contract, and instead, have rallied their employees to protest the union for “forcing” them to take union fringes. Under the old con-tract, pumpers “chose” between Union fringes

and company fringes with a 401(k) savings plan that was far cheaper for the companies. The Union says some contractors pressured employees into taking the cheaper benefits. The companies deny this, but there is no de-nying that contractors had an incentive to do so, and that those with the most employees on the cheaper benefits had a competitive advan-tage over other signatory contractors. Holdout contractors have unsuccessfully sought to find another union willing to sign an agreement undercutting the new contract. Local 302 continues to urge all contrac-tors to sign the new agreement. Meanwhile, signatory general contractors are being re-minded, and in some cases grieved, regarding their subcontractors’ obligation to pay union wages and benefits. Members still at non-union companies have been instructed to sign up at Dispatch for union job opportunities.

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Operating Engineers Local 302 members who are working on jobs cov-ered under the Sea-Tac Airport or Sound Tran-sit Project Labor Agree-ments can get a free copy of those agreements. Printed courtesy of your local union, these book-lets can be a handy quick reference. “I was surprised to find out not only that some members were unfamiliar with lan-guage in the PLAs, but also that some mem-

Andy SniderField Representative

DISTRICT 1Bothell office 425-806-0302

Larry Gregory Field Representative

Matt Means Field Representative

Marge NewgentField Representative

AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Port of Seattle audit woes delay big projects In December, the Port of Seattle received a scathing performance audit that said the port squandered more than $97 million between 2004 and 2007 in various construction contracts. The administrative and political fallout of the audit continues, but for Local 302 members the effect was immediate.

In January, port commissioners voted to delay authorizing most of its planned construction projects until the port can implement the auditor’s recommendations for reform. That af-fected several projects, the biggest of which was Turner Construction’s $405 million rental car garage near Sea-Tac

Airport. The port had also planned a $78 million rebuild of its oldest and longest Sea-Tac Airport runway. In February, despite warnings that further delays will increase costs, commissioners postponed approval of $5 million in preliminary site work on the rental car garage.

Copies of PLA booklets availablebers didn’t even realize the job they were on was covered under a PLA.” said Field Representative Marge Newgent. Both of these PLAs, plus most of Local 302’s other major contracts, are accessible, for members only, at the local’s web

site: www.iuoe302.org. The master contracts with the Associated General Contractors in both Washington and Alaska are publicly available there for download.

the $52 million widening of SR 9 from SR 96 to Marsh Road. The project, which begins this spring and ends in spring 2010, will add intersections, turn lanes and guard rails. It also includes quite a bit of dirt work, including building retention ponds and upgrading or re-placing drainage features, culverts and ditches to help prevent erosion.n Construction of the Brightwater sewage treatment plant is falling behind schedule and jeopardizing the plant’s scheduled opening in 2010. Tunneling through unstable peat under N.E. 195th Street in North Creek has gone slower than expected and work on the eastern segment of the tunnel is now more than four months behind schedule, a consultant reported to the King County Council. n Hoffman Construction is close to having the structure up on a new 7-story barracks building at the Naval Station Everett.n Sand and gravel work continues to be very busy at Cadman, Glacier and Rinker. In fact, Rinker is looking to expand excavation and possibly add shifts.

Everett I-5 job winds down Wet winter weather in the Pacific North-west slowed progress a bit for the $263 million I-5 Everett freeway widening project. But in February, crews working for Atkinson reached the project’s latest milestone: opening two miles of the new HOV lanes. The project, which began in September 2005, remains on schedule for competition in June. The biggest remaining hurdle to finishing on time is replacing the 95-foot girder on the I-5 southbound bridge passing over Pacific Av-enue. This work began in March and involves splitting southbound I-5 lanes around the con-struction zone. Crews are working seven days a week to get that done quickly and minimize traffic disruption. “We will use the extra space from the new lanes to provide the necessary room for a safe construction zone,” said Project Director Mike Cotten. “If we didn’t have those new lanes, we’d have to shut down southbound I-5 to repair the bridge.” In other Snohomish County news:n In March, Scarsella Brothers was awarded

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TIPS FROM DISPATCH

DISTRICT 1Bothell office 425-806-0302

Eric BellamyField Representative

AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Rick CunninghamDispatcher

BOTHELL DISPATCH

425-806-0302 x300

Tony Zempel Dispatcher

Don’t allow your personal debt to grow to the extent that you can’t afford a layoff. It’s the nature of our trade that we work ourselves right out of a job. Sometimes that happens sooner that we imagined, or the next job doesn’t come as quickly as we ex-pected. So next time you start a new job and those substantial Local 302 paychecks start flowing in, make sure you put some of it in savings before you go buy that new truck or take on some other extraordinary expense. “It literally breaks my heart when I have guys call me who are missing payments and losing their cars or their houses, and I don’t have a job I can send them to yet,” said Dis-patcher Tony Zempel. Zempel understands that just because a member has a financial emergency doesn’t mean it was his or her fault. The mortgage crisis, injuries and medical emergencies, and any number of unexpected situations can

Put some money away for a rainy daywreak sudden havoc on a family’s finances. But Operating Engineers make good money and, to the extent possible, should try to be prepared for such crises. He points out that Unemployment In-surance in Washington state is about $2,000 a month. If your regular bills exceed that, and you don’t have accessible savings put aside, you’re probably overextended. So please save some money for a rainy day.

Re-register, answer your phones All members are reminded that it is their responsibility to re-register every 90 days to remain on the job list. Now that work’s picking up after a long winter, it’s especially important to make sure you’ve done this and that we have accurate phone numbers to reach you. And make sure you answer your phone(s), or else your job might go to the next person on the list.

Local politicians continue to de-bate how—or whether—to replace the central section of Seattle’s crumbling and sinking Alaskan Way Viaduct, but the state isn’t waiting around. A series of “early action” projects are under way that focus on safety, seismic upgrades and traffic mitigation in preparation for the state Department of Transpor-tation’s “Moving Forward” projects to reconstruct the viaduct’s north and south ends, regardless of what happens with the central section. One project has been shoring up the sinking viaduct support columns in Pioneer Square (see photo). Also on tap in the short term are a $50 million widening of South Spokane. The Moving Forward projects repair or replace about half of the viaduct. The major south end viaduct construction work is expected to begin in 2011. In other sinking Seattle landmark news, J. Harper recently did the demolition of the old

Seattle’s sinking viaduct is now ‘Moving Forward’

Rainier Cold Storage stock house building in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. Af-ter Prohibition, the landmark building was converted to a minus-12 degree cold stor-age. After the freezers finally turned off for good, the land beneath—said to be frozen 24 feet down to the bedrock—thawed and the building began to sink.

Ken Ackerman, a 10-year Local 302 member from Quilcene, drills new footings for the Alaskan Way Viaduct for Pile Contractors. The section he’s working on, between Columbia Street and Yesler Way has settled about five inches into the ground since the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.

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DISTRICT 1Bothell office 425-806-0302

Bob FranssenField Representative

Negotiators for King County are dragging their feet on pro-ceeding with impending arbitra-tion sessions and the productiv-ity issue in the contract. Marsha Knight, head of the county’s payroll department, said she would send a letter to everyone affected by the county failing to make contributions to the pension trust correctly. Af-ter getting persistent calls from

Field Representative Bob Franssen, she has committed to fixing the county’s errors. Franssen is working with Jim Devereaux from Human Resources to create a short-term hiring process for vari-ous county needs, including emergencies. Meanwhile, the roads-roller grievance is proceeding to arbitration. Congratulations are in order to Local 302 members Mike Dollarhyde and Debra Lemon, who recently joined the county work force.

AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Slow progress with King Co. In other news:n Walter Haynes, Local 302’s steward at Waste Manage-ment, reports that he and his co-workers are looking for-ward to this fall’s negotiations for a new contract.n Kitsap County negotiations are heading to mediation and scheduled for March 25-26. “Among our goals are to addresses the CDL issues and get a decent cost-of-living increase,” Franssen said.n Mason County is already embroiled in mediation with Local 302 and the issues involve longevity pay and a fair cost-of-living increase. n Local 302’s two cemetery contracts are going along smoothly. David Leder at Associated Catholic is looking forward to going to the bargaining table and battling for a favorable contract this fall.n James Cheeseboro, our steward at Chugach Indus-tries, is busy fielding questions concerning pension issues and Tri-Care insurance problems. Members working for Chugach with pension questions should direct them to Me-linda at 206-441-7314 x3210. The Tri-Care Supplemental concerns should be directed to your U.S. Representative.

On Feb. 13, Max J. Kuney Co. was awarded a major $54 million project

to transform more than four miles of SR 539 from a two-lane road to a four-lane h i g h w a y from Lynden to Ten Mile Road. Con-struction is scheduled to start in April and will be

finished in fall 2009. “This is a big deal for Local 302 members in Whatcom County,” said

DISTRICT 2Mt. Vernon

cell: 206-391-2336

Chuck CampbellDistrict Representative

Max J. Kuney wins $50M SR 539 widening job

District Representative Chuck Camp-bell. “It is indicative of the efficiency and productivity of our members, and union members in general, that the ma-jority of bidders were union companies and that the winner was one of them.” In addition to widening the high-way, the project includes installation of median and cable barriers, plus four roundabouts at key intersections.

Oil refinery work continues Local 302 members continue to work at the BP Cherry Point Refinery near Bellingham. Built in 1971, some $1 billion in capital improvements are planned over the next five years to retrofit components, reduce emissions and increase safety, according to plant manager Jeff Pitzer.

Three Local 302 members were tried and found guilty in February of working for nonunion companies without a dispatch from the union. All three were working in District 2, were asked by Union Representatives to leave the jobs and refused. They are:n Donald Steele, Clear Creek Contractors job in Everett, fine imposed: $15,441.60.n Shane Davis, TriMaxx job in Sedro Woolley, $16,728.40n Ronald C. Aldridge, TriMaxx job in Camano Is., $16,728.40. The three have up to six months to pay the fines and if they fail to do so, they will be expelled from membership in Local 302 or any other IUOE local.

Three members fined for working nonunion

www.IUOE302.orgYou don’t have to wait three months for the next Loadline to get Local 302 news...

www.IUOE302.org

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Parsons RCI of Sumner continues work at the 8th Street bridges replacement project in Port Angeles. On the Tumwa-ter Creek span, workers are forming and pouring concrete for the bridge abutments and support columns. On the Valley

Creek bridge, operators are drill-ing for the shaft casings, which will each require approximately 100 yards of concrete. Ground was broken in August 2007 and the $18.4 million project is sched-uled to be finished this fall. The pre-existing timber bridges were built in 1936 as a cheaper alternative using con-crete. Ironically, cost has also driven the decision to replace them with concrete, rather than more expensive steel bridges. The City of Port Angeles has

webcams on the project so you can follow its progress online at www.cityofpa.us/bridges.htm. In other District 3 news:n Speaking of bridge work, on Feb. 19 the $9.4 million rehabilitation of Hoquiam’s 80-year-old Simpson Avenue Bridge has kicked into high gear with the detour of all US 101 until the end of April. Rognlin’s, Inc. is the general.n Rognlin’s is also building the new Mason County public works facility (for our members there), which includes an office building, Emergency Operations Center and vehicle

AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Daren KonopaskiDistrict Representative

DISTRICT 3Silverdale office 360-307-0557

Port Angeles’ 8th St. bridges taking shape

Parsons RCI is the general contractor for the $18.4 million replacement of the 8th Street bridges in Port Angeles.

maintenance shop, at the intersection of SRs 101 and 102.n Lakeside Industries in Aberdeen is doing paving in Ocean Shores again this year, starting at the end of March.n DelHur Industries in Port Angeles has the $9 million dirt work for the National Park Service’s 3-year, $70 million Elwha Water Facilities project.n Lakeside Industries of Port Angeles will repave the Hurricane Ridge Road plus SR 101 on Hood Canal.n Primo Construction is busy on the Gateway Transporta-tion Center in Port Angeles, plus a sewer line extension on the east side of town. Our union continues to push for the the graving dock for the 520 bridge to be in Hoquiam and for the Fred Hill pit-to-pier project. Local 302 would also like to welcome aboard two recently signed contractors in the district: Olympic Blacktop, a paving contractor out of Port Angeles, and MHB a Port Hadlock/Chimicum contractor that does excavating and paving work. As work picks up in the area (and everywhere in Local 302’s jurisdiction), District Representative Daren Konopaski reminds all members in District 3 to re-register every 90 days to stay on the work list.

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KLB Construction Inc. has picked up the new highway interchange proj-ect for US 2 and Highway 97 in Pe-shastin, just north of Wenatchee. The at-grade intersection that was con-sidered a High Accident Location by the Washington State Department of Transportation will be replaced by a new interchange 1,000 feet to the west, with new ramps and an underpass for

Highway 97 to go under US 2. The $9.8 mil-lion project is scheduled to begin in March or April and should be complete by the fall of 2009. It was funded by the “nickel pack-age” 5-cent gas tax increase ap-proved by the State Legislature in 2003. Scarsella Bros. Inc. was

awarded the contract to stablize slopes on US Highway 12 along the Naches River near Yakima. The $1.5 million project will probably start in June and will correct chronic

AT WORK IN WASHINGTON

Sean JeffriesDistrict Representative

DISTRICT 4 & 5Ellensburg office 509-933-3020

Union, Invenergy meet about wind farm in Vantage

KLB gets $9.7 million interchange

Local 302 member John Wood, Jr. of Cashmere works on a KLB Construction project on SR 24 last fall.

bank erosion problems threatening the highway and aquatic habitat by realigning roughly 2,700 feet of the river chan-nel away from US 12. “There is more work on smaller projects in our district being done by local contractors,” said District Representa-tive Sean Jeffries. He said Local 302 members in the area can learn about those jobs and other area news by attending the meetings at the new Ellensburg office, 403 S. Water St., on the second Wednesdays of the month at 7 p.m.

In 2006, voters in Washington state approved Initiative 937, guaranteeing that 15% of the electricity from our largest utilities comes from home-grown renewable energy sources like wind. A critical part of the argument in favor of I-937 was that it would create new jobs in our communities. That’s why many felt burned when Horizon Wind Energy’s general contractor hired an out-of-state workforce to contruct the Wild Horse wind project. Local 302 is working to make sure that doesn’t happen again and that fu-ture wind farms are built by Local 302 operators from here in Washington. Union representatives recently met

with Invenergy about the company’s proposed $250 million 69-turbine wind energy project near Vantage. District Representative Sean Jeffries and Government Affairs Director Randy Loomans made our case for hiring Lo-cal 302-signatory contractors for the dirt and hoisting work on the project. “Our highly trained, experienced membership of local crane and equip-ment operators can make sure this job

gets done efficiently and correctly,” Jeffries said. “In fact, our 1,600-acre Operating Engineers Regional Training Center is located just down the road from the site of this project.” At a public hearing before Kittitas County officials in March, Local 302 representatives testified in support of Invenergy’s plan to mitigate or elimi-nate the environmental impacts of the project.

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APPRENTICESHIP & TRAINING

Tami St. PaulTraining Coordinator

Operating Engineers Regional

Training CenterEllensburg, WA 1-800-333-9752

Jim AgnewTraining Director

Sandy WinterTraining Coordinator

(Above) Apprentice Dan Talbot on a dozer at the Regional Training Center in Ellensburg.(Right) Apprentices David Bruzas, foreground, and Chris Scheid do a grade-checking exercise

Do you need your CDL? Washington’s Department of Licensing is changing its requirements for Commercial Driver’s Licenses. Starting in June 2008, in addition to pass-ing the DOL’s written exam, getting a physical and passing the drive test, you will need to attend a minimum of 160 hours of instruction to obtain your CDL. You can act now to get your CDL before this new rule goes into effect. The train-ing center in Ellensburg has limited openings in upcoming CDL Classes. Get on the wait-ing list as soon as possible by calling 1-800-333-9752.

Ellensburg center growing, expanding This year, under Chairman Allan B. Darr’s leadership, the Trustees approved Training Director Jim Agnew’s plans to purchase more than $700,000 in new equipment for the Regional Training Center in Ellensburg. In 2008, the center will add an excavator, loader, roller, another JD backhoe and forklift, and expand its shop to build three new classrooms. Likewise, the training staff has expanded. We welcome Becky Lyons teaching loader and asphalt paving courses; Jerry Turner teaching CDL; and Rick Wyllys teaching crane. Returning instructors, who are all doing a great job, are Corrie Eikanger teaching grade, GPS and haz-mat courses; Dennis Greninger teaching the excavator; Efrain Saucedo teaching dozer/scraper and blade; Bill Moore teaching backhoe; and Gary Orsborn teaching crane, rigging, signaling and NCCCO refreshers. George Rock, Tom Christensen and John Lasher are keeping everything else at the center running like clockwork. Ken Pagel teaches a mechanic curriculum as a satellite course at Bates Technical college and another new and welcome ad-dition to our training staff is Bill Krause, teaching our grade tech/site surveyor curriculum from Bothell and Tacoma.

Training scheduleCheck out the complete schedule for the training center in Ellensburg at

www.oetraining.comOr call 1-800-333-9752 to have one sent to you.

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APPRENTICESHIP & TRAINING

Two Alaska Operating Engineers-Employers Training Center instructors passed away in 2007: Grant Weir and Harold Parker. Weir, a 50-year Local 302 member who taught Blade classes for many years at the training center, died Aug. 23 at his home in Anchorage. He was 73. “The students and staff who worked with Grant will always remember him as one of the best,” said Administrator Ken Peltier. “His passing is a major loss not just for our training center, but for each of us personally.” Parker, 55, died Dec. 16. He joined Local 302 in May 1975, had great passion for heavy equipment/diesel repair and was a re-spected, knowledgeable master mechanic. After retiring, he chose to share his knowledge with apprentices by joining the training staff on a part-time basis. Those fortunate enough to have known Harold know that he was a fun-loving, warm-hearted individual who lived life to the fullest and will be greatly missed.

Center increases apprentice enrollment to meet demand

Betty Jo DibbleApprentice Coordinator

IUOE RegionalTraining Center

Palmer, AK 1-800-460-5044

Mike HolcombTraining Director

Ken PeltierAdministrator

GRANT WEIR (1933-2007)

Alaska training center loses two instructors

The Alaska Operating Engineers-Em-ployers Training Center in Palmer is currently training its largest class of Apprentice Heavy Duty Mechanics since the facility opened in 1990. On March 24, the center will begin Service Oilers and Heavy Equipment Operator classes, again with the largest group of apprentices the center has trained to date. “We chose to raise the numbers due to the number of graduating apprentices needed to meet the mandatory apprentice language in the Master Agreement and to acknowledge the certain employer demand for more trainees,” said Administrator Ken Peltier. Here is the center’s class schedule (check our web site at www.aoeett.org for updates, changes and future schedules):

APRIL 200804/01 – NSTC – Fairbanks Hall04/02 – Hazmat Refresher – Fairbanks Hall04/03 – MSHA 46/48 Refresher – Fairbanks Hall04/03 to 04/04 – MSHA 46/48 New Miner – Fair-banks Hall04/05 – NSTC – IBEW Anchorage04/07 to 04/11 – NCCCP Prep – Palmer Training Center04/12 – NSTC – Fairbanks Hall04/12 – NCCCO Written Test – Palmer Training Center

04/14 to 04/18 – NCCCO Practical Test – Palmer Training Center04/14 - NSTC – Palmer Training Center04/14 – NSTC Refresher – Palmer Training Cen-ter04/15 – Hazmat Refresher – Palmer Training Center04/16 - MSHA 46/48 Refresher – Palmer Training Center04/16 to 04/17 – MSHA 46/48 New Miner – Palmer Training Center04/21 to 04/25 –Basic Motor Grader – Palmer Training Center04/21 to 05/02 – Utility Trenching – Palmer Train-ing Center

MAY 200805/03 – NSTC – Teamsters Anchorage05/05 to 05/16 – Advanced Motor Grader –Palmer Training Center05/06 – NSTC – Fairbanks Hall05/07 – MSHA 46/48 Refresher – Fairbanks Hall05/08 – Hazmat Refresher – Fairbanks Hall05/10 – NSTC – IBEW in Fairbanks05/12 to 05/16 – CDL – Palmer Training Center05/13 - NSTC – Palmer Training Center05/13 – NSTC Refresher – Palmer Training Cen-ter05/14 - MSHA 46/48 Refresher – Palmer Training Center05/15 – Hazmat Refresher – Palmer Training Center

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Sound Transit: Jobs in the past, present, future This year, Sound Transit turns 12 years old. Although the Regional Transit Au-thority for Washington’s King, Pierce and Snohomish counties was actually formed in 1993, it didn’t get its current name until three years later after voters in those counties approved a $3.9 billion ballot measure. The original Sound Transit plan was to build an 81-mile commuter rail line from Everett to Lakewood, 25 miles of light rail in Seattle and Tacoma, and a

A Sound investment in WA’s infrastructure

ed state highway projects and the Sea-Tac Airport expansion, have cushioned the negative impact of the slumping U.S. economy here in Washington. The air-port expansion is nearly done; the new third runway scheduled to begin opera-tion in November. But Sound Transit con-struction and highway projects continue, and that means another decade of work for Local 302 members… at least. What follows is a look at the past, present and future of Sound Transit con-struction work.

21-route express bus system. In the ensuing 12 years, Sound Transit has suffered through cost overruns and delays, scaled-back routes and expectations, scaled-up routes and expectations, and its share of public-relations struggles. But one thing is certain. Since that time in 1996 when work began on the first Sounder commuter rail line between Seattle and Tacoma, through today’s continued construc-tion of the 15.6-mile Link light rail from downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac International Airport, Sound Transit has meant jobs, jobs and more jobs for Operating Engineers. It has helped to keep our out-of-work list short and our union standing tall.

“This union’s steadfast support of Sound Transit has paid off big time with hundreds and hundreds of jobs for Local 302 mem-bers over the past decade,” said Allan B. Darr, Local 302 Business Manager and General Vice Presi-dent. “It’s truly a win-win situation for our local union and for Washington’s trans-portation system and state economy.” Darr played a key role in campaigning for passage of the South Transit mea-sure and then in enforcing its Project Labor Agree-ment when he served as Executive Secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO. Many economists argue that superior infrastructure is one of America’s biggest competitive advantages and the extent to which it is improved will keep businesses and jobs from moving overseas. Sound Transit, along with other job-creating infrastructure investments like the gas-tax-fund-

(Right) Union Steward Erin Benjamin, a 3-year Local 302 crane operator,

works on Mowat’s Link project at the Sea-Tac International Airport.

(Below) Crane operator and new Local 302 member Wayne Gotts

keeps things moving at the same site on Feb. 28. The old return-to-terminal loop around the airport parking garage

(to the right) is being demolished to make way for the Link station where

this light-rail line ends.

Source: Sound Transit

Link Light Rail

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COVER STORY

A Sound investment in WA’s infrastructure

With strong support from Operating Engineers Local 302, the rest of the Build-ing and Construction Trades unions, and the entire labor community in the Puget Sound region, the Sound Transit ballot measure was approved in fall 1996 by voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. But the actual construction work was very limited in the first few years as the new agency spent money acquiring property and rights of way, plus designing the various projects. The Sounder commuter rail, which utilized miles of existing track, was first

out of the gate and in 2000, Sound Transit began Sounder service between Tacoma and Seattle. Since then, it has expanded service on that line and added stops, with the construction of stations in Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, Sumner and Puyallup. In 2004, new Sounder commuter rail service began between Everett and Seattle. Sounder commuter trains currently oper-ate in a 74-mile corridor from Everett to Tacoma with construction of an 8-mile extension to Lakewood now under way. Meanwhile, Sound Transit’s Link light rail system, intended to stretch from

Seattle to Tacoma, got off to a rockier start. In 2001, the “central” Link project from Seattle to SeaTac was suspended due to unexpected budget increases, but construction did begin on the downtown Tacoma Link light rail. The 1.6-mile Tacoma Link line opened in August 2003 and connects the downtown Tacoma business, theater and university districts to the Tacoma Dome Station.

Where the work is today

With Sounder and Tacoma Link service up and running, Sound Transit construction now under way finally involves that central segment of the Link light rail line. It is a 15.6-mile route connecting down-town and southeast Seattle with the

“This union’s steadfast support of Sound Transit has paid off big time

with hundreds and hundreds of jobs for Local 302 members over the past decade.”

— ALLAN B. DARR, LOCAL 302 BUSINESS MANAGER & GENERAL VICE PRESIDENT

Sounder, then a rocky start for Link

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

(Right) Butch Durant, an 18-year Local 302 member from Federal

Way, poses outside his crane at Mowat’s Airport Link project.

Check out the entire Link light-rail project list, get construction updates, and watch animated videos of what the finished rail lines will look like at...

www.SoundTransit.org

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Source: Sound Transit

station and SeaTac’s City Center. Meanwhile, Mowat Construc-tion’s elevated rail line from Tukwila to the airport has been taking shape for months. Mowat has also won the

moving. They were real heroes on that project.” SEA-TAC LINK—For the past couple of years, Sound Transit, the Port of Seattle and the City of SeaTac have been working together on road construction to improve access to the airport and to what will be the Link light-rail station there. It includes a new return-to-terminal l o o p a n d e l e v a t e d pedestrian walkways connecting airport tick-et counters with the rail

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19

Sound Transit

Workers climb down from Obayashi’s Tunnel Boring Machine after holing through on the second Beacon Hill tunnel March 5.

(Below) TBM operator Mark Griffith, a 4-year Local 302 member from Fife, emerges to shake hands with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (on the right).

Sea-Tac Airport, with 14 stops along the way. More than 6 million man hours have been worked by union members on the Link project so far. This segment has meant hundreds of jobs for Operating Engineers since ground was broken in November 2003. Today’s most visible ele-ments of this project involve digging two tunnels through Seattle’s Beacon Hill and the construction of elevated rail platforms from Tukwila to the airport, where a new station is about to be built. BEACON HILL TUNNEL —Obayashi Corp. is the general contractor for the Beacon Hill tunnel project, which includes an underground station 165 feet beneath the hilltop that passen-gers will access through four high-speed elevators. The project broke ground in 2004, although actual tunneling didn’t start until 2006. Excavation for the underground station and the first one-mile tunnel were both completed in Spring 2007, and on March 5, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) holed through on the second tunnel for north-bound trains. Tragically, Michael B. Merryman, a 49-year-old experienced welder and fabricator on his very first dispatch as a Local 302 mechanic, died at the Beacon Hill site in February 2007 when a runaway locomotive he was aboard crashed into a parked locomotive. The Sound Transit Board of Directors unan-imously voted to place a plaque at the entrance of the tunnel in his memory. “Those are some tough condi-tions our members have faced at Beacon Hill,” said Local 302 Field Representative Marge Newgent. “The TBM crew and mechanics faced a lot of obstacles to keep that machine

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COVER STORY

Despite the best efforts of Operating Engineers Local 302 to support its passage, last fall’s Proposition 1 Roads and Transit measure failed on a 56% to 44% vote. The $18 billion transportation investment in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties would have created thousands more jobs over the next 20 years in the area, and significantly expanded Sound Transit’s light-rail construction. “That was a major disappointment,” said Local 302 Business Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr. “It was a great opportunity to extend the reach of light-rail service to many more Washingtonians while creating another 20 years of work for our members.” In the end, it wasn’t just the usual anti-tax suspects who doomed the Roads and Transit measure. The State Legislature had tied the Sound Transit light-rail expansion to major road projects—including a new SR 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington—in the hope that a uni-fied ballot measure would win voter support. That strat-egy failed when environmentalists, led by King County Executive Ron Sims, opposed the package because they wanted a “transit-only” proposal instead. Looking at what the failed Roads and Transit measure had in store for Sound Transit offers a glimpse at possible future construction work for Operating Engineers. The package would have extended Link light rail east to Redmond’s Overlake area via Mercer Island and Bel-levue, south from Sea-Tac Airport through Des Moines and Federal Way to the Tacoma Dome, and north almost to Mill Creek with stops along the way in Northgate,

Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood and Alderwood. It also would have funded a study of extending to Everett, West Seattle, Burien and Renton. Following the measure’s defeat, polls indicated that voters would have looked more favorably upon a transit-only measure rather than the ambitious, expensive pack-age they rejected. Several Sound Transit board members say a new bal-lot measure could be put before voters as soon as this fall to accomplish the expansion described above. It would be paid for by a combination of existing taxes and a sales tax increase of between 0.3 and 0.5 percent. (That would add 3 to 5 cents to $10 purchases and would cost each household an estimated $75 to $125 per year.) But some observers speculate that this expansion package may not make the ballot until 2010, after the public has begun riding trains on the new light-rail line to Sea-Tac Airport. Sound Transit’s Board has until March 29 to decide if it wants to put the expansion before voters this fall. Whenever it reaches the ballot, Darr vows that Lo-cal 302 will continue to strongly support transit or roads packages that create jobs for our members. “The urgent need to improve our transportation sys-tem didn’t disappear when voters rejected the Roads and Transit measure last year,” Darr said. “Traffic continues to get worse. Congestion is harming our state economy, our environment and our quality of life. This work has to get done and the longer we delay, the more expensive it’s going to be.”

contract to build the Sea-Tac Airport Station, the first phase of which is a $74 million project. Local 302 members have been working on many more Sound Transit jobs than just those two, ranging from new freeway interchanges to park-and-rides, from rail stations to transit centers. For a list of completed and ongoing Sound Transit projects, visit www.soundtransit.org/x1188.xml. Link’s central segment is sched-uled to be up and running in mid-2009, with 30-minute rides between Seattle’s Westlake station and Tukwila/Interna-tional Blvd. By the end of 2009, it will run all the way to the airport, operating 20 hours per day and 7 days a week. Trains will leave every six minutes dur-ing rush hour and every 10-15 minutes during midday and evening hours.

The future of Sounder commuter rail is to go further south, past the Tacoma Dome. Ground was just bro-ken on a new $11.5 million station in South Tacoma between South 56th and South 60th at Washington Street, and is scheduled for Spring 2009 comple-tion. The next stop southward will be a new station in Lakewood. Sounder service to the new stations will start in 2011-12, with express bus service beginning there sooner. But for Local 302 members, the next big round of Sound Transit work is scheduled to begin late this year—and last for at least another eight years! That’s when ground will be broken on the University Link, a $1.61 billion, 3.15-mile northward extension of light rail. It will run entirely underground

in twin-bored tunnels from downtown Seattle north to the University of Wash-ington, with stations at Capitol Hill and on the UW campus near Husky Stadium. This project will be fully funded without raising taxes if the Federal Transit Authority comes through with a $750 million federal grant this fall and if Sound Transit’s voter-approved motor vehicle excise tax is collected through 2028. In February, the Bush administration’s budget proposed a $100 million down payment on that grant, which makes it likely the U-Link will break ground on schedule late this year. The U-Link trains are expected to be running by 2016, and will offer a 7-minute trip from downtown to UW.

Next up: $1.6 billion U-Link

Even more expansion for Sound Transit?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

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Giblin steps up for Local 302IUOE General President backs concrete pumpers, new master agreement When rumors surfaced that other building trades unions might seek to sign concrete pumpers in Washington and negotiate a contract that undercuts the new master agreement, International Union of Op-erating Engineers General President Vincent Giblin immediately stepped up to support Local 302 and its members in the industry. Giblin contacted the leaders of the unions in-volved and notified Local 302 that “Laborers General President Terry O’Sullivan has instructed his

people in Seattle to not proceed with any efforts directed at the concrete pump contractors.” Likewise, Giblin spoke with Car-penters General President Doug Mc-Carron, and wrote: “He told me that he had advised his locals in the Seattle

area to stay away from the concrete pumping contrac-tors and your members.” The owners of nonunion contractors had approached both unions to try to get a contract that undercuts the new Local 302 master agree-ment. (See story on Page 10 for details.) Throughout the dispute between Local 302 and these nonunion concrete pumping

companies, Local 302 Business Man-ager Allan Darr has been in continual

NATIONAL NEWS

contact with President Giblin to keep him apprised of the current situation. “Our General President has never wavered in his support of our mem-bers who voted for this improved con-tract and our local union’s strategy to sign all area contractors to the new master agreement,” Darr said. “Presi-dent Giblin has conveyed his respect for what our local union and its lead-ership are accomplishing and contin-ues to offer to his full support. That makes me very proud to be a member of this union.” Giblin has confirmed—and re-confirmed—that the IUOE strongly supports and congratulates Local 302 on its success in achieving a better contract and in protecting our union’s jurisdiction. He plans to continue to follow the matter closely and help Lo-cal 302 in any way he can.

Alaska is #2, Washington #4Union membership growsin our region, steady in U.S. Alaska and Washington continue to buck national trends by adding union members and now rank among the states with the most members as a percentage of the workforce, according to the U.S. Bu-reau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In 2007, Alaska added 6,000 union members for a total of 68,000, represent-ing 23.8% of the state’s workforce. That ranks Alaska second in the nation in terms of union density. Meanwhile, Washington state added 30,000 members for a total of 579,000. At 20.2%, Washington now ranks fourth in union density. Operating Engineers Local 302 has seen similar growth in the past year. In January 2007, Local 302 had 10,571 mem-bers, up nearly 400 from a year earlier and more than 1,100 from two years ago. “Local 302 is proud to be active in two of the strongest union states in the country,” said Business Manager Allan

Darr. “If other unions continue to grow, as we have, all of us will be in a stronger position to bargain for good contracts and attract even more members.” Nationally, overall union density rose slightly from 12.0% to 12.1% in 2007, an increase of 311,000 to a total of 15.7 million union members. Full-time union workers had median weekly earnings of $863 in 2007, compared to $663 for those who were not represented by unions, the BLS reports. The number of union members could increase dramatically if the next Congress passes and the new president signs the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Some 60 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could, ac-cording to a recent study by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. But when workers try to gain a voice on the job by forming a union, employers routinely respond with intimidation, harassment and retaliation. The EFCA would allow workers to freely decide whether to join a union.

How the states rank

IUOE GENERAL PRESIDENT

VINCENT GIBLIN

Union density percentages by state in 2007, and the previous year’s rankings (in parentheses):

1. New York 25.2 (2)2. Alaska 23.8 (3)3. Hawaii 23.4 (1)4. Washington 20.2 (5)5. Michigan 19.5 (6)6. New Jersey 19.2 (4)7. California 16.7 (9)8. Minnesota 16.3 (8)9. Connecticut 15.6 (10)10. Nevada 15.4 (13)

Overall U.S. union density 12.1

41. Utah* 5.8 (43)42. Louisiana* 5.6 (39)43. Arkansas* 5.4 (45)44. Idaho* 5.3 (40) Tennessee* 5.3 (41)46. Texas* 4.7 (46)47. Georgia* 4.4 (47)48. S. Carolina* 4.1 (49)49. Virginia* 3.7 (48)50. N. Carolina* 3.0 (50)

* —“Right-to-Work” states

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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ELECTION NEWS

No presidentialendorsement yet from IUOE In April, there will be an impor-

tant election in the City of Anchor-age involving its Municipal Assem-bly. The election is of particular importance to Local 302 members and all other trade unionists in the area because the current assembly has been very unfriendly to labor and difficult regarding contract ne-gotiations with city employees. “If we can encourage our members to support pro-labor can-didates we can get this back in our favor,” said District Representa-tive Tony Hansen. “There’s going to be a mayor change next year (in the 2009 elections) and if we don’t have a good assembly in place, it’s not going to look good.” Local 302 representatives have been active in the candidate

interview process at the Anchorage Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and will soon announce which can-didates have labor’s endorsement. (Check our union’s web site at www.iuoe302.org for those names.) Local 302 plans to mail all members in the City of Anchorage a list of labor-endorsed candidates. The effort is part of an initiative by Business Manager and General President Allan B. Darr to improve communications with all members about the workings of the union, in-cluding political endorsements. “Local elections like this one make clear the direct link between union political action and getting good contracts for our members,” Darr said. “We have to be proactive on behalf of our members.”

Anchorage election in April

Now that the field of presidential candidates has narrowed considerably, some national unions have begun to make endorsements for Democrats Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The International Union of Oper-ating Engineers has not yet endorsed a candidate. The union had open dis-cussions at its recent regional confer-ences about making an early endorse-ment, but ultimately the union opted to wait. “We’re not sitting this one out,” General President Vincent Giblin said. IUOE will strongly support whichever candidate earns the Democratic nomi-nation, he said, in order to reverse the anti-union, anti-labor policies of the Bush administration.

McCain: No friend of working people Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Re-publican candidate for president, has supported working families just 17% of the time during his career in Con-gress, according to the AFL-CIO. But even that sorry voting record doesn’t reflect the true hostility he has had for unions, middle-class jobs and wage standards.

PREVAILING WAGE—Since McCain was sworn into Congress 25 years ago, he has voted against Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards at least 17 times. In fact, he has co-sponsored legislation to repeal the Da-vis-Bacon Act, which guarantees that local prevailing wages and benefits are paid on public works projects.

UNION RIGHTS—McCain voted for a national Right-to-Work (for less) law banning workers from negotiating union-security clauses in their contracts. He also voted to block consideration of the House-approved Employee Free Choice Act, long-overdue labor law re-form to restore the freedom to choose unionization.

HEALTH CARE—In 2007, McCain voted against expansion of the state Children’s Health Insurance Program and also voted to block consideration of a bill that would have allowed Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.

GOOD WAGES—In 2005, McCain voted against protecting workers’ right to overtime pay. He has repeatedly voted against increasing the federal minimum wage, which was frozen at $5.15 an hour for more than a decade on his watch.

AMERICAN JOBS—In 2005, McCain voted for the CAFTA to expand the job- killing policies of NAFTA (which he also voted for) throughout the Western hemisphere. He voted against a 2004 amendment prohibiting the offshore outsourcing of federal contracts. “I’m not going to bring back a lot of these jobs,” McCain said. “I can’t because with a global economy, they’re headed the other way.”

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Gas line reaches ‘milestone’Palin reaffirms commitment to project labor agreement Since the 1970s, Alaska and oil and gas companies have been plotting a 1,700-mile pipeline to deliver the North Slope’s natural gas to other parts of the state, and through Canada to the Midwestern United States. More than 30 years later, thanks to skyrocketing oil prices that have made the project a more realistic investment and some hard work by Alaska policymakers, the process has reached what Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin calls a “milestone” toward actually breaking ground. Last year, the Legislature ap-proved the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) to initiate a transparent, competitive application process and to establish some minimum require-ments for the project’s winning bidder. Among those were local hiring provi-sions and a project labor agreement to ensure union-scale wages, benefits and conditions in its construction. In November, five companies sub-mitted proposals under AGIA. After a comprehensive review of the applica-tions by government officials and pri-vate consultants, TransCanada Corp. was found in January to be the only applicant to have met all of the state’s requirements. The $30 to $40 billion (with a “b”) gas line project would be North Amer-ica’s largest infrastructure project. For members of Operating Engineers Lo-cal 302, it would mean hundreds of construction and maintenance jobs that would last for generations. “We’re very pleased to have worked with all of you to include in AGIA that project labor agreement,” Palin told the Alaska AFL-CIO Leg-islative Conference on Jan. 28. “It is in law now. There’s not going to be guessing or hoping or speculation about whether we can get a PLA... We’re going to create thousands of good jobs, and careers, for Alaskans.”

TransCanada’s application now moves to the evaluation phase of the AGIA process, where the public has a chance to review its application, plus

proposals found not to meet the mini-mum requirements. Input from Town Hall meetings across the state will help guide debate as the Alaska State Legislature considers in 2009 whether to award TransCanada the exclusive license to proceed with the project. When the project finally breaks ground, it will take an estimated 10 years to construct and more than 40,000 workers to build the U.S. sec-tions of the pipeline, according to Drue Pearce, Federal Coordinator for the project. That will create major challenges to train workers to fill all of those jobs, she added.

At the Alaska AFL-CIO Legislative Conference, left to right: Dispatcher David Erickson, District Representative Rob Peterson, Apprentice Coordinator Betty Jo Dibble, Alaska Labor Commissioner Click Bishop, Business Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr, Training Center Administrator Ken Peltier, District Representative Tony Hanson and Organizer Lake Williams.

ALASKA LEGISLATIVE NEWS

to talk about something near and dear to his heart: apprenticeship. “We’ve seen a marked increase in the number of registered appren-tice slots on highway projects across the state,” Bishop said. “I’ve worked on this for 17 years, and this year we’re going to see another marked increase in apprenticeship opportu-nities.”

Also speaking at the Alaska AFL-CIO Legislative Conference was Click Bishop, the former Train-ing Administrator of the Alaska Op-erating Engineers-Employers Train-ing Center who was appointed last year to serve as Commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce development. Among other things, he took the opportunity

Bishop touts apprenticeship

“We’re very pleased to

have worked with (unions) to include in AGIA that

project labor agreement.”

— ALASKA GOV. SARAH PALIN

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ALASKA LEGISLATIVE NEWS

House backs labor law reform Here’s how Alaska’s State Representatives voted Jan. 28 on HJR 25, which passed by a 21-15 vote: VOTING YES: Reps. Bob Buch (D-Anchorage), Sharen Cissna (D-Anchorage), Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage), Nancy Dahlstrom (R-Anchorage), Andrea Doll (D-Juneau), Mike Doogan (R-Anchorage), Bryce Edgmon (R-Unalaska), Les Gara (D-Anchorage), Berta Gardner (D-Anchorage), David Guttenberg (D-Fairbanks), John Harris (R-Valdez), Mike Hawker (R-Anchorage), Lindsey Holmes (D-Anchorage), Reggie Joule (D-Kotzebue), Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks), Gabrielle LeDoux (R-Kodiak), Mary Nelson (D-Bethel), Bob Roses (R-Anchorage), Woodie Salmon (D-Aniak), Paul Seaton (R-Homer), and Bill Thomas (R-Haines). VOTING NO: Reps. Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski), John Coghill (R-North Pole), Anna Fairclough (R-Eagle River), Carl Gatto (R-Palmer), Kyle Johansen (R-Ketchikan), Craig Johnson (R-Anchorage), Wes Keller (R-Wasilla), Mike Kelly (R-Fairbanks), Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage), Mark Neuman (R-Matanuska-Susitna), Kurt Olson (R-Kenai), Jay Ramras (R-Fair-banks), Ralph Samuels (R-Anchorage), Bill Stoltze (R-Chugiak/Mat-Su), and Peggy Wilson (R-Wrangell). EXCUSED: Reps. Richard Foster (D-Nome), Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage), Beth Kerttula (D-Juneau), and Bob Lynn (R-Anchorage).

Resolution urges passage of Employee Free Choice Act The Alaska House of Representatives on Jan. 28 passed HJR 25, a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA is labor law reform that would finally level the playing field for workers and employers—and help rebuild America’s middle class —by making it easier to form unions. Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, prime sponsor of HJR 25, said the resolution supports an important bill that returns

some of the orga-nizing rights to workers original-ly envisioned by the National La-bor Relations Act of 1935. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the EFCA 241-185, and al-though it also re-

ceived a majority of U.S. Senate votes (51-48), it failed to receive the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster. It is expected to be considered again in 2009 after the next elections. “The Employees Free Choice Act would make a couple of changes that would strengthen the ability of workers to choose a union, if that’s what they want to do,” Harris said. “First, it gives them the option to either hold an election or to demonstrate their choice for a union by showing autho-rization cards. The second thing the bill does is to impose stiffer penalties on employers who coerce or intimidate their employees who are seeking to unionize.”

HOW THEY VOTED

Harris said that by restoring the original intent of the NLRA, the Congress would give a needed boost to Ameri-ca’s middle class and all working people. At press time, HJR 25 was before the State Senate but had not been voted upon.

The EFCA would “strengthen the

ability of workers to

choose a union, if that’s what

they want to do.”

— REP. JOHN HARRIS, R-VALDEZ

Unemployment benefit increase long overdue It’s been 10 years since Alaska last increased its Un-employment Insurance benefits, which are now among the lowest in the nation. Yet state lawmakers seem more concerned with further decreasing employer premiums than finally allowing a modest benefit increase. At press time, SB 120 to increase UI benefits, was languishing in a Senate committee without a vote. At $197.63 a week, Alaska has the lowest average weekly UI benefits west of the Mississippi and the 4th lowest in the nation, according to the National Employ-ment Law Project. By comparison, the national average weekly UI benefit is $277 and Washington’s is $322.

SB 120 would increase Alaska’s maximum weekly benefit from today’s $248 for a single worker or $320 for those with dependents to $370 and $442, respectively. The current maximum requires base period earnings of at least $26,750 while SB 120’s higher maximum would require base earnings of at least $42,000 a year. Operating Engineers Local 302 and other unions support this increase, not just because it’s the right thing to do for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and suffer financially. It also will provide some economic stability—particularly for small businesses—in communities particularly hard hit by unemployment.

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WASHINGTON LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Apprentices should be eligible for UIAGC opposes WA effort to restore benefits It used to be that agency officials in Washington had discretionary case-by-case authority to grant Unemploy-ment Insurance benefits to workers who quit unrelated jobs to enter an apprenticeship or certified training program. If they met the other eligi-bility criteria, this could be considered a “good cause” quit and workers could collect ben-efits during any period of training that preceded on-the-job paid employment. But in 2003, some changes in UI law had the un in tended consequence of eliminating eligibility for new ap-prentices. So Operating Engineers Lo-cal 302, plus other unions and appren-ticeship supporters, are attempting to restore those benefits with SB 6751. Some apprenticeship candidates can’t afford a 6- to 8-week period with no income to enter programs, testified Local 302 Government Affairs Direc-tor Randy Loomans. Given our state’s efforts to promote training and address the projected shortage of skilled labor, this is counterproductive. “Our state should be encouraging young people to pursue apprentice-ships that offer a pathway to family-wage careers, not putting up road-blocks in their way,” Loomans said. The Associated General Contrac-tors testified against the bill in the Sen-ate because it would increase costs to the system. SB 6751 passed the Sen-ate 35-13 and, at press time, had just passed the House 62-32.

Randy LoomansDirector of

Government Affairs

Darcy Burner, Democratic 8th District candidate for Congress, speaks at the Bothell membership meeting in February. Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, who beat Burner 51.5% to 49.5% in 2006, has also been invited to speak.

Business appeals to deny injured workers’ payments In Washington state, workers who are injured on the job, file workers’ compensation claims and get favorable state rulings that the claim is legitimate and compensable don’t necessarily get their benefits. An employer can simply appeal that decision which immediately stops benefit payments until the appeal is settled. Unfortunately, the mortgage payments, the food and utility bills, and the car payments don’t stop. Under this policy, there is a clear built-in incentive for employers to ap-peal workers’ compensation rulings—including legitimate claims—in order to delay the negative impact on their tax rate or to “retaliate” against a worker for filing the claim in the first place. The state Department of Labor and Industries says the existing policy helps it avoid recoupment costs should the employer win the appeal. Organized labor strongly feels that the undue hardship this policy creates on injured workers who have lost their livelihoods outweighs L&I’s pre-emptive avoidance of a “hassle.”

Ready for a rematch

For nearly two decades, organized labor has supported legislation to end this injustice, and 2008 is no different. HB 3139 would allow injured workers to continue to receive medical and time-loss benefits during employer appeals. Built into HB 3139 is an expedited review process at the Board (25 days) which allows the employer to make their case that a claim is really not valid and, if they prevail, then benefits will stop. This lowers liability for both the employer as well as the worker. At press time, HB 3139 had passed the House 62-32 and had not yet re-ceived a Senate vote.

Going after bad contractors SB 6732, implementing the recom-mendations of the joint legislative task force on the underground economy in the construction industry, passed the Senate 48-0, the House 92-2, and Gov. Gregoire is expected to sign it. There is broad labor and business support for this bill aimed at identifying and weed-ing out unscrupulous contractors.

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GOOD OF THE ORDER

The family of Juan Cardenas, a Local 302 member working for Infrastructure Systems in Bothell, suffered a horrible tragedy on Dec. 5 in a car accident in Edmonds, WA. Though strapped in her car seat, Juan’s 19-month-old daughter, Vic-toria (pictured here), had her spine severed and was per-manently par-alyzed after her mother’s car struck a garbage truck. Juan’s 7-year-old daughter, Veronica, suffered a bro-

ken pelvis and facial lacerations and Juan’s wife, Angela, broke her collar bone and sustained knee injuries. Neither Juan nor his wife have been able to work since that time as they have attended to Victoria, who remains at Children’s Hospital in Seattle on life support. As you might imagine, this tragedy is being compounded by financial stresses. A fund has been set up to help Brother Juan and his family during this ex-tremely difficult time. Visit any Washington Mutual Bank and make a contribution to the Veronica and Victoria Cardenas Benefit Fund. Thank you.

Member’s family injured in accident

302 backs Valley Power strikers

Local 302 members and a 12-foot-tall rat protest outside Valley Power affiliate Northern Lights in Seattle on Feb. 4.

Operating Engineers Local 302 members are supporting their Brothers and Sisters of IUOE Local 3 in the San Francisco Bay area who have been on strike against Valley Power Systems North since July 10, 2007. The strikers are protesting the company’s refusal to honor the union contract that was in place when it bought the heavy-duty repair facility in August 2005. In other words, they aren’t striking for more money or benefits, their motto is: “All We Want Is What We Had!” On Feb. 4, a group of Local 302 members protested outside Valley Pow-er affiliate Northern Lights facility in Seattle. Led by an inflated 12-foot-tall rat, members leafleted customers, de-livery drivers, neighboring businesses and the public urging them to boycott the company until the labor dispute ends. Back in November, Local 302 activists did similar leafleting outside a trade show at Seattle’s Qwest Field Event Centre where Northen Lights had a display. Also, at each of Local 302’s Christ-mas parties in 2007, Business manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr asked members to recognize the hardship faced by Valley Power strik-

ers by making donations to their strike fund. Local 302 members responded generously, donating more than $4,000 to the strike fund, to which the Union added another $1,000. Here’s an excerpt from the strikers’ Picket Line Press newsletter: “From all of us at Local 3, we thank

you, Local 302, and a special thanks again to Business Manager/Interna-tional Vice President Allan Darr. “There’s nothing like a united union effort to deliver a clear mes-sage to Valley Power: You can’t stop this West Coast Wall of Operating Engineers—not now, not ever.”

Storm cancels Christmas party in Aberdeen A deadly storm hit Western Wash-ington on Dec. 2 forcing the cancella-tion of Local 302’s Christmas Party in Aberdeen. Winds gusted to more than 80 mph and city streets were flooded, leaving many homeless. Six counties, including Grays Harbor, were later declared to be a federal disaster areas. The Aberdeen Eagles, where our union’s party was scheduled to be held Dec. 3, didn’t charge the union for the already-prepared food. Instead, much of it was donated to various community sources, including the local mission, to assist displaced families.

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GOOD OF THE ORDER

Pictured at the Anchorage Christmas Party on Dec. 7 are: (clockwise from above) Tom Journa, Betty Jo Dibble and Leslie Dunlap; Larry Graham and Steve Anderson; Rick Ramert and Kelly Sneed.

Anchorage Christmas Party

TNT Concrete Pumping, signatory since 2003 In the last edition of the Loadline, we erroneously reported that McKinley Con-crete Pumping of Wasilla had become Local 302’s first signatory concrete pumping company in Alaska. The truth is TNT Con-crete Pumping, Inc. of Delta Junction has been signatory with our union since 2003. In fact, owner Rand Thatcher has himself been a Local 302 member for nearly 20 years. Doh! We apologize to Rand and to his fellow TNT pump-ers for the mistake.

TNT Concrete Pumping works a job last year in Fort Greely, AK.

TNT owner Rand Thatcher (above) has been a Local 302 member for nearly 20 years.

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GOOD OF THE ORDER

Got photos? Submit them, win a T-shirt! Attention, all photographers! We live and work in two of the most beautiful states in the country, and now that the Loadline is being printed in full living color, we want to publish as many photos as we can of our members on the job and our re-tirees enjoying the fruits of their years of labor. Please send your best photos to dgroves@iuoe302.org or by mailing them to David Groves, IUOE Local 302, 18701 120th Ave. NE, Bothell, WA, 98011-9514. Make sure you include your name, the names of any Operating Engineers or others in the pictures, a date and de-scription of the job site or event. If you send the best photo for that edition of the Loadline, you’ll win a IUOE Local 302 T-shirt. So send those pictures!

IUOE 302 members rallied for the EFCA outside the Anchorage office of Sen. Ted Stevens last summer. They later visited Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office.

Three generations of Taylor Mayfields

Left to right, 30-year Local 302 member Taylor W. Mayfield, new member Taylor A. Mayfield, 53-year member Taylor H. Mayfield, and Business Manager Allan Darr pose shortly after the youngest Mayfield was initiated into Local 302 at the November 2007 meeting in Bothell, WA.

Chad Kamins, an 8-year Local 302 member from Bothell, works for Merlino Construction on the Seattle Center parking garage. The operator of the crane in the background is 9-year member Greg Przybylski of Issaquah.

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The Future of Local 302

(Above) The 2007 entry-level apprentices at the Operating Engineers’ Regional Training Center in Ellensburg, WA.

(Right) Corey Baxter, an 11-year member from Juneau, shows 8th graders the university’s hydraulic board at the University of Alaska’s Southeast Juneau Job Fair on Feb. 22.

(Below right) Students James Held, Richard Holley, Jacob Swanson and mechanic apprentice Jeff Brooks in front of new CDL tractor with 55-ton lowboy at the Operating Engineers’ Regional Training Center in Ellensburg. The backhoe on it is a brand new Case 580.

(Below) Proud 2008 Apprentice Mechanic Graduate Duncan Erickson of Anchorage poses with his mom and stepdad.

GOOD OF THE ORDER

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A MOMENT OF SILENCE

Operating Engineers Local 302 mourns the recent passage of the following Brothers and Sisters:

DONALD G. ADAMS

STANLEY AHO

JAMES B. AIRINGTON JR

JOSEPH C. ALBERT

ROBERT N. ALEXANDER

ANDREW R. ANDERSON

DONALD H. ANDERSON

JOHN E. ANDERSON

GEORGE S. ANTE

WILLIAM BALSMANN

KENNETH L. BEAM

ORVILLE C. BERKEY

ROBERT W. BICKFORD

PERRY BRANVILLE

HARLAND M. BROWN

STAN D. BROWN

JOHN A. CAMPBELL

ROY G. CANNADY

STEVE E. CATE

DAVID L. CRANE

ARVEL A. DAVID

DEAN F. DAVIES

EDWARD R. DAVIS

JAMES R. DICKINSON

ROBERT C. DICKINSON

DON A. DROWN

GLEN DUKESHIER

JOHN C. DUNCAN

KEITH ENGELSON

JAMES E. ERWIN

MARTIN FANELLI

B. GARTH FARRILL

TERRY L. FOX

HARRY F. FRYE

ALBERT GELLERT

LESTER GIACOLINO

LAVERN C. GOODMAN

JAY H. GRAHAM

WILLIAM B. GROLL

ROLAND R. HAASE

JEDDIE H. HALL

MICHAEL J. HARRIGAN

BRIAN T. HAYES

JOHN S. HILLAR

HERBERT L. HOSFORD

TOM INGALLS

DENNIS M. ISBELL

DALE M. JECHE

JOHN R. JOHNSON

ISAM L. JONES JR.

WAYNE K. KAHULA

JOHN L. KIRKLAND

RAY F. KURTH

EUGENE LAMOUREAUX

MYLES D. LAYTON

RICHARD K. LESTER

LLOYD S. LIMA

LOUIE LOVATO

NICK LUKIN

JOHNNY MARESH

RONNIE McADAMS

HAROLD O. McCOLLUM

PATRICK C. McCORD

WILBERT R. McELROY

NORMAN G. McGUIRE

JOSEPH H. McVEIGH

MELVIN A. MELLOTT

STEVE P. MIDDLETON

DONALD J. MILLER

JAMES L. MITTS

PETER A. NELSON

CLARENCE NIELSEN

GEORGE C. NORRIS

HOWARD OBERTON

JAMES T. OLIVER

FRANK J. PARCHMAN

DANIEL R. PARENT

HAROLD R. PARKER

LARRY W. PAYNE

BARNARD E. PENLEY

CARLOS E. PERKINS

LAURENCE J. PETERSON

CARL H. PHILLIPS

MILTON R. PHILLIPS

TERRY L. POTTER

ROBERT REDDING

TED D. RETHERFORD

R. W. ROBINSON

JERRY R. RODGERS

BYRON A. ROSDAHL

VERNON ROSS

RUSSELL W. ROTTGER

WM. DALE SANDERS

KATHY L. SANDON

ANDREW F. SAVAGE JR.

BOB J. SEDY

DONALD R. SHOEMAKER

WILLIAM J. SNYDER

EDWARD E. SONGSTAD

REX S. SOWERS

BRUCE F. SYLTE

LESLIE R. SYTH

WILLIAM A. THOMPSON

GEORGE F. THRALL

JAMES D. TRAVICA

GRANT L. WEIR

GERALD M. WESTBY

THOMAS A. WESTON

DOUGLAS E. WHITE

ROBERT T. WIEDMAN

GEORGE A. WILLIAMS

JACK T. WILLIAMS

EUGENE J. WILSON

JESS L. WITHROW

BOBBY G. YORK

PAUL ZITO

M.L. “Bob” Rooker of Yakima was a devoted member of Operating Engineers Local 302 for 60 years. The photo on his headstone features Rooker operating a Fiorito Bros. D6 wide-track dozer on Highway 16 near Gig Harbor.

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JACK McDONALD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION FOR 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR

PLEASE PRINTNAME OF APPLICANT: _________________________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________________________________

PHONE: (_____) __________________ BIRTHDATE: _____________________________ SEX: qMale qFemale

PARENT’S NAME: ____________________________________________________ PARENT’S SSN: ______-____-________

OFFICIAL USE ONLY: Initiation Date: _________________ Register #: ___________________ Good Standing: _____

School you presently attend: _______________________________________ Graduation date: _____________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

To which college(s) or vocational program have you applied or will you apply? ____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Provide a brief statement regarding your educational and career goals: _________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

List all activities, organizations and honors while in high school: _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

List outside activities and/or other special interests: ________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________________________ Date: _______________________________

General Rules & Instructions for 2007-08 School YearTwo scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded to winners for study at any accredited college or university. A scholarship will be awarded to one student each in Washington and Alaska.

Two scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded to runners-up for study at any accredited college or university. A scholarship will be awarded to one student each in Washington and Alaska.

Two scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded for study at any vocational technical college. A scholarship will be awarded to one student each in Washing-ton and Alaska.

Local 302 will impose no restrictions on courses of study. Recipients may accept other grants or awards that do not rule out scholarship aid from other sources.

Who May ApplyChildren of Local 302 members, or grandchildren of Local 302 members who are the legal guardians of their grandchildren, may apply for the scholarships. The parent or grandparent of the applicant must be a member of Local 302 for at least one year immediately preceding the date of application.

Sons and daughters of deceased members of Local 302 are eligible to apply for the scholarships. The parent of the applicant must have been a member of Local 302 for at least one year immediately preceding the date of death.

Applicants must be senior high school students who have, or will be, graduated at the end of: (1) fall semester 2007, or (2) spring semester 2008, in public, private or parochial schools who plan to attend a college, university, or vocational technical college anywhere in the U.S. during the academic year and who are able to meet the academic requirements for entrance into the university, college, or vocational technical college of their choice. Students selected for scholarships must have achieved not less than a “B” average in their high school work.

Applications will be accepted between March 1 and April 30, 2008. Application forms and instructions are also available at www.iuoe302.org.

Awarding ScholarshipsUpon receipt of the application and required forms. Local 302 will verify the membership of the parent. The application will then be submitted for judging to a Scholarship Selection Committee.

No applicant will be favored over another in any way, providing the applicant sub-mits a complete application packet and meets the basic eligibility requirements.

The Scholarship Selection Committee will select the winners based on factors normally used in awarding scholarships. Scholarship awards will be announced as soon as possible and the checks will be depoited in each winning student’s name at the college or university he/she plans to attend.

Jack McDonald Scholarship Award Fund Instructions

All of the following items must be received by April 30, 2008.

1. APPLICATION -- to be filled out and returned by the applicant.

2. SCHOOL STATEMENT AND TRANSCRIPT -- to be filled out by the high school Principal or designated representative, and returned directly to Local 302 at the address below by the person completing it.

3. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION -- every applicant must submit one to three letters of recommendation describing his/her character and ability. They may be from teachers, community leaders, family friends, or others who know the applicant. These may be submitted with the applications, or sent directly by the writers to Local 302 at the address below.

4. RECENT PHOTOGRAPH -- you may submit a digital photo, clearly identified, via CD or by email to mainoffice@iuoe302.org. Or, please send a photo that is clear enough to reproduce with the applicant’s name written on the back. The photo will not be returned to the applicant.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all required items are received on time and that they are sent to: Malcolm J. Auble, Financial Secretary, IUOE Local 302, 18701 120th Ave NE, Bothell, WA, 98011-9514

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JACK McDONALD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

SCHOOL STATEMENT FOR 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR

PLEASE PRINTNAME OF APPLICANT: _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________________

NAME OF SCHOOL: ___________________________________________________________________

SCHOOL ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________________

DATE OF ENROLLMENT AT YOUR SCHOOL: _________________________________________________

Do you believe the applicant will perform college or vocational technical college work successfully?

q YES q NO

Is the applicant a leader in recognized extracurricular activity at your school?

q YES q NO

If so, please specifiy the activity(ies): _____________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Please give your personal evaluation of the applicant: ________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Signature: __________________________________ Title: _________________________________

The Principal or authorized representative is requested to complete this form, include one copy of the applicant’s official transcript, and mail both directly to:

Malcolm Auble, Financial Secretary, IUOE Local 30218701 120th Ave NE, Bothell, WA, 98011-9514

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RETIREES

Allan B. Darr, Business Manager and General Vice President, and the staff of Local 302 congratulate the following members on the next phase of their careers: a well-earned retirement.

STEVEN C ABBOTT

WILLIAM G ALBIN

LINDBERG ALEXANDER

CHARLES R BAILEY

JOHN L BAKER

JAMES S BARNHILL

CAROLYN M BAUCH

GORDON W BEAM

WM M BINCKLEY

FRANK A BISHOP

JAMES L BISHOP

ROBERT M BOENSCH

DORCAS L BOUEY

AARON P BRADSHAW

EDMUND P BROSNAN

DONALD G BROWN

DONALD W BUFFER

BLAINE BYERLY

BENJAMIN D CABO

CARLOS O CAMPOS

PAUL L CARLSEN

SUSAN F CARRARA

WALTER R COLEMAN

THOMAS P CONLEY

CHARLES W COOK

ALBERT CREACH

ROD L DARR

RICHARD J DEERING

EDWARD L DISHART

WILLIAM S DOANE

STEVE L DODSON

ROGER DRAKE

DAVID DUNCAN

WILLIAM R EBY

ROBERT T ELLSWORTH

CHARLES V FENSTERMACKER

JOHN W FERRELL

KERRY B FINLEY

JOHN W FRANCK

PHIL E FREEMAN

AMIRALI A GADIWALLA

WAYNE C GAMMON

CLIFF C GANSKE

DAVID E GAREE

KIRK E GAROUTTE

ROBERT C GARRETT SR

DENNIS G GREEN

LOYD L HAMMER JR

DONALD J HATTEN

JAMES R HENDRICKS

DAVID L HILDRE

LORETTA M HILDRE

JOEY D HOLAND

RICHARD J HOLMGREN

JAMES H HOSFORD

DALE C HULETZ

CHUCK E ICE

STEVEN L IMHOFF

ROBERT J JENSEN

JAMES K JOHNSON

CHARLES A KELLY

TED R KENNEDY

JACK R KESTER

RICHARD T KOZARIK

HENRY E KRIZMAN

FRANCES E LANGWORTHY

BRUCE A LINGENFELTER

CHARLES W MAHLEN JR

BORIS MARCHUK

GARY D MARSULA

TERRY L MATTHEWS

ED W MAYO

JERRY L McDOWELL

JANET M McKINNEY

WILLIAM G McKINNON

JAMES A MENSHEW

DAVID A MILLER

GREG W MILLIKEN

DANIEL P MINIKEN JR

ROBERT S MORIGEAU

MICHAEL G MURPHY

RAYMOND D NORRIS

KENNETH NOVAK

ALAN B ODOM

LARRY E OGLE

YNGVE E OLSSON

MICHAEL W ORR

WILLIAM E PETERS

ARTHUR R PETERSEN

MICHAEL L PETERSON

KATHRYN J PETERSON

DAVID F PINGREE

JERRY PINO

RICHARD A PRENTISS

ANDREJS RAIZE

WAYNE T REEVES

JAMES L REGALIA

MICHAEL R RHODE

MICHAEL G ROBERTS

RUSSELL ROBINETTE

BRIAN J SCHETZLE

KENNETH J SCHNEIDER

GORDON B SCHUBERT

ALVIN C SHAMPINE

JAMES W SHIVELY II

JERRY P SHULL

BRIAN J SIMS

SUZANNE R SINGER

WILLIAM M SLEMP

GARY SODERSTROM

WILLIAM J ST PIERRE

RICHARD STALEY

DONALD R STORHOFF JR

DOUGLAS N SWEET

RANDE E TAYLOR

JOE L THORSEN

JERRY N TISHER

WAYNE J TOBUK SR

GARY R TVRDY

DARRELL L UNDERWOOD

JOHN VOEHL

GEORGE K WAGES

DAVID W WEAVER

DANIEL J WEBER

MICHAEL R WILLIAMS

JIM M WINKLER

GORDON H WIREN

FRANCIS E WOZNIAK

Bill Doane, a 32-year member from Camano Island, WA, has retired.Apparently, he now only operates imaginary equipment.

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LOCAL 302 REPRESENTATIVESDISTRICT 1 - BOTHELL

Allan B. Darr, Business Manager and General Vice PresidentMalcolm Auble, Financial SecretaryDavid Preston, Director of Field OperationsSteve Scheffer, Director of Union ProgramsRandy Loomans, Director of Government AffairsDavid Groves, Director of CommunicationsEric Bellamy, Field RepresentativeBob Franssen, Field RepresentativeLarry Gregory, Field RepresentativeMarge Newgent, Field RepresentativeMatt Means, Field RepresentativeAndy Snider, Field RepresentativeRick Cunningham, DispatcherTony Zempel, Dispatcher

DISTRICT 2 - MT. VERNON

Chuck Campbell, District Representative

DISTRICT 3 - PENINSULA

Daren Konopaski, District Representative

DISTRICT 4 & 5 - WENATCHEE/ELLENSBURG

Sean Jeffries, District Representative

DISTRICT 6 - ANCHORAGE

Tony Hansen, District RepresentativeJason Alward, Field RepresentativeCarl Gamble, Field RepresentativePaul Welch, Field RepresentativeDavid Erickson, DispatcherJared Hamlin, Organizer

DISTRICT 7 - FAIRBANKS

Charlie Jurgens, President & District RepresentativeKyle Brees, Field RepresentativeMike Friborg, Field RepresentativeDon Lowry, Field RepresentativeShawn Lowry, DispatcherLake Williams, Organizer

DISTRICT 8 - JUNEAU

Rob Peterson, District Representative

EXECUTIVE BOARDAllan B. Darr, Business Manager and General Vice Pres.Malcolm Auble, Financial SecretaryCharlie Jurgens, PresidentDaren Konopaski, Vice PresidentKen Peltier, TreasurerTony Hansen, Executive Board memberRob Peterson, Executive Board memberSteve Scheffer, Executive Board member

LOCAL 302 LOADLINE is published quarterly 18701 120th Avenue NE, Bothell, WA 98011-9514 800-521-8882 or 425-806-0302

PLEASE NOTE: All correspondence to union offices must include:

The last four digits of your Social Security number– or – Your International Registration Number

INSURANCE CLAIMS:Claims information and forms are now available on the new benefits web site:

www.engineerstrust.com

Or access it via the Main Menu of our web site:www.iuoe302.org

Operating Engineers Health & Welfare TrustP.O. Box 34684, Seattle, WA 98124-1684

Phone: (206) 441-75741-800-331-6158 or 1-800-732-1121

This photo of 50-year members was taken in June 2007. (Front row, from left) David Flynn, Business Manager and General Vice President Allan B. Darr, Ray McDonald, Jerome Hanson, Roy Sundquist, George Schardt, Gordon Anderson, and John Posthumuf. (Back row, from left) Dennis Short, Robert Gilbertson, Don Varney, Douglas Hall, Norman Richardson, Keene Frick, and Edwin “Zane” Brown.

50-year members

Mark your calendars: Top Hand is June 14 Do you think you have what it takes to be a Top Hand? Challenge last year’s champions on the loader, hydraulic crane, excavator, lattice crane, dozer, backhoe and forklift at the 2008 Top Hand Competition on Saturday, June 14 at the Operating Engineers’ Regional Training Center in El-lensburg, WA. Make plans to bring your family and friends for what is a good time for all. There will be a free barbecue, door prizes, a charity car smash, and everyone will get a chance to operate heavy equipment.

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Presorted Standard

US Postage PAIDPermit No. 12494

Seattle, WA

18701 120th Avenue NE Bothell, Washington 98011-9514

International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302Allan B. Darr, Business Manager and General Vice President

DISTRICT 1 - BOTHELLFirst Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Union Hall, 18701 120th Avenue N.E.

DISTRICT 2 - MT. VERNONSecond Thursday of each month, 7:30 p.m.

NW WA Electricians JATC, 306 Anderson Road

DISTRICT 3 - ABERDEENSecond Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Eagles Hall, 200 W. Market Street

DISTRICT 3 - SILVERDALEThird Wednesday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Union Hall, 3599 Carlton Street

DISTRICT 3 - PORT ANGELESThird Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Aerie No. 483 (Eagles Hall), 110 S. Penn Street

DISTRICT 4 - WENATCHEESecond Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Red Lion Hotel, 1225 N. Wenatchee Ave.

DISTRICT 5 - ELLENSBURGSecond Wednesday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Union Hall, 403 S. Water Street

DISTRICT 6 - ANCHORAGEFourth Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.Union Hall, 900 W. Northern Lights Blvd.

DISTRICT 7 - FAIRBANKSFourth Wednesday of each month, 7:00 p.m.

Union Hall, 3002 Lathrop Street

DISTRICT 8 - JUNEAUFourth Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.

Union Hall, 9309 Glacier Hwy., Bldg. A-102B