v39n3 | the boilermaker reporter

Increasing man-hours,legislative issues, safetydominate discussionsNEARLY 150 BOILERMAKER C o n-struction Division lodge leaders andstaff met in Miami Beach, Fla., February26 to March 3, to discuss issues relatingto construction industries and the union.The meetings revealed an increase inboth the number of man-hours workedand job-site accidents, exposing theneed to build our union through recruit-ment and protect our members throughsafe job-site practices.

International President Charles W.Jones opened the meeting by reportingan increase in man-hours worked. In1999, Boilermaker construction mem-bers worked over 26 million man-hours. That’s four million moreman-hours than they worked in 1998,an increase of 18 percent. This man-hour increase reinforces the need tobuild our union. “In order to maintainour presence in the industry and ensurethat our skills carry on, we must meetthe one-to-five ratio of apprentices,”said Jones. “We must recruit appren-tices and skilled workers from thenonunion sector.”

Unfortunately, with the increase inman-hours came an increase in job-siteaccidents. Both the national average forlost-time injuries and the compensableinjury rate (which includes the number

of injuries on a job that do not result inlost-time) increased slightly in 1999.

Accident rates are far below whatthey were only a few years ago, butalready this year, three Boilermakershave been killed on the job.

Two Local 237 members were killedand a third injured in Millford, Conn.,when the steelwork of a 45-foot highpower plant collapsed on a crane.Local 237 BM-ST Tony DeFrancesco Jr.and Intl. Rep. Bill Carey showed slidesof the February accident. DeFrancescotried to describe the accident and hismembers’ reactions.

“This was the first time our locallost a member to a job-site accident,”said DeFrancesco. “It’s been a trau-matic experience, and we will doeverything we can to ensure that itnever happens again.”

Just two months earlier, a Local 7member in New York was killed whenan industrial accident caused him to fall30 feet. A fall that, L-7 BM-ST F. PatrickLyons said, could have and shouldhave been prevented.

John Erickson, executive director ofthe National Association of Construc-tion Boilermaker Employers (NACBE),also spoke about the increase in job-siteaccidents. Despite the increase, theBoilermakers’ safety record is still quiteimpressive. Twenty-three of the 56 con-struction lodges had a zero lost-timeaccident rate in 1999. Since NACBEbegan calculating its annual safetyindex in 1990, the national average forlost-time injury rates has dropped 87.81percent, from 13.54 in 1990 to 1.65 in1999. The compensable injury rate has

R e p o rt e rthe Boilerm a k e r Vol. 39 No. 3May • Jun 2000

The Official Publication of the InternationalBrotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship

Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, andHelpers, AFL-CIO

Charles W. Jones, Editor-in-Chief

Delegates to the Construction Division winter meeting, Feb. 26 to March 3, discussissues relating to construction industries, the union, and legislation.

Continued on page 5

Sen. Ted Stevensis our Legislator of the Year . . . .3

Vice Pres. Goremeets Avondale workers . . . . . . 6LEAP coverage . . .9 - 1 7S e t t l e m e n t s . . . . . . . . . . 1 9

Local NewsA hard hat wedding . . . . . . . . 2 0L e t t e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 4

IN THESE PAGES Construction conference reviewsimportance of safety, recruitment

Train the trainer programmeets OSHA standardsTHE MOBILIZATION, Optimization,Stabilization, and Training (MOST)fund is sponsoring a series of “train thetrainer” scaffold classes that complywith OSHA standards. Conducting theclasses are MOST instructors DavidHaggerty and Bridget McManamon,along with consultant Pete Cucuz, aformer OSHA regional director.

“The scaffold standard became lawin November 1996. Since that time,Boilermakers have slowly lost scaffoldwork to other crafts because we lackedthe training required by the scaffoldstandard,” explained Haggerty. “Thistraining will ensure the scaffold workremains where it belongs – in the handsof Boilermakers.”

The first class was held at Local 154 inPittsburgh, Pa., August 9-13, 1999. Thesecond class was conducted at the Boil-ermakers National Apprentice Train-ing Center in Kansas City, February1-4, 2000. More classes are planned, butdates have not yet been announced.

The class is designed to teach atten-dees how to conduct classes on safescaffold procedures – from picking theproper scaffold type for the job,through the safe erection of that scaf-fold, to its proper dismantling. The fourand one-half day class is split betweenclassroom and hands-on training, inwhich the attendees actually erect anddismantle different types of scaffolds.

Pittsburgh attendees included JohnRiel and Robert Schwartz of L-1,Chicago, Ill.; Billy Finnegan of L-5, NewYork City, N.Y.; Lewis DePietro, JohnDoherty, and Charles Riegg of L-28,Newark, N.J.; Bill Gilcoine and JeffreyGreenstreet of L-29, Boston, Mass.;Lewis Jeffrey Morris of L-45, Rich-mond, Va.; Nicholas Calore, SamuelDeMarco, Gerald Klimo, and Larry

Leonard of L-154; James Hoffman of L-667, Charleston, W. Va.; and CraigRuch of L-744, Cleveland, Ohio.

Company representatives attendingthe Pittsburgh session included GeorgeDelGreco of American Boiler andChimney; Mack Creech, Joseph Danna,David Garzoli, Jerry Moody Jr., andDoug Roberts of B & W Construction;

Group photo of “train the trainer” scaffold class, Pittsburgh, Pa., August 9-13, 1999.

MOST sponsors scaffold training

Continued on page 4

The news media ignore ourissues – we must spread theword about candidatesWHEN IT COMES to the issues mostimportant to workers – bread and but-ter issues about money, taxes, SocialSecurity, and workers’ rights – thecommercial media don’t deliver muchgood information.

Television news is full of sound bites.Can you really learn how a candidateplans to handle a complex issue likeSocial Security in only six seconds?

Newspaper articles are only a littlebit better. They offer longer articles, butthey rarely provide the unbiased analy-sis needed to understand what a candi-date’s proposals will really do – whowill benefit from them and how theywill affect the average worker.

Recent articles about George W.Bush’s plan to reform Social Securityare a good example. Every major news-paper, television, and radio station car-ried his announcement that he had aplan to reform Social Security based onletting individuals invest part of theirSocial Security tax money in the mar-ket. And they reported the responses tohis program from other politicians,most notably his opponent, Al Gore.

But these people all have somethingto gain from what they say. We need tohear independent analyses of the pro-posal by expert economists with noth-ing to gain whether it flies or dies.Typically, the media do not offer these.

So most of the public did not learnthat Bush’s proposal would probablycause most beneficiaries to receive ben-efits lower than the benefits they arenow guaranteed. Bush’s plan – and allplans to privatize the system – fails toprotect people who begin getting bene-fits shortly after a major correction ofthe stock market and the surviving chil-dren of workers who die unexpectedlybefore retirement age. Nor does it solvethe problem of the shortfall – unless wereduce guaranteed benefits.

Newspaper stories and televisionshows also failed to mention thatBush’s plan would provide a windfallprofit for investment counselors and

brokerage companies, a sector of busi-ness that has contributed heavily to hiscampaign. Likewise, the mainstreammedia failed to bring up the possibilityof individuals losing their Social Secu-rity benefits to investment scams,which have proliferated greatly in thepast decade as more people havebecome interested in investing.

Many mainstream journalists wouldsay that analysis of this kind is not theirresponsibility, that they leave it up tothe other candidates to discuss weak-nesses of a proposal. That is preciselywhy we cannot afford to base our opin-ions entirely on what we see on televi-sion and read in newspapers.

The Boilermaker Reporter and otherunion publications provide informa-tion that you will not get in the com-mercial news media. In our last issue,we provided the voting records of thecurrent members of Congress on billsthat most significantly affect our mem-bers and families. When you are decid-ing whom to vote for in November, thisinformation should guide you.

You should also share this informa-tion with people you know who maynot have access to a source of informa-tion written with their needs in mind.Your family deserves to know howtheir legislators voted. So do yourneighbors, friends, and coworkers.

Otherwise, they will base their votein November on the candidates’ cam-paign ads, the sound bites they hear ontelevision, and the incomplete report-ing of their daily newspaper. And thatis simply not enough good informationto make a wise decision.

Spread the word. ❑

the Boilermaker Reporter2 May • Jun 2000

E V E R Y V O T E C O U N T S

R e p o rt e rthe Boilerm a k e r The Boilermaker Reporter is the official publi-cation of the International Brotherhood ofBoilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths,Forgers, and Helpers, AFL-CIO. It is publishedbimonthly to disseminate information of useand interest to its members. Submissions frommembers, local lodges, and subordinate oraffiliated bodies are welcomed and encour-aged. This publication is mailed free ofcharge to active members and retiredmembers holding a Retired Members Card.Others may subscribe for the price of $10 forthree years. Standard Mail (A) postage paidat Kansas City, Kan., and additional mailingoffices. ISSN No. 1078-4101.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:

The Boilermaker Reporter753 State Avenue, Suite 565Kansas City, KS 66101(913) 371-2640; FAX (913) 281-8104w w w . b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g

Printed in the USA

A prize-winning newspaper

May • Jun 2000 Vol. 39 • No. 3

Charles W. Jones, International President and Editor-in-Chief

Jerry Z. Willburn, Intl. Secretary-Treasurer

International Vice PresidentsLawrence McManamon, Great LakesMichael S. Murphy, N o r t h e a s tNewton B. Jones, Southeast George Rogers, Central Don Lacefield, Western States Richard Albright, Western CanadaAlexander MacDonald, Eastern CanadaJim Hickenbotham, A t - L a r g eOthal Smith Jr., A t - L a r g e

Editorial staffDonald Caswell, Managing EditorCarol Dillon, Asst. to the Managing Editor

Educate family and coworkers

D o n ’t take older voters for grantedTheir vote could mean a win for a working-family candidateOLDER AND RETIREDunion mem-bers remain strong advocates of work-ing-family issues, yet overall retireevoting patterns are becoming moreconservative. In 1994, senior men votedfor anti-worker candidates by a 14 per-centage point margin, and in 1998, thesenior women’s vote for working fam-ily candidates was below 50 percent.

This trend reinforces the need forunion leaders to reach out to their oldermembers and retirees. Just as with cur-rent members, the keys to successfullymobilizing retirees are to educate them,motivate them, and make it easy forthem to get to the polls.

Retirees with a Retired Member’sCard receive the Boilermaker Reporter.But that isn’t enough. We need to edu-cate all of our retirees. We can begin byremembering to include retirees in ourpolitical action plans. Many retirees are

experienced in political action them-selves and are looking for opportunitiesto contribute to our efforts.

Don’t think that retirees are onlyinterested in retiree issues. They stillcare about OSHA, the 40-hour week,and many other working-family issues.They also remain proud of the craftthey worked in throughout their livesand are interested in its future. Manyare grateful for everything the unionhas helped them get, including a decentpension, and they will relish passingalong their knowledge and commit-ment to other retirees.

Getting out the retired vote is the sameas getting out the active vote. Phone treesare a great method of alerting a largenumber of people rapidly. For anyonewho has difficulty getting to the polls,you can offer free rides or assist them ingetting and using an absentee ballot. ❑

Countdown toElection 2000

Step 1: Register to Vo t eStep 2: L e a rn the IssuesStep 3: S p read the Wo rdStep 4: Vote in Primaries

You need to base your vote in November on solid information, not sound bites and politicalads. The most important information is the voting record of the candidate. Don’t judge politi-cians by their promises; judge them by how they have voted on the issues most important toworking families. Voting records of the current members of Congress appeared in theMarch-April edition of the Boilermaker Reporter. If you no longer have that issue, you candownload it and other back issues of the Reporter from our Web site at :

h t t p : / / w w w . b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g / 6 - R e p o r t e r / 6 - i n d e x . h t m l

Guest Editorial by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)

LABOR HAS PLAYED a major rolein the modern history of my state,Alaska. One of the outstanding

examples of union labor’s efforts is our800-mile-long Trans-Alaska oilpipeline. In Alaska today, men andwomen, represented by the unions,work daily in countless ways to buildour state and make its businesses run.

Working closely with private firmsand with local, state, and federal gov-ernment agencies, unions have trainedhundreds of Alaskans – and thousandsof young Americans – for jobs that arestable, pay well, and make Americaproductive. Now, as our nation andorganized labor enter a new millen-nium, we jointly face the challenge ofkeeping our country self sufficient.

As chairman of the SenateAppropriations Committee and theDefense Appropriations subcommit-tee, I have the opportunity to identifyand secure funding for projects like bet-ter housing for our military, improvedhospital facilities, and technologicaladvances. Organized labor plays animportant part in making these projectsa reality, once they’ve gained congres-sional approval.

Along with the other members of theAlaska congressional delegation,Senator Frank Murkowski andCongressman Don Young, I continue towork to encourage responsibleresource development, important foremployment, as well as for our nation’soil and natural gas supply.

Our nation runs on oil, and PrudhoeBay contributes just over a million bar-rels a day – 25 percent – of our domesticoil consumption. Although small fieldscontinue to be discovered and brought

into production, the amount of oil pro-duced in our state continues to fall asthe huge Prudhoe Bay field declines.

Just east of Prudhoe Bay liesAmerica’s most promising domestic oilprospect, the coastal plain of ANWR –the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The coastal plain is a flat, treelessgrassland, designated by Congress asan area to be opened for oil exploration.The total acreage involved in oil activ-ity would be less than one percent ofthe 1.5 million acre coastal plain in the19-million acre refuge. Experts estimatethe footprint of oil activity would beabout the same size as Dulles Airport inWashington, D.C.

It’s good to note, also, that thePrudhoe Bay field lies only 65 miles tothe west, and Canada’s MacKenzieRiver delta, wheremajor discoverieshave been madeand which is opento development,is about 100 milesto the east of theANWR coastalplain. To counter one of the argumentsagainst opening up the coastal plain,the Prudhoe Bay experience provesthat wildlife actually can thrive wherethere is oil production.

Unfortunately, the current adminis-tration has refused to allow explorationon the ANWR coastal plain. OpeningANWR to production would createunion construction and support indus-try jobs, as well as improve Alaska’seconomy and reduce our nation’sdependence on foreign oil. C u r r e n t l y ,the U.S. imports 57 percent of the oil ituses, far more than during the Arab oilembargo of the 1970s. It doesn’t makesense to lock up domestic oil so that for-

eigners can have the jobs and Arabcountries can profit.

Unions in Alaska have been instru-mental in endorsing opening the coastalplain. The continued support of unionssuch as yours is vital to the ultimate suc-cess of this effort. I urge you to becomefamiliar with the ANWR potential.

It is sometimes difficult to move leg-islation in an election year,whenCongress has shortened legislativesessions. That could be the case thisyear, because both the House andSenate are closely divided along partylines. St i l l , we are making realprogress in the drive to f ix theinequities in Section 415 of the taxcode, which places arbitrary limita-tions on participants in multi-employer pension plans. Employees

who pay into apension systemshould get whatthey deserve, andwhat they’vecounted on whenthey retire.

My staff and Ihave worked with House Ways andMeans Chairman Bill Archer of Texas tomake a key change to Section 415, whichapplies the special limitation rules ofgovernment plans to multi-employerpension plans. The result is that the highthree-year limits that apply to multi-employer plans would be eliminated.This change, contained in H.R. 3832, is amajor step toward real pension reform. Iwill continue to push for equal treat-ment in pension rules for multi-employer plan participants in the future.

In the world of partisan politics, itoften appears to the casual observerthat members of our two major politicalparties are lined up to do battle along a

solid immovable line, and thatCongress is made up of 535 members,usually working in a bipartisan way, toget things done. While our objectives attimes differ, our goals remain the same:a strong, economically vital America,where individuals are free to achievetheir full potential.

Behind the scenes, and even in frontof the cameras, Republicans andDemocrats do work together. Wevalue the input and support ofAmerica’s union families. Workingtogether we are much stronger than weare as individuals. I welcome theopportunity to work with you andyour members in the future.

Thank you for selecting me as yourLegislator of the Year. I was pleased toaccept this honor during theInternational Brotherhood ofBoilermakers’ 32nd annual LegislativeEducation-Action Program conference.

Keep up the good work. It’s member-ship like yours that makes our nation’sworkforce the greatest in the world. ❑

3 May • Jun 2000the Boilermaker Reporter

G U E S T E D I T O R I A L

Republican earns award forhis work behind the scenesFOR THE SECOND YEARin a row, theBoilermakers have selected a Republi-can congressman as their legislator ofthe year, proving once again that itdoesn’t matter what political party youbelong to, it only matters how you act.And Senator Ted Stevens’ actions haveearned him this prestigious award.

Legislative Director Ande Abbottannounced Ted Stevens’ selection asLegislator of the Year at the Boiler-makers’ 32nd annual legislative con-ference on March 20. He said, “SenatorStevens was selected this year by theLEAP committee, which is chaired byPresident Jones, because of the incred-ible amount of work he does for work-ing people throughout the UnitedStates, and in particular for Boilermak-ers of this International union. Anytime that Senator Stevens is asked tohelp, he has gotten behind us and hashelped 100 percent.

“He has taken the lead on our retire-ment issue, Section 415. He has almostsinglehandedly been responsible forthe appropriations of millions, if notbillions of dollars for our shipbuildingindustries, the department of Navy,and our defense industry in general,and in getting our submarinesapproved. And over the years,” Abbottsaid, “I’ve never had to speak directly

to Sen. Stevens about this, because hehas always been there. You just call uphis staff, and boom, he takes off, and hetakes care of it. He has been an incredi-ble friend to us over the years, andbecause of that he was selected as ourlegislator of the year.”

Senator Stevens has been helpingworking people for over 30 years

IN 1968, TED STEVENSwas appointedto fill the vacancy created by the deathof Alaska Senator E. L. Bartlett. He hasbeen re-elected to office ever since, andis now the chamber’s second-most-sen-ior Republican, with over 30 years ofservice. Known as one of the “oldbulls,” Stevens typically gets his ownway and doesn’t mind whose feathersare ruffled in the process. He is commit-ted to a bipartisan appropriationsprocess, but is known for his temper.Observers often say Stevens will“throw a fit and then exit the room witha wink.” In an interview, Stevens oncesaid, “I believe in using my emotions,not losing my emotions.”

Despite his outbursts, Stevens getsalong well with the other Senatemembers. One of his best friends isDaniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, the topDemocrat on the Defense Subcommit-tee, with whom Stevens works seam-lessly. He also works well withMajority Leader Trent Lott, who helps

keep conservatives out of Stevens’hair. In return, Stevens plays “badcop” and helps keep floor actionsmoving, which Lott appreciates.

Stevens held the post of party whipfor eight years, and ran a strong race formajority leader in 1984, losing to BobDole by only three votes.

In 1999, Stevens went against theRepublican playbook by announcinghis opposition to across-the-board taxcuts. “I don’t really favor the across-the-board,” he said in an interview.“The middle-income and lower-income people need more money oftheir own to spend, and I think we haveto have some targeted tax reductions.”

As chairman of the AppropriationsCommittee, Stevens believes Congressshould abandon the tight spendinglimits that were set in the 1997 budgetdeal and spend more money ondefense. He was successful in 1998,when he got the annual Defense spend-ing bill onto the Senate floor and passedin a single day. It is reported that he bul-lied and wheedled his colleagues, whowere anxious to leave for their Augustrecess, and threatened to keep mem-bers in over the weekend, saying, “Myplane doesn’t leave until Monday.”

Stevens’ stand for bipartisan fairnesshas earned him the Boilermakers’ legis-lator of the year award. ❑

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), right, accepts the Legislator of the Year award fromInternational President Charles W. Jones.

Boilermakers nameAlaska Sen. Stevenslegislator of the year

Union workers make America productive

SE N A T O R TE D ST E V E N S ( R - A l a s k a )

Employees who pay into apension system should get whatthey deserve, and what they’vecounted on when they retire.

4 May • Jun 2000L O C A L N E W S

the Boilermaker Reporter

Archives is raising funds toprint history of our unionOUR UNION HAS A LONG, p r o u d ,and very interesting history. Unfortu-nately, there is no single place a personcan go to read about it.

In 1986, International PresidentCharles W. Jones set out to make ourhistory available to our members. Heassigned Asst. to the Intl. Pres. RobertMacIntosh to collect information andwrite up the history of the InternationalBrotherhood of Boilermakers, IronShip Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers,and Helpers.

MacIntosh amassed an enormousamount of information, continuing towork on the project following his 1989retirement. Unfortunately, he died onMay 7, 1999, before completing thebook. But that did not end the project.

With assistance from several locallodges, the International, and the Boil-ermakers Archives, the book is stillunder way. The History Committee ofthe Executive Council has developed aplan to produce a well-written, histori-cally accurate history of our union thatshows the role our union has played inthe development of the industries weserve and in the history of the move-ment to protect workers.

The book will be written by a profes-sional writer hired for that purpose. Weexpect it to provide valuable insightinto an aspect of American and Cana-dian history that has not yet beenexamined. It should be of interest notonly to our members and their families,but to friends, our employers, and stu-dents of history.

When completed, this history will beprinted in book form in limited quanti-ties. Each local lodge and corporatedonor will receive a copy, and addi-tional copies of the book will be sold ata nominal price. In order to make thehistory available to as many membersas possible in a cost-effective manner,we also plan to create an electronic ver-sion of the book, to be included on ourWeb site and downloadable at no cost.

You can help us create this book

THE MOST PRESSING need we haveat this time is the need for financialassistance. The initial expense ofresearching, writing, printing, and dis-

tributing this book will be paid throughdonations. So far, the history book proj-ect has received 24 donations, all fromcompanies and local lodges in Canada.

These donations total $34,500, ahandsome sum, but not nearly enoughto pay the research, writing, and pro-duction costs for a high-quality book allBoilermakers will be proud to show tofriends and family.

We are calling on all local lodges inthe United States and Canada to helpfund the creation of this valuable his-tory through donations, if possible, andby asking your employers and vendorsto donate. The Boilermakers Archivesis a 501(c)3 corporation, so donationsare tax deductible.

All individuals, local lodges, andcompanies making donations to thisproject will be listed in a contributorssection of the print version of the his-tory and on the Boilermakers Web siteat: h t t p : / / w w w . b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g .

Historical items are needed, tooIN ADDITION TOfinancial help, thehistory project welcomes historicalmaterials that will help our writer cre-ate a thorough history. MacIntosh wasable to compile a great deal of informa-tion about the Boilermakers, but histor-ical research never ends.

If your local lodge has compiled alocal history, or if you have items thatmay help in creating this history, weurge you to share them with our his-tory project team. Printed matter andphotographs are appreciated, but agood history relies on examining otherobjects as well. Old tools, membershippins, ledgers, rosters, and memorabiliamay be donated or loaned to theArchives to help the history project.

In order to ensure their use in the his-tory, we must have these materials bySept. 1, 2000.

Checks in support of the history bookproject should be made payable to theBoilermaker Archives - History BookP r o j e c t and mailed to:

Boilermaker History Book Project753 State Avenue, Ste .570Kansas City, KS 66101

TO LEARN MOREabout how you cancontribute to the success of this project,contact Donald Caswell (913) 371-2640;E-mail: d c a s w e l l @ b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g; orwrite him at the address above. ❑

Boilermakers launch projectto create a written historyAlberta local now offers

training on automatedwelding processes INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY d onot stand still. If our training programscannot keep up, we cannot keep ourmembers employed.

That is the reasoning behind effortsby Local 146, Edmonton, Alberta, toexpand their training to meet the grow-ing demand for fluxcore and otherautomated welding processes.

“Some may say these automatedprocesses will eliminate jobs,” explainsLocal 146 Education Coordinator War-ren T. Fraleigh. “But there’s anotherside to the story. If we don’t embrace it

and take it on, someone else will – pos-sibly nonunion.”

The way Fraleigh sees it, his chal-lenge is to deliver the training that willenable us to meet the demands of a con-stantly evolving industry.

Local 146 is meeting that challengethrough their training facilities in bothCalgary and Edmonton. Local 146offers demonstrations and training onorbital fluxcore welding, automaticMIG overlay for vessels and boiler walltubes, and manual Inconel pulsed MIGwelding at its Edmonton training facil-ity. The local also offers a 50 percentreimbursement plan for members tak-ing certain courses offered by otherfacilities. For more information, contactFraleigh at 780-451-5992. ❑

WSI Instructor Billy Soukeroff shows the automatic MIG overlay process at the Local 146Edmonton training facility. Local 146 is being aggressive in training their members.

L-146 expands training tomeet industry demands

THIRTY-FIVE STEWARDS, officers,and members of Local 903, West Point,Miss., attended a two-day stewardtraining program conducted by theBoilermakers’ Research and CollectiveBargaining Services Department(RCBSD), on February 24-25, 2000.Class instructors included RCBSDAsst. Wade Davis, Safety and HealthSpecialist Milan Racic, Intl. Rep. MikeWilson, and B & W Safety DirectorBruce Childress.

Class topics included the structureand service of the International Broth-erhood; duties of the union steward,including the rights and responsibili-ties of stewards under the NLRA andthe Duty of Fair Representation; effec-tive grievance handling, from investi-gation to analysis throughpresentation; and standards for disci-pline and discharge. ❑

L-903 members attend training

ABOVE, Local 903 members attend atwo-day steward training program.

BELOW, B&W Safety Director BruceChildress addresses the group.

Group photo of second MOST-sponsored class on proper scaffold procedures,February 1-4, 2000, in Kansas City.

Dave Rodwick of Foster Wheeler Zack;and Richard Coakley of O’ConnorConstruction. Also pictured are Local154 BM Ray Ventrone and Local 154 VPSean Murphy.

Kansas City attendees includedBNAP instructors Carl Oliver and JohnStandish; MOST intern Jimmy Tem-

pus; MOST Rep. John Tindall; NTDIntl. Rep. Dick Hardin; Howard Fink ofL-13, Philadelphia, Pa.; Joe Everhardtand Ray Greer of L-85, Toledo, Ohio;Don Whisenant of L-592, Tulsa, Okla.;Tank Peterson and David Caudill of L-627, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Terry Curl ofL-647, Minneapolis, Minn.

Ron Dickens of Gem Industries alsoattended. ❑

MOST holds scaffold trainingContinued from page 1

also dropped 68.87 percent, from 83.02in 1990 to 25.84 in 1999. This reductionmeans fewer Boilermakers are beinginjured on the job.

Avoiding accidents hassaved hundreds of millions

ERICKSON CALCULATES that therehave been 10,600 fewer accidents since1990 because of the lower accidentrates. Avoiding these accidents hasenabled our contractors and customersto avoid $324 million in direct costs.Using a conservative four-to-one indi-rect to direct cost ratio, that equals asavings of more than $1.6 billion.

Fewer injuries and the resultinglower costs means Boilermaker con-tractors can be more competitive intheir bids, passing the savings on to ourc u s t o m e r s .

Erickson also presented safetyawards to the local lodge with the low-est injury rates in each vice-presidentialarea (see story below).

Since the Boilermakers place a strongemphasis on safety, it should come asno surprise that guest speakersaddressed this important topic. DonEllenberger, training manager of theCenter to Protect Workers’ Rights(CPWR), and CPWR trainer GreggHuff (a 26-year member of Local 502),discussed various hazardous waste

training programs they conduct forworkers. Motivational speaker BruceWilkinson also talked about managingand motivating safe work behavior,stressing that safety is everyone’sr e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

Perhaps the highlight of the meetingwas the special guest appearance ofleaders from the AFL-CIO’s Buildingand Construction Trades Department(BCTD). BCTD President RobertGeorgine retired in April 2000, afterleading the department for 26 years.

Georgine gave an emotional address,talking about past accomplishmentsand where the Building Trades can goin the future. Newly-elected BCTDPres. Ed Sullivan talked of the chal-lenges we face and the constructionorganizing efforts that started underGeorgine’s leadership.

Boilermakers paid special attentionto the newly elected secretary-treasurerof the BCTD, because he is one of us. JoeMaloney, a member of BoilermakerLocal 128, is the first Canadian to holdthis position. He spoke with enthusi-asm about all he hopes to accomplish inhis new role.

S t a ff talked about re f e r r a l ,jurisdiction, pension, by-laws

CONSTRUCTION DIVISION D i r e c t o rJoe Meredith and his assistant, DaleBranscum, discussed craft jurisdiction,referral, and contract issues. Mike DiCi-

cco, of the Washington D.C. office, pro-vided an update on man-hour reports.One-third of Boilermaker hours fallunder the General President, NationalMaintenance, or National Power Gen-erating Maintenance agreements.

Brotherhood Bank President TomJohnson, National Archivist Tom Wands,National Funds Administrator KeithReed, and William Palmisano, adminis-trator of Mobilization, Optimization, Sta-bilization, and Training (MOST), alsoreported to the delegates. Palmisanogave an update on changes to the MOSTsubstance abuse screening program;Reed reviewed the pension, health andwelfare, and annuity funds; Wandsspoke about the need to raise funds forthe archives and introduced the revisedBoilermaker emblem; and Johnson dis-cussed bank assets and services.

Asst. to the Intl. Pres. Victor Maggioaddressed the necessary changes inArticle 10 of Local Lodge By-Laws toensure the current practices of eachlodge comply with the terms of its con-struction labor agreements and withrequirements imposed by ERISA, theInternal Revenue Code, and other gov-ernment agencies.

Organizing Director Bill Creeden andInformation Systems Manager KevinGordon conducted a computer work-shop providing demonstrations of theBoilermakers’ membership database.

Intl. Rep. Bob Heine reviewed DavisBacon, stressing the need to keep upwith reporting and the importance ofreporting newly-negotiated collectivebargaining agreements.

P resident Jones calls forpolitical education & action

LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR A n d eAbbott focused his remarks on voterregistration and key congressionalraces where organized labor can play amajor role based on the number of peo-ple in the districts. He also discussedpolitical funds, the functions of the locallodge legislative committee, and theneed to be politically active.

In his closing remarks, Intl. Pres.Jones stressed the importance ofbecoming involved in the upcomingpresidential and congressional races.“We have to get out and vote and dowhat it takes to get pro-worker candi-dates elected,” he said. ❑

Twenty-three localsfinish year with no lost-time injuriesMEMBERS OF LOCAL 744, Cleve-land, Ohio, have earned the nationalsafety award from the National Associ-ation of Construction BoilermakerEmployers (NACBE), for finishing theyear without a lost-time injury andearning the lowest compensable injuryrate. On March 1, NACBE Exec. Dir.John Erickson presented the nationaland area safety awards to the locallodge with the lowest injury rates ineach vice-presidential area at the Boil-ermaker Construction Division Con-ference in Miami Beach, Fla.

Erickson told the conference dele-gates that Local 744, of the Great LakesArea, had close competition this yearwith the other area winners – Local 175(Oswego, N.Y.) of the Northeast Area;Local 69 (Little Rock, Ark.) of the South-east Area; Local 531 (Amarillo, Texas) ofthe Central Section; and Local 549 (Pitts-burg, Calif.) of the Western States Area.

Twenty-three of the 56 constructionlodges had a lost-time injury rate ofzero in 1999, with 12 of those lodgesqualifying for the NACBE safetyaward’s competition. That made thecompensable injury accident rate(which includes the number of injurieson a job that do not result in lost-time)the determining factor in selecting theaward winners.

For the first seven years of theaward’s program, Erickson saw asteady decrease in the lost-time injuryrates. However, for the second year in arow, the national average for lost-timeinjury rates has increased (from 1.04 in1997 to 1.65 in 1999). For the first timesince the program started in 1991, thecompensable injury accident rateincreased in 1999 (from 24.20 in 1998 to25.84 in 1999). Despite these recentincreases, the lost-time injury rate hasdropped by 87.81 percent since 1990,and the compensable injury rate hasdropped by 68.67 percent. ❑

5 May • Jun 2000N E W S M A K E R S

the Boilermaker Reporter

Continued from page 1

As Const. Div. Director Joe Meredith addresses the delegates, Intl. Pres. Charles W.Jones confers with special guest speakers, l. to r., BCTD Sec.-Treas. Joe Maloney,incoming BCTD Pres. Ed Sullivan, and out-going BCTD Pres. Robert Georgine.

Local 744 is the 1999 national safety award winner. L. to r., are NACBE Exec. Dir.John Erickson, NACBE Pres. Wendell Bell, IVP Larry McManamon, L-744 BM-ST PatGallagher, Intl. Pres. Charles W. Jones, and Intl. Rep. Clayton Plummer.

NACBE safety index shows decline in injuries

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 19990

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Lost-Time Injury Rate

Compensable Injury Rate

Since the National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers (NACBE) begancalculating its annual NACBE Safety Index in 1990, the national average for lost-time injuryrates has dropped 87.81 percent, from 13.54 in 1990 to 1.65 in 1999. The compensable injuryrate has also dropped 68.87 percent, from 83.02 in 1990 to 25.84 in 1999. This reductionmeans fewer Boilermakers are being injured on the job. Fewer injuries means Boilermakercontractors and owners can be more competitive as they save millions of dollars in directand indirect injury costs.

8 3 . 0 2

8 . 4 2 7 . 2 4 6 . 9 6 3 . 6 4 2 . 5 8 2 . 3 0 1 . 0 4 1 . 2 3 1 . 6 5

5 8 . 4 3

5 7 . 3 85 4 . 0 4

4 3 . 7 1

3 3 . 8 93 0 . 7 0 2 8 . 7 1

2 4 . 2 0 2 5 . 8 4

1 3 . 5 4

L-744 earns NACBE’s national safety award

C o n s t ruction conference emphasizes safety, re c ru i t m e n t

American sweatshopssew U.S. military uniform sNOT ONLY DO SWEATSHOPS still exist inAmerica, but some have contracts to work forthe U.S. government. About 10,000 Americanwomen sew government uniforms, often inunsanitary, unsafe conditions. The militarymakes a profit from buying uniforms at lowprices and selling them to other countries, yetit refuses to sign the administration’s anti-sweatshop code of conduct.

A good example is the Lion Apparel com-pany. It contracts with the Department ofDefense (DOD) to produce military uniformsfor the U.S. The DOD has invested $1 billion inthe garment industry, yet Lion Apparel paystheir workers as little as $5.50 an hour, andhas been cited 32 times for safety violations inthe past 12 years.

The Lion Apparel plant in Beattyville, Ky.,uses formaldehyde to keep fabric stiff forprocessing. But formaldehyde emits fumesthat cause shortness of breath, headaches,and skin rashes.

The Union of Needle Trades, Industrial,and Textile Employers (UNITE) tried to organ-ize the workers. According to a report inMother Jones, several employees sent a let-ter to Al Gore and eight Kentucky congress-men and senators about company threatsthat the plant would close if they got a union,and that any individual who talked to theunion would be fired. Somehow Lion’s man-agement received the letter and posted it ona bulletin board. The organizing campaigncame to an abrupt halt. The employees did,however, make a small gain. They received a30-cent raise in hourly wages and an air con-ditioner was finally installed.

Hayes Mechanical thanksLocal One for a job well doneDUE TO CUTBACKS and deregula-tion in today’s industry, owners havebecome more dependent on unioncontractors and union labor to sup-port their in-house maintenance andemergency shutdowns.

We, the union contractor and unionlabor, are often called upon in the 11thhour to come out and get units backon line in the middle of the night. Weare basically expected to “hit theground running.”

In order to support owners’ needstoday, we have safety and quality con-trol guidelines as our priorities, as wellas skill levels that demand the best ofall involved.

Due to everyone’s best efforts, wewere able to get two emergency jobs atMidwest Generation’s Waukegan Sta-tion and the Robbins Incinerator backon line injury free, with x-ray qualitywelds, and in a professional andcraftsmanlike manner.

On behalf of Hayes Mechanical,Inc., we appreciate and thank youfor all of your best efforts and lookforward to projects in the futurewith your support and ours as ateam. It is through this joint effortthat we can maintain our presence intoday’s workplace.

Also, special thanks to Local One formanning these projects in the middleof the night, as well as for the men whomanned the projects.

Congratulations, and thanks for ajob well done.

MI C H A E L P. MU R P H Y

Hayes Mechanical Inc.

MPSC praises Local 199 foroutstanding job at paper millMIDWEST PRECIPITATOR S e r v i c e sCorp. (MPSC) was recently awarded acontract for maintenance with GilmanPaper Company in St. Mary’s, Ga.

The Boilermakers of Local 199 didan outstanding job. The project wascompleted on time, on budget, andwith no major injuries. This was one ofthe fastest and smoothest tear-out andre-install projects in MPSC’s history.

RO E L Y GO R H A M

MPSC project manager

Editor’s Note: L-199 BM-ST LarrySnellgrove was so proud of his mem-ber’s work, that he submitted theirnames for recognition: G. Davey Able,Terry Austin, Chris Babcock, CharlieBatten, J. R. Batten, Donald Brown,Larry Bryan, Hollis Burch, JamesCarlisle, Steve Carlisle, Dettra Crews,John D. Daniels, Ronald Davis, RobertFerguson, T. J. Herrin, Harold King,Kevin Mathie, Michael McVay, KennyMeeks, Brett Moody, Terry Moody,Brock Rhoden, Lewis Schingler,Armando Sesso, Gene Spaulding, andRonald Thrift.

Local One helps the Ve n t u reo rganization set new re c o rd sI AM PLEASED to report that Braid-wood Nuclear Station has just set anew ComEd record for a refuel out-age. At just 18 days and 18 hours,Braidwood has achieved the first sub-20 day outage in ComEd history.

In addition, Braidwood’s achieve-ment ranks as the second best everfor a nuclear plant outage in the

United States. (The record, held bySouth Texas Project, stands at 17days and 11 hours.)

But this outage was about morethan just reaching new goals forspeed. The Venture had its best outageever for safety (no OSHA recordableor lost-time injuries), and enjoyed itslowest radiological exposure ever.

We recognize that as a company weare no more than the sum of ouremployees. And we want to acknowl-edge the help provided by everyonetoward the success of this outage. Onbehalf of the entire Venture organiza-tion, please accept our sincerest grati-tude to you and the participatingmembers of Boilermakers Local Onefor the professional service providedto us at Braidwood. We agree thatthere is no substitute for trained unionBoilermakers, and we appreciate allthe efforts you made to contribute toour collective success.

ComEd has six refuel outagesscheduled for the Fall of 2000 (one ateach site – including Clinton – alloccurring within a 79-day window).The need for skilled union Boilermak-ers to support this great effort will bestrong. We look forward to workingwith you as we plan for the formidabletask that awaits us.

Thanks again for making Braidwood’soutage a record-setting achievement.

PA T R I C K O ’ CO N N O R, site managerNewberg-Perini/Stone & WebsterThe Venture

Sithe Northeast credits Local154 for successful pro j e c tWE WOULD LIKEto take this oppor-tunity to express our gratitude for theperformance of Local 154 leadershipand members during the recent six-week unit #2 spring outage at the Key-stone Generating Station.

During the early stages of the proj-ect, it appeared that completion of theprojected work scope would not bepossible due to the unavailability ofBoilermaker welders. An overrun ofthe schedule of two-to-four days wasforecast. ABB-CE and Local 154worked closely together and werevery creative in manning the job at themost critical times during the outage.Not only was the total work scopecompleted, it was completed ahead ofschedule and Sithe Northeast wasable to return the unit to operationone day early.

As you know, safety is extremelyimportant to us, and we are happyto report that there were no record-able injuries to Boilermakers dur-ing the outage. There were,however, seven injuries thatrequired first aid treatment.

We appreciate the efforts of theLocal 154 membership and would liketo recognize Raymond Ventrone,business manager, and John Nuc-cetelli, assistant business manager, fortheir cooperation and dedication toserving out stations. We value therelationship we have developed overthe years as Penelec, then GPU Genco,now Sithe Northeast, and soon to beReliant Energy. We will face manychallenges ahead, but by workingtogether we will be successful.

Thank you for your support andcooperation. This was indeed a safe,quality, and schedule success.

WA Y N E M. LE G G, maint. servicesSithe Northeast

Way to Go! Good Work! Attaboy!KUDOSLetters of Praise from Our Customers


L O C A L N E W S

L-484 meets secre t a ry of state

LOCAL 484 PRES.Kelly Street, l., and L-484 chief steward James Surratt, r., meetwith Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White at a reception hosted by the Teamstersunion in Springfield, Ill. The Meredosia local plans to host a community-wide“meet your secretary of state” reception later this year. ❑

Avondale workers meet Gore

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE, at far right, served coffee and doughnuts to Avon-dale Shipyard workers, New Orleans, La., in February. Over 2,000 shipyardworkers met Gore at 7:00 a.m., along with New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, Rep.William Jefferson (D-2nd LA), AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Exec. VicePres. Linda Chavez-Thompson, and international presidents of Metal TradesDepartment unions who will be joining the Boilermakers in representing therecently-organized Avondale workers. ❑

DOING A GOOD JOBis the goal. Andit helps to know your efforts are appre-ciated. Illinois Power and Power Main-tenance Constructors (PMC) wantmembers of Local 363, East St. Louis,Ill., and the Great Lakes Area, to knowthat they appreciate their hard work.

In January, Illinois Power and PMCpresented two awards to Intl. Vice Pres.Larry McManamon and Local 363 Bus.Mgr. and Sec.-Treas. John Passiglia Jr.for the Local 363 and Great LakesRegion members who worked at theBaldwin Energy Complex. ❑

Intl. Vice Pres. Larry McManamon and L-363 BM-ST John Passiglia Jr., seated, l. to r.,accept awards from, standing, l. to r., Ken Pollman, mgr. of power plant services; KeithMcFarland, Baldwin Energy Complex vice pres.; Darrell Kohlenberger, PMC projectmanager; Alan Howkins, PMC vice pres.; and Richard Mooney, PMC chairman.

Owner, contractor honor Boilermakers for meeting budgetand schedule while welding at a 99.7 percent success rate

L-363, Great Lakes earn award s


S T E W A R D S

TO BE A GOODsteward you needto be part detective and partlawyer. When you first learn of

the grievance, you act like a detective.You question witnesses and gather evi-dence to make sure there is a grievance.

Then comes a crucial decision. Youneed to decide exactly what claim youare going to make and how you willargue your case. To make the right deci-sion, you have to know somethingabout putting together an effective for-mal argument.

Usually when we talk about argu-ments, we are talking about those noisydiscussions in which both sides getangry and nothing ever gets resolved.But when we talk about arguing yourgrievance, we are using the term as anattorney or arbitrator would. We aretalking about a formal argument, not ad i s a g r e e m e n t .

Not every grievance goes to arbitra-tion, but you should always prepareyour argument as though it will beheard by an arbitrator. First, a well-pre-pared argument is more likely to con-vince management that your case isstrong. Second, you never know whichcases will end up in arbitration, so youshould always be prepared.

What is a formal arg u m e n t ?

A FORMAL ARGUMENT is a courseof reasoning aimed at demonstratingtruth or falsehood.

In preparing an argument for yourgrievance, you will do well to remem-ber this definition. Note that the argu-ment will be a “course of reasoning.”

That means your argument will bebased on logic, not emotion. It will beorganized. And it will have a specificgoal or target.

To be logical, your argument will relyon facts or statements put forth as evi-dence. That is why it is important to fol-low good investigative procedurewhen you collect facts.

Collect all the facts you can. You maynot use them all, but the more you have,the more choices you have for creatinga strong argument.

Likewise, do not ignore facts thatdon’t support your position. The otherside may use those facts in their case.You must be ready to rebut them.

The burden of pro o f

THERE ARE TWO SIDESto everyargument: affirmative and negative.The affirmative position is the sidewhich makes the “claim.” The negativeposition is one of rebuttal, refuting theclaims or evidence of the affirmative.The burden of proof always rests withthe affirmative position.

The negative position always has theadvantage in any argument. Making aclaim and proving it is difficult; refut-ing the claim or some portion of theclaim is far easier. For example, when aprosecutor claims that a criminal hascommitted a crime, he must show thatthe person was in a specific location at aspecific time AND that he took somespecific actions that were illegal.

The defense doesn’t need to provewhere their client was or what he wasdoing at the time the crime occurred.They just have to show that he wasn’t atthat specific location OR that he wasn’ttaking those specific actions.

EXAMPLE 1: The company hasgiven Joe Average a disciplinary stepfor missing work. The company saysthat Joe has in fact missed more thanthe allowable time, but since everyoneknows he has been going through adivorce, they have been easy on him.Now they feel that Joe has had enoughtime to get his affairs in order, and theybelieve that the step is a “wake up call”for Joe. Joe goes to his union steward tofile a grievance to get the step removed.

Is the company taking the affirmativeor negative position?

The company is taking the affirma-tive position. They have made a claimagainst Joe Average. Therefore thecompany has the affirmative argumentand the burden of proof.

What do they need to prove? If youlook carefully, you see that the com-pany has made three distinct claims:

1 ) Joe has missed work2 ) Joe missed “more than the allow-

able time”3) The company has been easy on

Joe – they have let him exceed the stan-dard limits for attendance.

Knowing that a negative argument isthe easiest to formulate, you tell thecompany you will rebut their claims.The company has the burden of proof.

You simply need to show that whatthey are claiming is not accurate.

To win the first claim, the companymust show that Joe missed work. Soyou will need to determine what hisattendance record has been. The com-pany will have attendance records. Youneed to examine them. You can’t justtake Joe’s word for it, because the com-pany will be able to show those recordsas evidence. If he “forgets” a few of hisabsences, the company can use the offi-cial record to make it look like youhaven’t prepared your case well.

Once you have the actual record ofhis attendance, you can look into thesecond claim: that he has missed morethan the allowable time. How muchtime is allowed? Is there an officialattendance policy? Is there specific con-tract language about attendance? Isthere a work rule that stipulates what isan excused absence and what is not?How have Joe’s absences been counted,and is this method in keeping with theofficial method? If your research showsJoe is under the set limit, you can easilyrefute the company’s argument. And ifthe company has never set a specificlimit, you win by showing that fact.You cannot get a speeding ticket whenthere is no speeding limit.

Finally, the company has claimed thatthey have been giving Joe a break. Torefute this, you need to look beyondJoe’s record. It might be necessary torequest the attendance records of allemployees who are similarly situated. Ifyou find that all employees get a disci-plinary step when they reach the num-ber of absences Joe has reached, then thecompany isn’t giving him a break,they’re just enforcing the rule. And ifother workers have missed more workthan Joe without getting a disciplinarystep, then clearly they are not giving Joea break. They may even be treating himmore severely than others. In either ofthese cases, the mention of their easystance on Joe has no merit, and shouldnot become a permanent part of his file,regardless of whether they prove theother two parts of their claim. Such astatement may prejudice the handlingof any grievances Joe files later.

EXAMPLE 2: Jane North has been ashop steward for about two years andhas always been active in union affairs.She has never gotten along well withBill Boss, the shift foreman, and in thelast three months, she has filed an espe-

cially large number of grievancesagainst him. She has also been seen inthe last few months drinking heavily ina local bar on weekends. On Mondaymorning, Bill sends Jane home on a cri-sis suspension. He alleges that she hadalcohol on her breath, slurred speech,and bloodshot, red eyes. Jane’s bestfriend and fellow steward, Sarah South,files a grievance stating that Bill is sim-ply trying to retaliate against Jane forher recent activity as a union steward.

What kind of argument is this, andhow will they prove it?

The union has taken an affirmativep o s i t i o n . They are claiming the fore-man suspended Jane for her unionactivity. That is a very unfortunate deci-sion on Sarah’s part.

How can she prove that Bill sus-pended Jane for her union activity? Heclaimed he did it because she wasdrinking. Since no one can read hismind, we really don’t know what hewas thinking. Proving that the com-pany has ill will, what lawyers call a n i -m u s, toward a person or toward theunion is very difficult. Unless Bill Bosstold someone that he suspended Jane inretaliation for her union work, orannounced ahead of time that he wasplanning to do so, then Sarah has noevidence to support her claim.

Sarah should have taken the nega-tive argument. Instead of accusing Billof retaliation, she should have simplydemanded that he prove Jane wasdrunk on the job. Then the burden ofproof would have fallen on Bill.

How could Bill have proven Jane wasdrunk? He did not give her a Breatha-lyzer test. He didn’t refer her to a sub-stance abuse counselor. No one elsesmelled alcohol on her breath. No oneelse said her speech was slurred. Noone else said her eyes were bloodshot.Does the company have a policy abouthandling people who are drunk on thej o b ? If so, did Bill follow it? If not, howhas this problem been handled in thep a s t ? As you can see, Bill has a difficultcase to prove – one he’ll probably lose.

Stewards are often tempted to try tomake an affirmative argument whenfaced with a grievance. If you remem-ber that the negative argument isalways easier to make, you will winmore of your grievances.

In the next issue of the Reporter, w ewill look at the best ways to presentyour evidence. ❑

JAMES SERPA, of Local D46, SantaCruz, Calif., is a Star Steward . Anemployee of RMC Pacific Materials,Serpa “has been an integral part of thislocal union for over 25 years, specifi-cally working for worker rights andretiree benefits,” reports Intl. Rep.Michael Atchison. After a three-yearhiatus, Serpa is serving as lodge presi-dent again, a position he has held forover 20 years.

Do you know a Star Steward?WE’D LIKE TOinclude their name inour Star Steward’s column. Just drop usa line with the name of the steward,the local, the company, and a fewwords about why you think this stew-ard is so special. Send a photo if youhave one. We’d like the world to seewhat a good steward looks like.

Send info to this address:

Star StewardsThe Boilermaker ReporterBoilermakers International753 State Ave, Suite 570Kansas City KS 66101

How to argue your position

Arguing a grievance is like arguing a court case

James Serpa, Local D46

★ ★ ★ Star Stewards ★ ★ ★If you want to win your grievance, you need to knowwhat argument to use and how to support your claim

The burden of proof

lies on the affirmative

side, making it the

hardest side to argue.

The negative position always has

the advantage in any arg u m e n t .

E v e ry argument has two sides

Negative

If you re m e m b e rthat the negativea rgument isalways easier tomake, you will winm o re of yourg r i e v a n c e s .


P A G E I DT A X E S

People with access get special tax benefitsCongress will rewrite taxlaws to fit your needs – ifyou have connectionsWHAT WOULD YOU DO if youwanted to have a tax law changed sothat you could avoid paying some ofthe taxes that everyone else pays?

If you didn’t know that was possible,you obviously aren’t an executive for abillion-dollar corporation. Companiesoften get tax exemptions written just forthem added to the tax code. All youhave to do is hire the right tax lobbyist.

Someone with the right background.Someone like Shirley D. Peterson. In1989, President Bush made her an assis-tant attorney in the Tax Division of theJustice Department. Three years later,she became commissioner of theInternal Revenue Service (IRS). In 1993,she resigned and returned to privatelaw practice and became a registeredlobbyist, specializing in tax legislation.

When you’re trying to get a tax lawchanged in your favor, it sure doesn’thurt to have a former IRS commis-sioner doing the talking for you.

That’s why Donald C. Alexander,another former IRS commissioner(1972-1977), also went into tax lobbyingwhen he left government service. Infact, the federal government is the maintraining ground for tax lobbyists. Intheir 1994 book, A m e r i c a : Who reallypays the taxes? , Donald L. Barlett andJames B. Steele name a slew of formergovernment tax specialists who havesince become tax lobbyists.

John J. Salmon was chief counsel andstaff director of the House Ways andMeans Committee, Robert Lighthizerwas chief counsel and staff director ofthe Senate Finance Committee, RonaldA. Pearlman was in the IRS chief coun-sel’s office, Timothy M. Haake was anattorney with the IRS. All later becametax lobbyists.

And these are but a handful of thehigh level federal employees who nowlobby the people they used to work for.

When the people who have beentrained to ferret out tax dodgers go towork for those tax dodgers, commonsense suggests that the best interests ofthe nation get left behind. So do theinterests of the average taxpayer.

Yet veterans in Washington see noth-ing wrong with this revolving door. Forthem, it is a way of life. As CharlsWalker, of Charls E. Walker &Associates, a lobbying and economicconsulting firm specializing in tax legis-lation, told an interviewer in 1987:“Anybody who comes to me and saysthey want to be a tax lobbyist, I say, goget experience on the Hill.”

Well-kept secrets of tax law

NO ONE NAMES tax lobbyists in thenewspapers. That’s why you’ve neverheard of these people – or of any of thethousands of lobbyists in Washington.

Newspapers also fail to report on theamendments these lobbyists spawn,those clauses inserted into the tax codethat benefit their clients and no one else.

For example, in 1986, Congresspassed a tax reform law intended to doaway with loopholes and force corpo-rations and the wealthy to pay their fairshare of taxes. Corporations makingbillions of dollars in profits had beenable to avoid paying any income tax atall. With backing from PresidentReagan, Congress set out to revise thetax code to close the loopholes.

Yet the Tax Reform Act of 1986, for allit accomplished, also managed toinclude a clause granting the Joseph E.Seagram Corporation an exemptionfrom the increase in capital gains taxesthat every other corporation had to pay.The exemption saved them about $40million in taxes.

The 1986 tax law also contained aclause exempting Koch Industries from

paying taxes on the expansion of theirRosemont oil refinery. And these arejust two examples. Even as theywere reforming the law, theywere making special exemp-tions for powerful peo-ple with the rightc o n n e c t i o n s .

In 1993, with helpfrom President Clinton,Congress passedanother tax reformact that madeincome taxes atiny bit fairer formost workingpeople. But the actalso extended(with a slightreduction) the tax exemption for busi-nesses with factories in Puerto Rico.That exemption has saved a few dozencompanies billions of dollars in taxes.

Those billions of dollars don’t just geterased from the budget. Someone hasto put that money into the treasury. Theaverage taxpayer, and all businesseswithout factories in Puerto Rico, paidmore taxes to make up for what thesecompanies didn’t pay.

You probably didn’t know that yourincome taxes were subsidizing some ofthe largest corporations in the world,such powerhouses as E.I. DuPont, CocaCola, Merck &Company, Johnson &Johnson, Pfizer Inc., American HomeProducts Corporation, Schering-Plough, Squibb Corporation, Warner-Lambert, and American Cyanamid Co.But that’s what happens when multina-tionals get tax breaks we don’t get.

The P.R. battle for tax bre a k s

DO TAX BREAKS for businesses stim-ulate the economy? Do they increaseemployment, and, ultimately, result inmore tax revenue? Those are the claimswe’ve been hearing from conservativegroups for years. But are they true?

A good case to study is Section 936 ofthe Internal Revenue Code, whichallows companies operating in PuertoRico to ship all their profits back to theU.S. tax-free.

This law expanded a partial exemp-tion started in the 1940s to draw busi-nesses to the island in an effort toreduce unemployment in the poverty-stricken territory. For a while, itworked. The number of factories rose,and unemployment dropped. So in1976, Congress passed Section 936,exempting all profits.

Under the old Puerto Rican exemp-tion, the U.S. Treasury lost an averageof $300 million a year. In the five yearsafter 936 was passed, the averageannual loss quadrupled, to $1.3 billiona year. Meanwhile, private employ-ment on the island decreased.

A 1985 White House report pointedout that companies were getting taxcredits far in excess of the wages theypaid. The report found that in 1982,when the average wage in Puerto Ricowas $14,210, the average tax creditunder 936 was more than $22,000.Fourteen corporations got tax benefitsin excess of $100,000 per employee.

It would have been cheaper for theU.S. government just to hire workersfor the average wage rather than givethese tax breaks to these multinationalcorporations. To his credit, PresidentRonald Reagan included the repeal of936 in his tax reform bill of 1986.

That didn’t sit well with the compa-nies benefitting from 936, and they hadplenty of money to combat the change.Very quickly, such major corporationsas DuPont, SmithKline Beacham,Johnson &Johnson, Schering-Plough,Squibb, etc., began a public relationscampaign to convince the U.S. publicand Congress that doing away withthis special tax exemption woulddestroy Puerto Rico’s economy.

In letter after letter and article afterarticle in major newspapers such as theNew York Times, they played the sametune. The fact that all of these compa-nies stood to lose a considerable taxbreak if the law were changed washardly ever mentioned.

Their campaign worked. Section 936was reinstated. It worked again in 1993,when President Clinton attempted toremove the clause. Although the taxconcession was scaled back, the compa-nies have still escaped payment of atleast $10 billion in taxes since 1993.

And while profits for the companiesin question have gone up, Puerto Rico’semployment rate in the manufacturingsector has gone down. ❑

This article is based on information from“A m e r i c a : Who really pays the taxes?, ”by Donald L. Barlett and James B.Steele, and from articles in the N e wYork Times and the N a t i o n.

HOW DO THE TWO MAIN p r e s i d e n-tial candidates rate on tax issues? If youjudge by how much the candidate hasdone to provide tax relief for workingpeople, Gore comes out ahead.

Al Gore

AL GORE SERVEDin Congress 14years before being elected vice presi-dent in 1992. He had numerous oppor-tunities to vote on tax legislationaffecting workers and other middleclass taxpayers. The Citizens for TaxJustice (CTJ), a nonprofit group dedi-cated to tax reform to help workingfamilies, examined his record andfound that he “generally voted for (oragainst) important tax bills based ontheir effect on equity and fiscal neutral-ity.” They also examined his recordedstatements over the past 22 years anddetermined that he “showed a specialconcern for tax equity issues as theyaffect low- and middle-incomeAmerican taxpayers.”

CTJ looked at the eight most impor-tant tax bills to go through Congressfrom 1979 to 1993. On all eight, Gore’svotes supported the position the CTJbelieved was best for working fami-lies. In 1986, while voting for one of themost far-ranging tax reform laws todate, Gore publicly stated the bill didnot go nearly far enough, and pro-vided a long list of aspects of the billwith which he was “disappointed.”

In 1993, Gore left the Senate tobecome vice president. The vice presi-dent presides over the Senate and onlyvotes to break a tie. In 1993, as vicepresident, Gore cast the tie-breakingvote in the Senate on a bill that aideddeficit reduction while making the taxsystem more fair for working people.Since then, he has not been required tocast a deciding vote on a tax bill.

G e o rge W. Bush

GEORGE W. BUSHhas only held elec-tive office since 1995, when he becamegovernor of Texas. But he has alreadyshown that he is willing to raise taxeson working families to give corpora-tions and the wealthy tax breaks.

In his 1994 campaign, echoing hisfather, he said, “Read my ears . . . Therewill not be a tax increase when I amgovernor” [Houston Chronicle10/27/94]. He then proposed raisingthe sales tax and creating an entirelynew tax – the Value Added Tax (VAT).

His 1997 tax plan called for repeal-ing the Corporate Franchise Tax andlowering property taxes, while raisingthe state sales tax and adopting aValue Added Tax (VAT). A dispro-portionate share of the burden forVATs and sales taxes falls on middle-and low-income taxpayers.

According to an official report by theTexas Legislative Budget Board,Bush’s plan would have benefitted

Texans with higher incomes more thanthose with lower incomes. The largestbenefits would have gone to Texansmaking over $75,000 a year.

And the plan fell more than $1 billionshort of paying the state’s bills, so heplanned to spend the state’s surplus.

Texas already has one of the mostunfair tax systems in the nation. A 1996study by the Citizens for Tax Justicefound that low-income Texas familiespay an average 13.8 percent of theirincome to state taxes, middle incomefamilies pay 8.6 percent, and wealthyfamilies pay only 4.4 percent. Bush’sproposal would have made it evenmore unfair for working families.

In 1998, the state voted to adopt anamendment to the state constitution,raising the homestead exemption from$5,000 to $15,000. George W. uses thisamendment to claim he lowered prop-erty taxes. But the Texas Comptroller’sOffice says that school district prop-erty taxes rose by 10.4 percent on sin-gle family homes from 1997 to 1998.

In 1999, Bush proposed $2.6 billionin sales, corporate, and property taxcuts. The legislature passed $1.9 billionof those cuts. Over 57 percent of thecuts went to corporations.

For more detailed information on thetax records of the presidentialcandidates, visit these Web pages:

h t t p : / / w w w . c t j . o r g / h t m l / b u s h . h t mh t t p : / / w w w . c t j . o r g / h t m l / g o r e . h t m

How Bush and Gore compare on tax issues


L E A P C O N F E R E N C E

32nd Annual

M a rch 20-24, 2000M a rch 20-24, 2000Washington, D. C.Washington, D. C.

Conference Conference

THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS w e r ethe main topic of conversation whenmore than 200 Boilermakers fromacross the country gathered in Wash-ington, D.C., for the 32nd annual Leg-islative Education-Action Program(LEAP) conference.

Delegates were sent to the conferenceby their local lodge LEAPc o m m i t t e e sto learn about the issues, lobby Con-gress, and bring back the knowledgenecessary to help Boilermaker mem-bers make a difference in this year’slocal, state, and national elections.

They succeeded in all respects.

Intl. Pres. Charles W. Jones opened themeeting with a call to action. “What thegovernment gives, the government cantake away,” he told the assembly. “We’vegot to take back the House of Representa-tives. The House sets the legislativeagenda as much as the president does.Under a Republican House, we’ve beenstruggling to keep them from takingaway our most basic rights as workers.With a House controlled by the Democ-rats, we will have a far better opportunityto get our agenda on the floor.”

Jones pointed out that the Republi-can Congress has repeatedly attemptedto do away with the Jones Act, OSHA,and even the National Labor RelationsAct that guarantees us the right to forma union. He predicted a terrible future ifanti-worker forces ever gain enoughseats in the House to override a presi-dential veto.

“They [the Republican majority inCongress] want to use our Social Secu-rity surplus to give a tax cut to thewealthy and powerful. They want toprivatize the accounts, giving a trilliondollar windfall to Wall Street. Theydon’t care whether we have anythingwhen we retire, as long as they can helptheir friends get richer.

“President Clinton’s veto, or histhreat to veto, has saved us from somelegislation that would have been disas-trous for workers,” he said. “What thegovernment gives, the government cantake away, and they will take it away ifwe’re asleep at the switch. We need toget registered to vote, to get our fami-lies registered, and we need to vote inNovember for candidates who willlook out for working families.”

Following Pres. Jones’s remarks,Director of Legislation Ande Abbottand his assistant, Clarissa Middleton,explained this year’s legislative targets.Each year, the legislative office choosesa small number of issues for the Boiler-makers to follow during the upcomingyear. Thousands of bills come beforeCongress each year – far too many forus to effectively lobby all of them.Abbott and Middleton find the onesthey believe will affect our membersand families the most, and we focus ourefforts on those bills during the year.

Get informed and get active

A KEY FEATUREof the LEAPc o n f e r-ence is the explanation of these issues.Abbott and Middleton spend consider-able time going over the details. You willfind summaries of these issues begin-ning on page 12. These issues can becomplex, but it is important that weunderstand how they will affect all of us.

Issues chosen this year include raisingthe minimum wage, passing a patient’sbill of rights, setting aside money tostrengthen Social Security andMedicare, passing bills to encourageshipbuilding, and reforming Section 415of the tax code so our members can col-lect all they are rightfully due when theyretire. The agenda also includes ensur-ing that the Davis-Bacon Act applies tofederally-financed school construction,establishing an ergonomics standard forsafety, protecting the right of workersdamaged by asbestos to sue manufac-turers, and opposing permanent normaltrade relations with China.

The union is the only organized voicethat workers have in Congress. With-out the work of Abbott and Middleton,the Boilermakers would not have anyimpact on Washington. They are able tokeep up with the proposed legislation,a full-time job in itself. In addition,because they speak on behalf of anentire union, they can have moreimpact on a congressman than oneindividual alone would have.

But without continued action byindividual members, Abbott and Mid-dleton cannot be effective. Congressneeds to know that the entire unioncares about these issues. They need toknow that we decide who we will votefor by examining their voting records.All members need to contact congress-men, and they need to remind themthat we base OUR votes on THEIRvotes. We watch how they vote on thebills we support, and we only vote forcandidates who support our agenda.

A theme that ran through the entireconference was the call for members toget active and make a difference in theNovember elections. Several speakerstalked about the power unions have atthe polls and the importance of usingour power to elect people who willwork hard to improve life for the work-ing men and women of America.

And that means electing enoughDemocrats this fall to give that party amajority in the House of Representa-tives. Although a handful of Republi-can congressmen support workers’issues, their leadership does not. Themajority party decides what bills getdebated and voted on. So with aRepublican majority, we have a verydifficult time just getting our bills up fora vote, much less passing the vote.

We must re t u rn the majority inthe House to the Democrats

REP. MAX A. SANDLIN ( D - 1 s t / T X )explained why it is important to electDemocrats this fall, saying, “You haveto decide what direction we want totake in this country. Do we want tohave the agenda of this country set byTom DeLay and Dick Armey and Mr.Hastert? [All anti-worker Republicanleaders.] Or do we want DickGephardt, who stands up for workingpeople, who stands up for education,who stands up for senior citizens to setthe agenda for the next two years?”

Sandlin also exhorted delegates to“remember that you have the power toeffect change in this country throughyour actions at the ballot box. Adults inunion households represented 23 per-cent of the voter turnout [in 1998].”Union political action made a differencein 1998, and it can do so again this year.

Sandlin went on to outline some ofthe problems he hopes Congress willface. “We have the greatest economythat the world has ever seen, yet wehave working families in this countrywho can’t buy a new refrigerator, whocan’t fix their car, who can’t buy a newset of tires, who are having troublesending their children to colleges.

“We have the finest medical systemthat the world has ever seen, but wehave trouble getting access to that med-ical system. It is too expensive for work-ing families.

“We have a trillion dollar surplus, yetwe are telling our children to go toschool in makeshift buildings withcrowded classrooms and overworkedteachers because we want a tax cut.

“We have senior citizens who builtthis country, who fought world wars,who made this country what it is, andprovided for us the freedoms that wehave today – senior citizens who arechoosing between rent and food andprescription drugs, because they don’thave enough money for all three.That’s wrong in the greatest and mostpowerful country that the world hasever seen.”

Of particular importance to Sandlinis the issue of high drug prices and find-ing some way to help retired Ameri-cans be able to afford the prescriptiondrugs that keep them alive. Hedenounced the drug company practiceof targeting areas and raising drugprices according to what gets usedmost in that region.

“We did a study in my congressionaldistrict in northeastern Texas andfound that for the drugs they use mostoften, senior citizens are paying twiceas much as the HMOs. Now if you go toDenver, you might be able to buy thosedrugs at a reasonable price. Why?Because in Denver drug companies tar-get the drugs that the young folks useand those cost twice as much.”

Calling on labor leaders to payrespect to our senior citizens by doingall we can to protect Social Security andMedicare, Sandlin explained why hebelieves unions are important not onlypolitically, but also economically.

“Contrary to popular belief, unionsare the most pro-business organiza-tions in this country,” he explained.“Unions protect and defend the mostimportant asset for American businesstoday – the American worker. That’swhere the profits come from. That’show we build our country. On the backof the American worker.”

We can’t get distracted. It’sall about who is on your side.

“I’VE ADDRESSED EVERY B o i l e r-makers’ Legislative Education-ActionProgram since being elected in 1990,”Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D -1st Hawaii,told the meeting. “This is my tenthanniversary. What it tells you is thatwe are still in this together.”

Vowing to “go seven days andnights a week for the next eight monthsuntil we win this election for workingpeople in this country,” Abercrombieexplained what he believes workershave to do to make a difference in thisyear’s elections.

LEAP Conference kicks off year ofpolitical action for Boilermakers

the Boilermaker Reporter1 0 May • Jun 2000

L E A P C O N F E R E N C E

‘Do we want our direction to be set byDeLay, Armey, and Hastert, or by a

man who understands workers?’Rep. Max A. Sandlin, D - 1st Texas

‘What the government gives, thegovernment can take away, and they

will, if we are asleep at the switch.’Charles W. Jones, Intl. president

‘We can’t outspend them, but we canoutvote them. We must get all

members and their families registered.’Ande Abbott, legislative director

‘Ask yourself: If not me, who? If notnow, then when? Get active now towin back the House in November.’

Clarissa Middleton, asst. to leg. director

200 delegates commit to educating members,registering voters, and getting out the vote forcandidates who support workers and our families

Continued on page 1 1

“Vince Lombardi said, ‘Leave noregrets on the field.’ We can’t leave anyregrets on the field. In November, I’mgoing to know that I have given 100percent to [try] to see that working menand women win this election.

“We’ve got to be able to say withLombardi: ‘In man’s finest hour hisgreatest fulfillment of all that he holdsdear is that moment when he hasworked his heart out in a good causeand has left exhausted from the fieldvictorious.’ That is what we are going todo in November. We are going to leavethe field victorious.”

Abercrombie also outlined why it isso important for union members to getinvolved in this year’s elections.

“George W. Bush calls himself a com-passionate conservative. What hemeans by compassionate and conser-vative is he feels real bad for you whenyou lose your job, his heart just runsover with compassion.

“A national paycheck protection bill.That’s what he wants. He wants to stabevery one of you and your families inthe heart. He doesn’t have a clue whatyou’ve been through, what you’regoing through, what you want for yourfamilies. It’s all abstract to him.

“We have a chance to take this place[the House of Representatives] back.Every single member, not only the Boil-ermakers, but every single workingman and woman of this country, everysingle union member, has got to getregistered to vote, get their families reg-istered to vote, their spouses registeredto vote, even their low-down, no-goodbrother-in-law registered to vote.Everybody’s got to get in there becausethis is the chance to take this countryback for working people and onlyAmerican labor can do it.

“How easy it is for people to say, ‘Oh,my vote doesn’t count. All politiciansare crooks.’ But we can’t get distracted.This is about who is on your side.

“There are going to be divisions. Weworry about whether Gore is right onevery single issue. Nobody is right onevery single issue! We need to electsomebody we can negotiate with.Somebody whose ear we can catch.”

Abercrombie ended his speech bybringing the audience back to the pur-pose of union support. “Unions exist tomake working conditions better and toraise wages and benefits. That is ourpurpose, and we must never forget it.We must support candidates who willhelp us in our mission.

“I saw [a news commentator] thisweek and he was saying, ‘I can’t under-stand why people are upset about gaso-line prices going up.’ And I said, ‘That’sbecause you don’t have to worry aboutpaying for it. Cause you’ve got so muchmoney. You’ve never worked a day inyour life. You don’t know what it is tohave to work to pay those bills.’ I wantto have a Congress in there that is going

to invest money in the people of thiscountry so we can put them back towork so we can all pay the price of gas.”

F o rget the promises – checkcandidates’ voting re c o rd s

REP. ROSA DELAURO,D - 3rd Conn.,told the delegation that “it was just hotair that came to town in 1994,” whenthe Republicans gained control of bothHouses of Congress.

“This crowd [Republicans] has beenon the wrong side of every issue that isimportant to working men and womenof this country. While we have foughtfor safe workplaces, the RepublicanCongress has worked to undermineOSHA. While we fought for the right ofour workers to organize, they tried toblock the NLRB and to gut its powerthrough legislation. When we partici-pated in the political process – theirPaycheck Protection Act tried to stopus. And again, and again, they havefailed working Americans.”

According to DeLauro, the Republi-cans have learned that they can’t behardliners. “They’re talking aboutcompassion. They’re talking aboutthings that matter to workers.”

But it’s just a political ploy, she said:“They are the very same people whohave been on the wrong side of theseissues that we care about . . . Don’t listento what they say. Look at their votingrecord. We don’t vote ‘maybe’ in theHouse. You vote ‘yes’ or you vote ‘no’and it is a clear record of where youstand on the issue.”

DeLauro also spoke about payequity between men and women:

“Equal pay for equal work is aboutimproving the lives of our families.Two-thirds of working women providehalf or more of their household incometoday. Families today need two pay-checks to get by.

“The sad fact is that even with the besteducation today, circumstances are thata woman won’t be paid the same as hermale colleagues. In fact, college-edu-cated women earn an average of $11,000less than college-educated men. That iswrong. That is unfair in our society andwe need to turn that around.

“The Paycheck Fairness Act wouldput teeth in our current law and help tobetter enforce the equal pay law. It’sbeen more than 35 years since the equalpay act was passed. I think we havewaited long enough to end this kind ofwage gap in our society.”

Like the other speakers, DeLauroexhorted the delegates to support can-didates who will stand up for the mostbasic worker protections.

“Ask yourself, ‘Are they going to sup-port using the surplus to strengthenSocial Security and Medicare, or are theygoing to support the tax cuts for thewealthiest people in this country andsquander that surplus? Are they going to

stand up for the right of unions to partici-pate in the political process or go back tosupporting the Paycheck Protection Bill?’

“We need to strengthen Social Secu-rity and Medicare, pay down the debtso that we can get the interest rateunder control, provide for the prescrip-tion drug benefit, make key invest-ments in education.

“[We must] elect a Congress that ispro-working family.”

Our country should adoptunion movement’s principles

REP. CHARLES B. RANGEL, D - 15thN. Y., also praised unions for their con-tribution to the American economy andthe American lifestyle.

“If you study history, you will seethat the things that we just take forgranted today – vacation time, a decentpension, education for our kids, ahealth program for seniors, minimumwage, and even the ability to be able toget a part of the great prosperity of thiscountry – none of this was given by thefederal government. None of thesethings were given by the private sector.People fought and died for these thingsjust to be able to say that they were partof the great union movement.

“The most important thing thatwe’ve done in America is [create] thatSocial Security system. You have noidea the pride that has been instilled inolder people who would have beendestined to poverty . . . [T]hat SocialSecurity check gives them such selfesteem that they are not begging andasking anybody for anything, they arenot on welfare. They’ve made their con-tribution, and now they’ve got thatcheck that belongs to them.

“I remember my beloved mother,when I use to tell her how easy it wouldbe for her to take that pension checkand to have direct banking for it. ‘Ohno,’ she said, ‘that’s my check and thatmailman is going to give me that checkin my hand because I am so proud ofthat pension check.’”

Rangel discussed the future of SocialSecurity, pointing out that we can proj-ect how the changing demographics ofthe country will eat away at the SocialSecurity surplus. But the system doesnot need radical change. With a fewsmall adjustments, it will be solventinto the foreseeable future. But we mustact now, before there is a crisis.

Rangel also voiced strong support forraising the minimum wage. “We haveentrepreneurs who get bonuses andannual salaries of five and ten billiondollars a year. Who are they to objectthat workers get $6.15 an hour?”

He ended his talk by asking the dele-gates to embrace the principles of thetrade union movement.

“We expect to get a fair shake fromthis country, not because we are Demo-crat, not because we are Republican,

but because we work hard. If you arelooking for principles that we are goingto have as a nation, then take the princi-ples of the trade union movement. Wewant not only decent wages, but adecent education. We want to be able toimprove ourselves so we can improvelife for our families.”

Kyoto Protocol is not theanswer for global warm i n g

BILL CUNNINGHAM, from the coali-tion Unions for Jobs and the Environ-ment, spoke about the Kyoto Protocoland our government’s response to thepossible threat from global warming.

The Kyoto Protocol calls for industri-alized nations to reduce their emissionsof “greenhouse gases,” such as carbondioxide and water vapor. These gasestend to warm the atmosphere. Somescientists believe the increase in releaseof these gases caused by industrializa-tion is warming the atmosphere to dan-gerous levels.

But the science behind these theoriesis hardly conclusive. Scientists dis-agree about the amount of globalwarming, the cause of it, and how itwill affect the planet. Cunninghamwarns that taking such a drastic step asimplementing the Kyoto Protocolwithout knowing whether it will workis a mistake.

“Whatever you think of [globalwarming],” Cunningham said, “theKyoto Protocol clearly isn’t the way tosolve this problem.”

The Kyoto protocol excludes alldeveloping countries. The developingcountries make up the majority of theworld’s population. They are also thearea where emissions of greenhousegases are growing fastest. If we want toreduce greenhouse gases worldwide,we should not exempt those countriesthat have the most potential for creat-ing greenhouse gases. In its presentform, the Kyoto protocol will notreduce greenhouse gases worldwide.

Another problem with the Kyotoprotocol is that immediate implemen-tation of its standards would causemany companies to move their facto-ries from the U.S., where emissions arelimited, to developing nations wherethere are no limits. This would merelyshift the source of greenhouse gasesfrom the U.S. to other countries.

It would also shift our jobs to thosecountries. Numerous studies predictmassive U.S. job loss under Kyoto.

“One study shows 1.1 million jobslost,” he said.”The aluminum indus-try will disappear. Another studyshows the average impact on Ameri-can families will be about $1,010 amonth, with a 37 percent increase inelectricity costs, $0.25 cents per gallonincrease in gasoline, and overall abouta 25 percent increase in householdenergy costs.” ❑


L E A P S P E A K E R S

‘We are in this together. We have achance to get back the House. We

must give 100 percent this year.’ Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D - 1st Hawaii

‘We don’t vote “maybe” in the House.We vote “yes” or “no.” Their votesshow where candidates stand.’

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D - 3rd Conn.

‘The most important thing America hasdone is create Social Security to keep

seniors out of poverty.’Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D - 15th N. Y.

Continued from page 1 0

‘Whatever you think of globalwarming, the Kyoto Protocol clearlyisn’t the way to solve this problem.’

Bill Cunningham, UJE

Plan targets 15 key Housedistricts for intense activityBOB POWERS,Building and Construc-tion Trades Department (BCTD) leg-islative director, and Kevin O’Sullivan,a BCTD grass-roots organizer, were atthe LEAPconference explaining theBCTD’s election-action plan for 2000.

The BCTD has targeted 15 key Housedistricts for intense activity, rather thanspread their limited resources over all435 districts. They have also targetedtwo Senate races.

“The idea is to have someone on theground in each of these districts, work-ing with the BCTD,”said Powers. “Wehave chosen districts where we thinkwe can have the most impact.”

“The BCTD will coordinate the grass-roots program,”O’Sullivan explained.“The day-to-day work will be done bythe unions in the district.”

“Our job is to educate our members,to get them to understand what is atstake here,” Powers said. “We willhave to work together on this cam-paign, all 15 international building

trades. It won’t work unless we areunited in our effort.”

Districts we don’t have, butbelieve we can win

California’s 27th District – Jim Rogan(R) has a 14 percent lifetime Boiler-maker record and is vulnerable.

Montana at large – An open seat

Pennsylvania’s 10th District – DonSherwood (R) has a 20 percent Boiler-maker record. He won by only 515votes in 1998.

Washington’s 2nd District – Open seat

Kentucky’s 6th District – Ernest LeeFletcher has a zero percent record.

Michigan – statewide effort – D e b b i eStabenow (D), a strong Boilermakersupporter, is hoping to unseat SpencerAbraham (R), who has a 34 percentrecord on Boilermaker issues.

Pennsylvania – statewide effort – R o nKlink (D), our very good friend, has agood chance to unseat Rick Santorum,who has a 20 percent lifetime record onBoilermaker issues.

Districts we want to hold

Connecticut’s 5th District – Jim Mal-oney (D), the incumbent, has been avery good friend. He is vulnerable, andwe have 10,000 members in his district.

Illinois’ 17th District – Lane Evans (D)is another good friend.

Kansas’ 3rd District – Dennis Moore(D) is our only friend in the Kansas del-egation, with an 80 percent record. Hewas elected with support from the Boil-ermakers and remembers our help.

Michigan’s 8th District is open as Deb-bie Stabenow is running for Senate. Weare supporting Diane Byron.

Michigan’s 10th District – Dave Bonior(D), the minority whip, with a 90 per-cent record over a long career in theHouse, now needs our help.

New Jersey’s 12th District – Rush Holt(D) is the incumbent in a district wherewe have 11,000 members.

New York’s 1st District – MichaelForbes (D) switched last year fromRepublican to Democrat. He supports

our issues, but faces a tough race in thisRepublican district.

Pennsylvania’s 4th District – This seatis open because Ron Klink, a very goodfriend, is running for Senate.

Pennsylvania’s 13th District – JosephHoefel, with an 80 percent record,needs and deserves our support.

Wisconsin’s 1st District – Paul Ryan(R) is a rare animal, a pro-labor Repub-lican. We need to keep him in office. ❑


L E A P S P E A K E R S / I S S U E S

AN IMPORTANT PART o fevery LEAPconference is theidentification of legislative pri-

orities for the upcoming year. The leg-islative office identifies a few issues thatthey will follow closely during the com-ing year. They choose the bills to followbased on how well the bill supports ourunion’s mission and how much the billwill impact the lives of our membersand our families if it is passed.

Some of the bills mentioned here wesupport. Others we oppose. And insome, we support the bill, but we wantto make sure some specific languagegets included in it.

While in Washington, delegates tothe LEAP conference learned aboutsome of these bills and then met withlegislators to let them know how theseissues will affect our members and ourfamilies. You can let your legislatorsknow how you feel about working-family issues, too. You don’t have totravel to Washington, D.C., to makeyour point. All it takes is a phone call, aletter, or a visit to the office your legisla-tor keeps in his or her home state.

Congress has already shown us howthey feel about working families thisyear when the Senate passed a bank-ruptcy bill (S. 625) in February, thatincluded $75 billion in tax breaks forbusinesses over a ten-year period whileincreasing the minimum wage by only$1 per hour over three years – a measly33 cents a year.

Many more working-family issueswill come up for vote this year, makingit an important year for workers to con-tact their legislators. Legislators hearfrom Big Business every day. But BigBusiness and workers rarely want thesame things, so legislators need to hearfrom working families, too.

Here’s a look at just a few of theupcoming working-family issues.

Minimum Wa g e

ON MARCH 9, the House passed aRepublican tax-cut and minimum-wagebill that gives upper income taxpayers$11 in tax breaks for every $1 that goes to

minimum-wage workers over the nextdecade, according to the Economic Pol-icy Institute and Citizens for Tax Justice.It also removes important overtime pro-visions in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

President Clinton urged Congress topass a “clean, straightforward” $1-an-hour-over-two-years wage bill – suchas Rep. David Bonior’s H.R. 325 – andthreatened to veto both House and Sen-ate versions because of the tax cuts forthe rich provisions.

We support Rep. Bonior’s bill.

Patients’ Bill of Rights

THE HOUSE AND SENATE are meet-ing to iron out the differences betweenHouse and Senate bills on the Patients’Bill of Rights measures. The House ver-sion (H.R. 2723) – backed by workingfamilies, their unions, and a handful ofGOP physician members who buckedtheir party’s leadership – extendspatient protections to the 161 millionAmericans in private health plans. Italso provides for a timely, independ-ent, external review of disputed med-ical decisions and allows patients tohold health plans accountable whenHMO decisions injure or even killpatients (current law prohibits suingHMOs for their harmful medical deci-sions). It protects health care workersfrom retaliation by their employerswhen they act as advocates on behalf ofpatients, and ensures that individualshave access to emergency room careand prescription drugs and can partici-pate in clinical trials.

In contrast, the Senate bill (S. 1344)excludes more than 100 million peoplewho are in “self-funded” health careplans. The Senate version gives healthplans, not doctors, the final say on med-ical treatment decisions. It lacks lan-guage on patient advocacy, access tospecialists and clinical trials, and a con-tinuity of care provision that wouldallow patients to continue to see theirhealth care provider when the providerhas left the managed care network.

The Boilermakers support addingthese provisions to the final law.

School Construction

DESPITE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT f o rthree school construction bills (H.R.1660, H.R. 1760, and S. 1454), Congressfailed to act last year. These bills author-ize federal tax subsidies for school dis-tricts to build, modernize, and repairpublic schools to reduce class size,enhance learning, and wire classroomsfor new technology. One or more ofthese bills is expected to be consideredthis session. In addition, two other bills(H.R. 3705 and S. 2124) have been intro-duced that would provide $1.3 billion inloans and grants to help repair ournation’s most run-down schools.

We support a school construction billwith Davis-Bacon protections.

Social Security

LAST YEAR, RISKYSocial Security pri-vatization schemes were stopped inCongress – but they may be revivedthis election year.

AFL-CIO unions have not endorseda specific Social Security proposal. Webelieve that any Social Security reformmust be centered on using the pro-jected federal budget surplus tostrengthen the system, must maintainthe guaranteed benefits Social Securitynow provides, should not raise theretirement age, and should raise theearning caps subject to the Social Secu-rity payroll tax to ensure wealthierwage earners pay a fair share.

M e d i c a re

PRESIDENT CLINTON’S BUDGETproposal sets aside almost $300 billionof the projected ten-year federal budgetsurplus to extend Medicare’s solvencyunder current projections from 2015 to2027. It also includes a provision to pro-vide prescription drug coverage forMedicare beneficiaries. Three out offive seniors lack dependable drug cov-erage. Several bills addressing the issueof providing universal prescriptioncoverage also are pending, including S.841, H.R. 1495, and H.R. 664. Clintonalso has proposed tax credits to allowpeople between ages 55 and 65 to buyin to Medicare and to help offset thecost of caring for elderly relatives.

The Boilermakers support thisapproach and oppose bills to privatizeMedicare with a voucher system pro-posed by Senators John Breaux (D-LA)and Bill Frist (R-TN) and Representa-tive Bill Thomas (R-21st CA).

E rg o n o m i c s

MORE THAN A DECADE’Sworth ofscientific research and government sur-veys – some 2,000 studies and articles,according to the Occupational Safetyand Health Administration (OSHA) –show that poorly designed workplaces,and jobs that require constant repetitivemotion, awkward posture, and forcefulmovements, are significant safety andhealth hazards. Each year, more than1.8 million workers suffer from painfulcarpal tunnel syndrome, injured backs,and other musculoskeletal injuries.More than 600,000 of them are forced totake time off from work so their injuriescan heal, according to OSHA.

Eliminating those hazards andredesigning jobs and workplaces canspare an average of 300,000 workersfrom painful, potentially disablinginjuries each year and save $9 billion inhealth care and lost time costs annually.Many employers have told OSHA thatergonomics programs produce a neteconomic gain because they reduceinjuries and improve performance.

But Big Business and its allies in Con-gress have fought these common senseworkplace rules with big bucks and analmost religious zeal. And union mem-bers have fought back with a grassrootscampaign that brought to light the crip-pling pain of on-the-job repetitivemotion injuries.

In November 1999, OSHA issued itsproposed standard on workplaceergonomics. But this congressional ses-sion, anti-worker lawmakers and theircorporate allies have vowed to preventpassage of the ergonomics rule.

The Boilermakers support imple-mentation of OSHA’s new standards.

Ta x e s

LAST YEAR, THEGOP’s $792 billionproposed tax-cut package suffered anembarrassing defeat. Most of its bene-

Social Security, shipbuilding, and re t i rement laws arejust a few of the working-family issues in Congre s s

Continued on page 1 3

for working families

‘Our job is to educate our members.We have to work together, all 15 inter-

national building trades. ’Bob Powers, BCTD legislative director

BCTD outlines election action plan

fits – such as a capital gains tax cut andrepeal of the estate tax – would havebenefitted the wealthy instead of pro-viding funds to strengthen SocialSecurity and Medicare.

This year, Republican leaders havechanged tactics. They have proposedseveral smaller tax bills, such as H.R.6, which eats up some 20 percent ofprojected budget surpluses, and a billthat would give tax relief for privateschool costs as part of a voucher-likeprogram (S. 1134).

The Boilermakers will oppose mostof these measures, because theythreaten Social Security by using upthe surplus on tax breaks for the rich.Our position is that Congress estab-lish a comprehensive budget frame-work to strengthen Social Security andMedicare before using projectedbudget surpluses to pay for tax cuts.

There is some good news for retireeswho work. Early this spring, Congresspassed a bill to repeal the Social Secu-rity earnings limit that penalized work-ing seniors ages 65-69 years, andPresident Clinton signed it April 7.

China’s Trade Status

HARRY WU WAS jailed for 19 yearsand forced into slave labor for criticiz-ing the Chinese government. After hisrelease, he moved to the U.S. In 1995,during his third trip to China to docu-ment human rights abuses, he wasarrested at the border and sentenced to15 years as a spy. He was released onlybecause of international pressure.

Wu is one of millions who have beenimprisoned and tortured in the Chinesegovernment’s effort to ban freedom ofspeech, religion, and workers’ rights.Yet Congress wants to grant China per-manent normal trade relation status sobusinesses can invest there. Currently,China’s trade status is decided annu-ally after Congress assesses China’srecord on human and workers’ rights,prison labor, and compliance withother trade agreements.

China has a long history of violatingagreements, as U.S. farmers learnedlast fall when they refused to honor apledge under a 1999 pact to purchaseagricultural products. Because of theseviolations of past agreements and basichuman rights, we oppose normal traderelations with China.

Tax Code Section 415

SECTION 415 OF THEInternal Rev-enue Code limits the retirement bene-fits that a multi-employer pension plancan pay to a covered worker in twoways – a dollar limit and compensa-tion-based limit.

The “dollar limit” sharply reducesthe pension benefit for those choosingearly retirement. Section 415 harmsmany of our members who startedtheir career at a young age and retireafter 30 years of hard, physical labor,only to find that they cannot collect thefull amount that they are entitled to col-lect by the pension plan.

The “compensation-based limit”sharply reduces the pension benefit ofour members whose pay has fluctu-ated significantly year to year. It basescompensation limits on the average ofthe three highest paid consecutiveyears. In an industry such as ours,where the availability of work variesyear to year, workers seldom havethree high-paid years in a row. Theyfind that this provision prevents themfrom collecting the amount their pen-sion contributions have earned themwhen they retire.

The Boilermakers support H.R. 3632,which changes the language of the TaxReform Act of 1986 to allow all of ourretirees to collect the full benefits theyhave earned through their hard work.

Saipan Scam

AMERICAN MANUFACTURINGjobs are at risk because of a legal loop-hole which allows foreign-made prod-ucts to be sold under the “Made in theUSA” label.

The island of Saipan is a common-wealth of the United States and canlegally put “Made in America” labelson their products. But Chinese andother Asian investors in Saipan areapplying “Made in the USA” labels toproducts made with foreign-madematerials by the labor of foreign“guest” workers, who are tricked intomoving to Saipan by the promise theyare “going to America.” In Saipan theyare forced to live in factory-ownedhousing under inhumane living condi-tions that would be illegal in the U.S.Yet the goods they produce carry the“Made in USA” label.

Saipan exports to the U.S. are grow-ing 45 percent annually, causing loss ofjobs in the U.S. textile industry. Saipanofficials are looking the other way astheir own citizens experience a 45 per-cent unemployment rate while Chinesecompanies bring thousands of workersfrom China to work in their factories.They are looking the other way as thehuman rights of these guest workersare violated on American soil.

Stop the Saipan scam. Ask yourelected officials to protect the “Made inthe USA” label and to end the humanrights abuses in Saipan.

Asbestos Litigation

EVEN DECADES AFTERthe dangersof asbestos became known, companiescontinued to manufacture asbestosproducts, putting millions of people atrisk of developing disabling anddeadly diseases. Asbestos causesasbestosis and has been linked to can-cer of the lung, brain, colon, intestines,and liver, mesothelioma, and manyother diseases. The ill effects of asbestosnormally take 15 to 30 years from expo-sure to first symptoms.

Companies in the asbestos industryare trying to eliminate their financialresponsibility to asbestos victimsthrough the introduction of two bills inCongress, H.R. 1283 and S. 758.

These bills relieve the asbestos indus-try of its responsibility to the asbestosvictims by placing the burden of proofon the victims to prove which asbestosproduct and which company’s asbestoscaused their ill health. Because con-struction workers often have multipleexposures to asbestos and symptomsdo not present themselves for manyyears, it is impossible to pinpoint whichexposure caused the disease. Thesebills would effectively end all asbestosexposure claims.

To relieve a company of their legalobligations is not right. These billsencourage companies to put corporateprofits before human life and health.Nothing short of full responsibility byasbestos manufacturers is acceptable.

The Boilermakers strongly opposeH.R. 1283 and S. 758 or any other legis-lation that relieves the asbestos indus-try of its obligation to asbestos victims.

Ship Loan Pro g r a m

THE TITLE XI LOAN guarantee pro-gram was revived and amended in the1993 fiscal year budget to stimulate com-mercial construction in the U.S., and to

maintain the defense shipbuildingindustrial base. Since then, over $3 bil-lion in commercial ship construction hasbeen generated through the program.

When the budget office saw that $58million of the ship loan guarantee pro-gram had not been used, they drasti-cally cut the program’s budget for thefiscal year 2001 to $2 million.

But they were acting on incorrectinformation. There really wasn’t anymoney left over. The loan papers for thebuilding of four ships, using all of the$58 million, simply had not yet beencompleted. Now the program will beshort $48 million in the fiscal year 2001.

Subsidies generate contracts far inexcess of the amounts they cost the tax-payer. Current plans call for subsidiesof $50 million, but that is a small fractionof the investment that money will bring.A fiscal year budget of $50 million in2001 will guarantee $1 billion for pend-ing ship construction contracts.

The Boilermakers strongly supportthis program. The loss of jobs that couldresult from failure to fully budget thisprogram is staggering.

Contact your legislators and ask themto increase the Maritime Administra-tion’s authorization and appropriationby $48 million to provide $50 million forTitle XI in the fiscal year 2001.

All American Cruise Act

THE U.S. IS THElargest cruise shipmarket in the world and one of thefastest growing markets. In 1987, threemillion North Americans vacationedon one of 60 cruise ships operating froma U.S. port. By 1998, the number of pas-sengers had grown to almost seven mil-lion, and the number is expected toreach ten million by 2003. Today, thereare 123 cruise ships serving the Ameri-can market. That number is expected toincrease to 160 by the year 2003.

And every one of the large oceango-ing cruise ships serving the Americanmarket is built and operated by foreigncompanies to avoid U.S. tax laws.

The U.S. tax laws must be changedso U.S. companies can have an oppor-tunity to develop an American cruiseindustry. The All-American Cruise Actof 1999 (H.R. 3392) will provide taxparities for U.S. companies, includingU.S. shipbuilders, U.S. cruise owners,shore-side hotels, and U.S. companiesoperating environmentally clean-burning engines manufactured in theU.S. The Boilermakers support bring-

ing the U.S. dollars that our citizensspend on cruises back into the U.S., bytaking this step to rebuild the Ameri-can cruise industry.

Operating Leases

IN 1999, CONGRESSgranted the Navyextended lease authority of 20 years ormore for noncombatant ships. But theway a “lease” is defined is keeping theNavy from getting those ships.

As it stands now, the lease is definedas “a capital lease.” Instead of budget-ing the annual lease amount, the Navyhas to budget the entire lease amount. Ifa lease could be defined as a “ship oper-ating lease,” the Navy could budget anamount equal to the actual annual leasepayment. This would allow the Navy tolease new, efficient ships. In many cases,the savings in maintenance costs coversthe annual lease payments.

Navy regional commanders-in-chiefhave repeatedly warned that thedecline to a 316 ship naval fleet hasplaced the nation’s security at risk.Recent budgets do not even provideenough money to maintain a fleet ofthis size into the future. Congress hasbudgeted for the building of only sixcombatant ships in each of the pastseven years. At the rate we are retiringships, this budget falls far short of sus-taining even a 300 ship fleet.

If Congress will change lease defini-tions, the Navy can start to rebuild itsfleet. The Boilermakers support achange in this definition. We encourageyou to request your U.S. senators tochange the definition for extendedlease authority from “capital leases” to“ship operating leases.”

Keep Up With Congre s s

STORIES IN the Boilermaker Reporterwill keep you informed about theseissues. You can also follow House andSenate bills on the Internet. Each weekthat Congress is in session, the legisla-tive office sends out a L E A P Update t h a texplains some of the important actionsthat have taken place and identifiesupcoming issues. You can access thelatest U p d a t e and previous U p d a t e s a tthe Boilermakers’ Web sites:http://www.IBB.workingfamilies.com and h t t p : / / w w w . b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g

You can also follow the progress ofbills before Congress at Thomas, a Website sponsored by the Library of Con-gress. You can search by subject or billnumber at: h t t p : / / T h o m a s . l o c . g o v ❑

MORRIS POWELLis taking his don-key, Swifty, to the DemocraticNational Convention in August. Pow-ell, a 34-year member of Local 656,Chattanooga, Tenn., works at ABBCombustion Engineering, and is activein state and local politics. He serves onthe Georgia State Democratic Commit-tee and the Walker County DemocraticCommittee. Swifty, a four-year olddonkey, acts as the official donkey forthe Walker County Democratic party,and will now serve as the “unofficialofficial” donkey of the DemocraticNational Committee. A group ofyoung Democrats will form a caravan,and follow Morris as he trailers Swiftyfrom his home in Rising Fawn, Ga., tothe Democratic National Conventionin Los Angeles. While at the conven-tion, Powell will have a Boilermakerbanner on Swifty’s stall to boast hisunion pride.

You will soon be able to access moreinformation on Swifty through hisWeb site at: swiftythedonkey.com

Swifty, a four-year old donkeybelonging to Local 656 memberMorris Powell, at right, is traveling toLos Angeles as mascot of the nationalDemocratic convention.

Swifty is California bound


L E A P I S S U E S

High stakes for working familiesContinued from page 1 2

Local lodges in theGreat Lakes Area earnall four CAF awardsMEMBERS IN THEGreat Lakes Areawent home with all four awards givento local lodges and vice-presidentialareas for their success in raising fundsfor the Campaign Assistance Fund(CAF) at this year’s LEAPconference.

Each year, awards are presented tothe local lodge contributing the largestamount of money to CAF and to theone having the highest CAF contribu-tion per member. This year, Local 744,Cleveland, Ohio, earned both of theselocal lodge awards. In 1999, Local 744members contributed $39,871 (an aver-age of $116.92 per member) to CAF.

Awards also go to the vice-presiden-tial area contributing the most moneyto CAF and to the vice-presidential areashowing the biggest improvement inCAF contributions. The Great LakesArea earned both of these vice-presi-dential area awards. In 1999, the GreatLakes Area raised $83,550 in CAF con-tributions – $24,881 more than they hadraised in 1998.

Local 744’s contributions helped theGreat Lakes Area win the award for themost improved vice-presidential area,as well as the award for the largest CAFcontribution from a vice-presidential

area. This is the first time the GreatLakes Area has earned the award forhighest CAF contributions, and the sec-ond year in a row they have won theaward for improvement.

Local 744 members have earned atotal of five CAF awards in three previ-ous years. In 1993 and 1998, they earnedboth CAFawards (highest total andhighest per member), and last year theyearned the highest total award.

Who contributes to CAF?

TOTAL BOILERMAKER c o n t r i b u t i o n sto CAF in 1999 were $337,591.86. Thattotal is 2.66 percent more than 1998’stotal of $328,837.18.

But our union’s potential for raisingmoney to support candidates who willwork for us is much greater than thesenumbers show. Only 44 local lodgesparticipate in the CAF program, out ofnearly 300 lodges in the United States.Local lodges which are not raisingmoney for CAF, should consider set-ting up a program to allow them to par-ticipate in this important endeavor.

If we want our union to support can-didates for office, we need to raisemoney for CAF. It is illegal to use uniondues to support candidates for federaloffice. Contributions to federal candi-dates must come from a political actioncommittee (PAC) fund. CAF is our

PAC. All CAF contributions are volun-tary. Most lodges that do donate to CAFrely on occasional contributions frommembers or special fund-raising activi-ties, such as raffles, T-shirt and cap sales,or other events.

The best way to raise money, though,is to negotiate a CAF checkoff into yourcollective bargaining agreement. In thisway, members who wish to give to CAFcan have their contributions deducteddirectly from their paychecks. Thismoney adds up quickly. Local 744 uses aCAF checkoff, as does Local 193, thelocal with the second highest dollaramount contributed in 1999.

Most International officers and staffmembers use the payroll deductionmethod to give to CAF. Staff membersdonated $46,045 to the fund in 1999.

Retirees are also using payroll deduc-tion to contribute to CAF. Many ofthem have a small amount deducted

from their pension checks each month.In 1999, retirees donated $97,514.56 inthis way. They know that we use CAFmonies to help elect candidates whowill help us keep our jobs and our pen-sions, and who will protect SocialSecurity and Medicare.

CAF monies are also raised throughsales of raffle tickets and other activitiesat the Construction, Railroad, CLGAW,and SFEAW division conferences.

Legislative Director Ande Abbottuses the slogan, “Have your voiceheard, put in your two cents worth,” tostress the impact Boilermaker memberscan have in the legislative field if eachone of us simply donates two cents perhour worked to CAF.

To learn how your local lodge canraise money for CAF, consult theBoilermaker LEAP Manual or callLegislative Director Ande Abbott at 703560-1493. ❑

John Clark, at left, and Francis Keating, at right, accept awards for the highestcontribution to CAF by a local lodge and the highest average contribution permember for Local 744, Cleveland, Ohio, from IP Charles W. Jones.

Local 744 earns award sfor fund-raising eff o rt s


C A F C O N T R I B U T I O N S

If we gave a second placea w a rd, L-193 would win itTHE LOCAL LODGE that raises themost funds for the Campaign Assis-tance Fund (CAF) gets an award. Therunner-up is often ignored. In the caseof Local 193, that would be a mistake.

The Baltimore local raised $38,960.51for CAF in 1999. That is far more thanevery other local except one: Local 744of Cleveland, Ohio, raised $39,871.

Since 1990, Local 193 members haveearned CAF awards for their fund-rais-ing efforts six times. For three years in arow, from 1994 through 1996, theyreceived both local lodge awards – forhighest total contributions and forhighest contribution per member.

The third place local was – well, let’sjust say that Local 744 and Local 193

are way ahead of the pack. Both localshave negotiated check-off provisionsinto their contracts.

With check-off, those members whowish to contribute to CAF can have asmall amount subtracted from eachpaycheck. They hardly notice the littlebit that gets taken out each paycheck,but by the end of the year, the total con-tribution is considerable. Just thinkhow painless it would be to designatetwo cents per hour worked to CAF. Formost people, that’s less than one dollara week. Yet if all members did it, CAFwould grow substantially.

To learn how your local can imple-ment a check-off provision – or othermethods to raise money for CAF – con-sult the Boilermaker LEAP Manualor callLegislative Director Ande Abbott at703 560-1493. ❑

International President Charles W. Jones, at left, meets with Local 193 LEAPdelegates, l. to r., Michael Konski, Ernest Dorsey, and Mike Dorsey, at thecongressional reception.

AUTUMN VANSCOY, daughter ofNTL President Ronny Vanscoy, picks awinning ticket in a raffle drawing toraise money for the Campaign Assis-tance Fund (CAF). Raffles to raisemoney for CAF are held at every LEAPconference and at many division con-ferences. Local lodges may use rafflesto raise money, but should be careful tofollow the law, which is explained inthe Boilermaker LEAP M a n u a l. You mayalso contact the legislative office at 703560-1493 for information.

Family members are welcome at allLEAP conference functions. While inWashington, D.C., Autumn attendedmeetings and went to Capitol Hill withthe NTL LEAP delegates, where she col-lected 30 congressional autographs. ❑

L-193 members deserve anaward for their efforts, too

And the winning number is . . .

DAN KNECHT (left), vice president of labor relations for Ingalls Shipbuilding,presented an official cap from the Iwo Jima to International President Charles W.Jones to acknowledge the legislative efforts of President Jones and our union onbehalf of the American shipbuilding industry. Ingalls owns a shipyard inPascagoula, Miss., and recently purchased Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans.Pictured are (l. to r.) Knecht, Intl. Vice Pres. Newton B. Jones, Local 693 President J.J. Criddell, Intl. President Jones, Local 693 Business Manager Frank Ludgood, andLocal 693 LEAP delegate Sammie Cole Sr.

Ingalls honors President Jones

REP. NEIL ABERCROMBIE (D-1st HI), at right, with International Vice President JimH i c k e n b o t h a m .

REP. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT (R-4th AL), fifth from left, with, l. to r., Stan Gray, L-583; DannyPhillips, L-112; John Helvin, L-108; H. M. Turner, L-112; Steve Speed, L-108; Frank Ludgood,L-693; H. E. Turner, L-112; and L-584 delegates Dewey Walker II and Ronald Cooley.

SENATOR DANIEL K. AKAKA (D-HI), right, with Legislative Director Ande Abbott.

REP. THOMAS H. ALLEN (D-1st ME), center, with L-29 delegates, l. to r., JosephBirolini, Stephen Goodhart, and Jeff Perry, L-920 delegates Don Dinwoodie andPatrick Chevalier, and Paul Meade of L-29.

REP. ROBERT A. BORSKI (D-3rd PA), fourth from right, with L-13 delegates, l. to r.,John Rowley, Frank Riley, Granville Strachan, Tom Strain, Bill Hill, Al Cafrelli of L-154, and James B. Heron Jr.

REP. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN (D-3rd MD), center, with, l. to r., IP Charles W. Jones, andL-193 delegates Michael Konski, Ernest Dorsey, and Mike Dorsey.

REP. PHILIP S. ENGLISH (R-21st PA), center, with L-154 delegates, l. to r., Onorato Bucci, TomO’Connor, IR Bob Heine, Al Cafrelli, and Tony Smarra, Wendell Watters of L-151, StanleyWolfe and Dan Quinn of L-154 in back, Charles Goodman of L-151, and AAIP Joe Stinger.

REP. BOB ETHERIDGE (D-2nd NC), center, with Fleet Spell II of L-905, at left, andInternational Representative Steve Beal.

REP. CHAKA FATTAH (D-2nd PA), center, with L-13 delegates, l. to r., John Rowley,Frank Riley, Granville Strachan, Tom Strain, Bill Hill, David Bryan, Al Cafrelli of L-154,and James B. Heron Jr.

REP. TIM HOLDEN (D-6th PA), fourth from left, with Local 13 delegates, l. to r., FrankRiley, Granville Strachan, John Rowley, Bill Hill, David Bryan, James Heron Jr., andTom Strain.


C O N G R E S S I O N A L R E C E P T I O N

REP. RUSH HOLT (D-12th NJ), second from right, with, l. to r., IP Charles W. Jones,and Local 28 delegates Chris Murphy, Raymond Cushing Jr., and John Devlin.

REP. JAY INSLEE (D-1st WA), center, with Local 104 delegates, l. to r., J. SeanMcQuillen, Kristie McQuillen, Larry Knapp, and IP Charles W. Jones.

REP. DALE E. KILDEE (D-9th MI), left, with International President Charles W. Jones.

REP. NICHOLAS V. LAMPSON (D-9th TX), center, with International PresidentCharles W. Jones and Peerless Jefferson of the National Transient Lodge.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-18th TX), represented by Al Cappa at left and TonyaClay at right, with National Transient Lodge delegate Peerless Jefferson.

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D-5th GA), right, with Legislative Director Ande Abbott.

REP. KEN R. LUCAS (D-4th KY), represented by John Lapp, second from right, with, l.to r., Raymond Smith of Local 667, Garry Ledford of Local 105, and GeorgePinkerman of Local 667.

REP. FRANK R. MASCARA (D-20th PA), third from left, with L-154 delegates, l. to r.,Onorato Bucci, Tom O’Connor, Tony Smarra, Al Cafrelli, IR Bob Heine, Dan Quinn,and Stanley Wolfe.

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D-4th NY) with Thomas Klein of Local Five.

REP. PATSY T. MINK (D-2nd HI) with Legislative Director Ande Abbott.


P A G E I DC O N G R E S S I O N A L R E C E P T I O N

REP. ALAN B. MOLLOHAN (D-1st WV), second from left, with, l. to r., Raymond Smithand George Pinkerman of Local 667, and Ronny Vanscoy of the NationalTransient Lodge.

REP. RICHARD E. NEAL (D-2nd MA), third from left, with L-29 delegates, l. to r.,Stephen Goodhart, Paul Meade, Jack Meade, Jeff Perry, and Joseph Birolini.

REP. WILLIAM J. PASCRELL JR. (D-8th NJ), second from right, with Local 28delegates, l. to r., Chris Murphy, John Devlin, International President Charles W.Jones, and Raymond Cushing Jr.

REP. DAVID PHELPS (D-19th IL), center, with, l. to r., International RepresentativeGene Lyon, and Bill Staggs of Local 483.

REP. RALPH REGULA (R-16th OH), third from right, with, l. to r., Tony Stahl of L-106,Frank Estergall of L-1086, Jeff Beitel of L-1073, Ken Blankenship of L-106, Bill Foley ofL-1086, IR Ron Lyon, Terry Heiser of L-1191, and Intl.President Charles W. Jones.

SEN. CHARLES ROBB (D-VA), second from right, with, l. to r., International PresidentCharles W. Jones, and Frank Hartsoe and Jeff Morris of Local 45.

REP. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-8th MI), center, with Steve Gromala of Local 696, at left,and International President Charles W. Jones.

REP. JOHN S. TANNER (D-8th TN), center, with, l. to r., IVP Othal Smith Jr., Roy Martin of L-453,Vinson Harper of L-453 behind Darlene Luttrell of S14, Mitchell McCormick of S14, L-455delegates Joseph McGahey, Bobby McGahey, and Ed Vance, and Richard Smith of L-453.

REP. ROBERT E. WISE JR. (D-2nd WV), third from right, with, l. to r., Raymond Smith ofL-667, IP Charles W. Jones, George Pinkerman of L-667, Ronny Vanscoy of the NTL,and Gary Ledford of L-105.

Representatives of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), l. to r., NLRB Exec.Sec. John Turner, NLRB member Peter Hurtgen, NLRB member J. Robert Brame III, IPCharles W. Jones, GC Rep. Michael Manley, and NLRB Chairman John Truesdale.


P A G E I DC O N G R E S S I O N A L R E C E P T I O N

Take precaution whenworking from scaff o l d sA FEW MONTHS ago, a NewYork Boilermaker fell 30 feet to hisdeath. His death was one amongthousands of worker deaths fromfalls in the past ten years.

According to the NationalInstitute for Occupational Safetyand Health (NIOSH), 3,491 work-ers fell to their deaths from 1980 to1985. Of those, 461 (17 percent) fellwhile working from a scaffold.

The Occupational Safety andHealth Administration (OSHA)promulgated regulations in 1971 toprotect workers from the hazardsof working from scaffolds. In 1996,they revised the constructionindustry safety regulations toaddress scaffolds.

Yet workers continue to fall totheir deaths.

The Boilermakers MOST p r o-gram now offers classes to trainsafety trainers in OSHA s c a f f o l dstandards. (See story beginning onpage one of this issue.) In addition,NIOSH has recently issued an“Alert” to warn workers about thedangers of death and injurycaused by falls from suspensionscaffolds, one particularly haz-ardous type of scaffold.

The Alert focuses on six deathsdue to falls from suspension scaf-folds and describes the circum-stances surrounding the deaths andthe crucial prevention steps whichcould have saved their lives.

The cases reported in the Alertrepresent only a small percentageof the actual deaths caused annu-ally by falls from scaffolds in theUnited States. To prevent futuredeaths and injuries, workers mustbe told of the hazards they face andthe means of prevention. The fol-lowing summarizes the key infor-mation in the NIOSH Alert.

P reventing worker injuriesand deaths caused by fallsf rom suspension scaff o l d sWho is at risk?

WORKERS WHO USE s u s p e n s i o nscaffolds are at risk. Suspensionscaffolds are defined as one ormore working platforms sus-pended by ropes, or other means,from an overhead structure.

Why are workers dying?

WORKERS ARE IN DANGER o ffalling from suspension scaffolds.Falls frequently occur as the resultof improper installation or opera-tion of scaffold equipment, defec-tive scaffold equipment,insufficient worker safety training,or failure to provide or use per-sonal fall protection equipment.(See the figure above for a descrip-tion of a lanyard, just one type offall protection equipment.)

How can workers be protected?

THE FOLLOWING p r e c a u t i o n sshould be taken to prevent seriousinjuries and fatal falls while work-ing from suspension scaffolds:

• Comply with current and proposedOSHA regulations for working withscaffolds. Proposed regulationsinclude requirements for all scaffoldsregarding capacity, construction,access, use, and fall protection.• Assure that design and construc-tion of scaffolds conform withOSHA regulations.• Shield scaffold suspension ropesand body harness or harness sys-tem droplines (lifelines) from hot orcorrosive processes, and protectthem from sharp edges or abrasion.• Inspect all scaffolds, scaffoldcomponents, and personal fall pro-tection equipment before each use.• Provide personal fall protectionequipment and make sure that it isused by all workers on suspensionscaffolds. When working from ascaffold, always use fall protection(both guardrail systems and bodyharness or harness systems).• Use structurally sound portions ofbuildings or other structures toanchor droplines for body harnessor harness systems and tiebacks forsuspension scaffold support devices.• Secure droplines and tiebacks toseparate anchor points on struc-tural members.• Provide proper training for allworkers who use any type of sus-pension scaffold or fall protectionequipment. If you work from a scaf-fold, participate in any training pro-grams offered by your employer.• Follow scaffold manufacturers’guidance regarding the assembly,rigging, and use of scaffolds.

For copies of the NIOSH Alert[Publication number DHHS(NIOSH) 92-108], write or faxrequests to NIOSH PublicationsDissemination 4676 ColumbiaParkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226;FAX: 513-533-8573. For informa-tion about this or other occupa-tional safety and health concerns,call toll free: 1-800-35-NIOSH.

For information about MOSTscaffold safety training, contact theMOST office at (913) 281-5036.

DON’T TAKE UNNECESSARY RISKS.A L W A Y S PLAY IT SAFE.

AND WHEN YOU ARE AT WORK,MAKE IT SAFE!

Lanyards can be used to restrainworkers in position, and to arrestfalls. By keeping the length as shortas possible, a worker can’t fall morethan two feet while wearing therestraining device.

MAKE IT SAFEWorkplace Safety Aw a re n e s s

Avondale agrees to pay OSHAfine, revise safety pro g r a mAVONDALE INDUSTRIEShas agreedto pay a $357,750 penalty and revisetheir safety and health program to set-tle two fines levied by the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration(OSHA) for safety violations.

Under the settlement agreement,Avondale avoids paying over half ofthe $717,000 originally demanded byOSHA by agreeing to end litigation andbegin implementing the new safetyprograms immediately. The Louisiana-based shipbuilder will audit all acci-dents and injuries over the past fiveyears, implement a scaffold erectionand maintenance training program,

provide enhanced safety training forsupervisors, and provide quarterlyaudits of medical and OSHA logs.

OSHA Administrator Charles Jef-fress told the Daily Labor Report t h a tAvondale’s willingness to “improvesafety and health conditions for itsworkers . . . is encouraging.” AvondaleIndustries merged with Litton Indus-tries in 1999.

Boilermaker Safety and Health Spe-cialist Milan Racic filed the originalOSHA complaints when safety viola-tions were uncovered during ourefforts to bring union representation tothe workers of Avondale. ❑


S A F E T Y & H E A L T H

1 . Tie-off Point2 . Lifeline 3 . Rope Grab4 . Shock-Absorbing

L a n y a r d5 . Full-body Harness

5

2

1

3

4

Loophole lets MCOsparty on Medicare fundsTAXPAYERS ROUTINELYpay mil-lions of Medicare dollars for items thathave nothing to do with medical care,according to a recent governmentreport. An audit of nine managed careorganizations (MCOs) that participatein Medicare by the Inspector General ofthe Department of Health and HumanServices (DHHS) found that the MCOswasted $66.3 million in 1997 onexpenses unrelated to medical care.

They splurged on parties, massages,crystal vases for executives, and tripsto resort locations. Taxpayers alsopicked up the tab for a New York-based HMO’s $150,000 party – includ-ing visits to Radio City Music Hall,Madison Square Garden, a dinnercruise, and fireworks.

The report listed the expenses inseven categories it said Medicare nor-mally would not pay for, and estimatedthat MCOs exaggerated their adminis-trative costs by about $1 billion a yearfor the years 1994 through 1996.

While the Inspector General onlyassessed a small number of the MCOsparticipating in Medicare, it believesthat this problem is prevalent in amajority of MCOs across the nation. Ifhalf of the nation’s MCOs engage insimilar wasteful practices, taxpayerswould be losing $1.4 billion per year.

Under current regulations, compa-nies that participate in Medicare arenot required to follow Medicare’s prin-ciple of paying only “reasonable”costswhen determining administrationexpenses. This loophole lets theseorganizations waste taxpayer moneywithout any repercussions.

E rgonomics standardfaces battle for appro v a lIN THE FIRST four weeks of hearingson the Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration’s (OSHA) controver-sial proposed ergonomics standard, theagency heard from roughly 400 wit-nesses, according to an OSHA official.The hearings featured 370 witnessesfrom the public, seven from theNational Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health, and 28 testifying onbehalf of the agency.

While supporters and opponents ofthe proposal have offered different sce-narios about how and when a final rulewill be published, one thing is clear: allroads lead to the courthouse. Oppo-nents in industry already are talkingabout lawsuits over the proposedergonomics standard.

The proposal, issued last November,would require employers in manualhandling and manufacturing opera-tions to implement ergonomics pro-

grams in their workplaces and wouldextend the ergonomics requirements toother worksites upon the recording of asingle instance of a musculoskeletaldisorder. Opponents question whetherthe proposal is necessary, despite thefact that ergonomic hazards have beenthe nation’s biggest job safety problemfor decades, crippling and injuringmore than 600,000 workers each year.

Alberta plans to privatizehealth care despite priceALBERTA PREMIER RALPH K l e i nhas announced a new health care planthat will pave the way for private, for-profit hospitals in Alberta, makingtheir system more closely resemble theU.S. medical care system.

Klein claims that contracting outsome services will reduce costs andmake waiting lists shorter. Yet medicalcare costs half as much in Canada as itdoes in the U.S. And when Australia,Great Britain, and New Zealandattempted to contract out parts of theirmedical care systems in an effort toshorten waiting lists, the lists grewlonger instead of shorter.

Many Albertans also fear that thischange will allow medical conglomer-ates from the U.S. to move into Canadaunder the cloak of the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Drug costs for seniors riseTHE PRICE OFthe 50 drugs most com-monly used by senior citizens rose atnearly twice the rate of inflation lastyear, according to an independentstudy released by the White House.

The study by the nonpartisan Fami-lies USA consumer group providedfresh evidence that America needs aprescription drug benefit for the eld-erly. Roughly half of U.S. senior citi-zens lack any insurance to cover thecosts of their medications.

The study found that prices of the 50prescription drugs used most fre-quently by older Americans rose 3.9percent over the last year against a 2.2percent increase in inflation.

A pharmaceuticals industry tradegroup criticized the study, saying thatgovernment data ran counter to itsresults. The Pharmaceutical Researchand Manufacturers of America said,“Families USA ignores the fact that the50 medicines . . . help keep patients outof the hospital, off the surgery table, onthe job, and in the home.”

Many drugs, such as Xalatan, a drugused to treat glaucoma, were devel-oped with taxpayer-financed research,but are now sold by private companiesat enormous profits. The makers ofXalatan sell it for $45 a bottle, nearly 100times what it costs to produce. ❑

Health and safety in the political are n a

L-5 – New York CityJE R R YCO N N O L L Y, BM-ST ofLocal 5, New York City, N.Y.,reports contract ratification,effective Nov. 1, 1999 to Oct.31, 2002, for six Local 5members who perform lightmanufacturing of electronicsfor industrial boilers atFrederick Cowan & Co., Inc.

L-27 – St. Louis, MODO N A L D LI N K, BM-ST of Local27, St. Louis, Mo., reportscontract ratification,effective Jan. 1, 2000 to Jan.1, 2003, for ten Local 27members at Jones &Lockhart Welding, Inc.

L-37 – New OrleansME M B E R SO F LO C A L 3 7, NewOrleans, La., have ratifiedan agreement, effectiveApril 1, 2000 to March 31,2001, for workers whoperform ship repair atEconomy Iron Works, Inc.

M68 – Cincinnati

RO Y TR A N B Y, financial sec.-treas. of Local M68,Cincinnati, Ohio, reportscontract ratification,effective April 1, 2000 toMarch 31, 2003, for 55 LocalM68 members who performall types of plating at M i c r oMetal Finishing.

Tranby also reportscontract ratification,effective Jan. 17, 2000 toDec. 1, 2002, for 15 LocalM68 members, whoseduties include all types ofplating work at V a r l a n dMetal Service, Inc.

L-83 – Kansas CityRO G E R ER I C K S O N, BM-ST ofLocal 83, Kansas City, Mo.,reports contractratification, effective April1, 2000 to March 31, 2003,for seven Local 83members who work in theboiler shop at W o o d l e y -Griggs Boiler Repair.

L-104 – Seattle, WAME M B E R SO F LO C A L 1 0 4,Seattle, Wash., have ratifieda contract agreement,effective Feb. 6, 2000 to Feb.1, 2003, for 40 Local 104members who manufactureships, barges, boats, andperform miscellaneousmetal fabrication at theFishermen’s Boat Shop i nEverett, Wash.

TI M CA R R, Local 104 BM-ST, also reports contractratification, effective April1, 2000 to April 1, 2001, formembers performingrepair work at New WayForming, Inc.

L-204 – Honolulu, HIJO H N KI N G, BM-ST of Local204, Honolulu, Hawaii,reports contract ratification,effective Jan. 1, 2000 toDec. 31, 2002, for Local 204members who work at theHonolulu Shipyard, Inc.

L-242 – Spokane, WAMA R L I N MCCU R D Y, BM-ST ofLocal 242, Spokane, Wash.,reports contractratification, effective Dec.1, 1999 to Nov. 30, 2003, for60 Local 242 members whomake steel buildings atGarco Building Systems.

L-300 – PhiladelphiaIN T L. RE P. ST E V E BE A L r e p o r t scontract ratification,effective Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec.31, 2002, for 30 members ofLocal 300, Philadelphia, Pa.,who producee n v i r o n m e n t a l l y - c l e a nrooms and incubators atHotpack/SP Industries, Inc.

L-329 – PhiladelphiaIN T L. RE P. RO B E R T HE I N E JR.reports contract ratification,effective March 1, 2000 toFeb. 28, 2003, for membersof Local 329, Philadelphia,Pa., who work at B r a d l e y -Sciocchetti, Inc., and atDamson, Inc.

D 3 4 2 – P l a t t s b u rgh, NYIN T L. RE P. RO B E R T SI M M O N Sreports contract ratification,effective Dec. 1, 1999 toNov. 30, 2002, for tenmembers of Local D342,Plattsburgh, N.Y., who makestone and asphalt productsat Malone Quarries.

D361 – Nelson, AZ

IN T L. RE P. MI C H A E L AT C H I S O Nreports contractratification, effective Feb.15, 2000 to Feb. 14, 2003, for40 members of Local D361,Nelson, Ariz., who work atChemical Lime.

D364 – Paris, ONIN T L. RE P. ED MA T T O C K Sr e p o r t scontract ratification, effectiveJan. 1, 2000 to Nov. 30, 2004,for ten members of LocalD364, Paris, Ontario, Canada,who work in production andmaintenance at D u f f e r i n

A g g r e g a t e s, and effectiveJan. 1, 2000 to Nov. 30, 2002,for ten Local D364 memberswho work in production andmaintenance at L a F a r g eCanada, Inc.

L-443–Manitowoc, WIIN T L. RE P. LE O N A R DGU N D E R S O N reports contractratification, effective Nov.1, 1999 to Oct. 31, 2004, fortwo members of Local 443,Manitowoc, Wis., whoperform maintenance workat Lakeside Maintenance.

L-484 – Meredosia, ILIN T L. RE P. JA M E S PR E S S L E Yreports contractratification, effective Jan.18, 2000 to Jan. 16, 2004, for216 members of Local 484,Meredosia, Ill., who makeadhesive and resin atNational Starch &C h e m i c a l.

D533–Hagerstown, MDIN T L. RE P. RO B E R T SI M M O N Sreports contractratification, effective Dec.15, 1999 to Dec. 14, 2002, for380 members of Local D533,Hagerstown, Md., whomake vinyl windows andsiding at Certainteed Corp.

L-582 – Baton RougeIN T L. RE P. DE N N I S KI N Greports contractratification, effective Dec.2, 1999 to Dec. 2, 2001, for21 members of Local 582,Baton Rouge, La., whomake heat exchangers atthe Ohmstede of LouisianaSt. Gabriel Plant.

L-725 – Springfield

IN T L. RE P. VI N C E N TDICL E M E N T E reports contractratification, effective Feb. 8,2000 to Feb. 8, 2003, for 50members of Local 725,Springfield, Mass., whowork in the production andmaintenance unit at S t o r m sF o r g e, a division ofDoncasters, Inc.

L-744–Cleveland, OH

PA T R I C K GA L L A G H E R, BM-STof Local 744, Cleveland,Ohio, reports contractratification, effectiveMarch 1, 2000 to March 1,2001, for 35 Local 744members who work at theDover Tank & Plate Co.

L-1255 – Chicago, IL

IN T L. RE P. JA M E S PR E S S L E Yreports contract ratification,effective Feb. 12, 2000 to Feb.11, 2004, for 267 members ofLocal 1255, Chicago, Ill., whoforge pliers and hooks forthe electrical industry atKlein Tools, Inc. in Skokie, Ill.

L-1509 – Cudahy, WIIN T L. RE P. HO W A R D CO L Ereports contractratification, effective April17, 2000 to Sept. 28, 2003,for 175 Local 1509members who producelarge forgings at L a d i s hCompany, Inc.

L-1666 – Dayton, OH

IN T L. RE P. RO N LY O N r e p o r t scontract ratification,effective March 3, 2000 toMarch 2, 2004, for 90members of Local 1666,Dayton, Ohio, who work atthe Harris-Thomas DropForge Company.

L-1703 – Racine, WI

IN T L. RE P. HO W A R D CO L Ereports contractratification, effectiveMarch 1, 2000 to Feb. 28,2003, for 53 members ofLocal 1703, Racine, Wis.,who make heat treat metalparts at Lindberg HeatT r e a t i n g .

New contract summariesA brief listing of recent agreements signed and ratified by Boilermaker local lodges


P A G E I DS E T T L E M E N T S

You don’t get what you deserve . . .. . . you get what you negotiate

UNION LEADERS, like these pictured here, work longhours to negotiate the best benefits they can forBoilermaker m e m b e r s .

Prepared by the Researchand Collective BargainingDepartment of theInternational Brotherhood ofB o i l e r m a k e r s

THIS ANALYSIS of the 27agreements outlined above isbased on information providedin the Contract Summary andTransmittal Report forms, andcovers approximately 1,672e m p l o y e e s .

Wage IncreasesE I G H T E E N facilities receivedpay increases in 1999,averaging $0.41 per hour or2.44 percent. Twenty-onefacilities will receive payincreases in 2000, averaging$0.51 per hour or 2.86 percent.Twenty-two facilities willreceive pay increases in 2001,averaging $0.53 per hour or2.75 percent. Sixteen facilitieswill receive pay increases in2002, averaging $0.54 per houror 2.83 percent. Four facilitieswill receive pay increases in2003, averaging $0.35 per houror 3.75 percent.

P e n s i o nT W E N T Y - T H R E E f a c i l i t i e sparticipate in some type ofpension program. There are 14facilities which participate in

the Boilermaker-BlacksmithNational Pension Trust. Theircontributions range from $0.15to $2.20 per hour. Averagecents-per-hour contributionsare $1.21 for the first year,$1.23 for the second year, and$1.24 for third year.

Nine facilities offer a 401(k);ten also have company-sponsored plans; three haveprofit sharing; two contribute toan Individual RetirementAccount (IRA); and oneCanadian facility participates inRegistered Retirement SavingsPlans (RRSP), which are similarto the IRAs found in the U.S.

Shift DifferentialT W E N T Y - F O U Ra g r e e m e n t sprovide for a second shiftpremium, of which 19 report acents-per-hour premium thatranges from $0.20 to $0.60. Theaverage is $0.38 per hour.

Twenty agreements providefor a third-shift premium, ofwhich 18 provide a cents-per-hour premium that rangesfrom $0.20 to $1.00. Theaverage is $0.51 per hour.

Of the remaining, threeprovide a percentage of pay(not enough for an average),and one agreement provides a1/2 hour of additional pay plus

$0.05 per hour for second shift.

Sickness & A c c i d e n tTWENTY-THREE a g r e e m e n t sprovide weekly sickness andaccident indemnity. Of these,18 pay a set dollar amountranging from $175 to $413 perweek. Average rates are asfollows: first year – $282.07;second year – $286.51; thirdyear – $289.85.

The remaining agreementsprovide a percentage of theemployee’s earnings rangingfrom 50 percent to 66.66percent. The length of time offranges from 13 to 52 weeks.The most common is 26 weeksfound in 13 agreements.

Life Insurance/AD&DT W E N T Y - T H R E Ea g r e e m e n t sprovide life insurance. In 22of the agreements, there is aset dollar amount rangingfrom $5,000 to $50,000. Theaverage benefit for the firstyear is $28,166.

The remaining agreementuses the annual wage as thebenefit by multiplying wagesby one and one-half.

V a c a t i o nT W E N T Y - T W O a g r e e m e n t sprovide a one-week vacation.

Twenty-three agreements

provide a two-week vacation.Twenty-three agreements

provide a three-week vacation.Twenty agreements provide

a four-week vacation.Eleven agreements provide

a five-week vacation, andthree agreements provide asix-week vacation.

Of the above agreements,seven receive vacation paybased on a percentage oftheir annual income.

Paid HolidaysT W E N T Y - F I V Ea g r e e m e n t sprovide for paid holidays. Thenumber of paid holidaysranges from three to 14. Theaverage is ten.

Other ProvisionsT W E N T Y - T H R E Ea g r e e m e n t sprovide funeral leave.

Paid leave for jury dutyis foundin 19 agreements.

Union leave language is foundin 14 agreements.

Eleven agreements provide allor partial reimbursement for thepurchase of safety shoes.

Five agreements provide paidleave for those persons whospend two weeks at m i l i t a r ye n c a m p m e n teach year.

Four provide a s e v e r a n c epayment package.

A summary analysis of these contract settlements

Negotiating a three-year agreement for membersof Local 1703, Racine, Wis., at Lindberg HeatTreating, are, l. to r., Sec.-Treas. ChristopherDecker, Richard “Rambo” Koshen, Kevin Sanders,Pres. A. B. Herron, and John King.

D o n ’t forget to add a CAFc h e c k - o ff provision in

your next contractTHE BOILERMAKERS Campaign Assistance Fund (CAF)is made up entirely from money voluntarily donated bymembers, staff, and the families of members. We usethis fund to make donations to the campaigns ofcandidates who support the Boilermakers union onissues important to our members.

Federal law prohibits unions from using duesmoney to help finance the campaigns of candidates foroffice. Unions must create a special fund called a PAC.CAF is the Boilermakers PAC.

Candidates who support workers rarely have asmuch money for their campaigns as candidates whosupport large corporations. Businesses routinelyoutspend labor unions. Every penny we put into thecampaign of a candidate who supports our agenda is apenny well spent. And the only way our union canmake these contributions is if our members donatemoney to and raise money for CAF.

If we want our union to support candidates for office,we need to raise money for CAF. Most lodges thatdonate to CAF rely on occasional contributions frommembers or special fund-raising activities, such as raf-fles, T-shirt and cap sales, or other events.

The best way to raise money, though, is to negotiatea CAF checkoff into your collective bargaining agree-ment. In this way, members who wish to give to CAFcan have their contributions deducted directly fromtheir paychecks. This money adds up quickly.

Local One – Chicago, Ill.30 years – Fausto Calederon,Robert Gregory, RaymondS t r z y k a l s k i25 years – Edward J. Downs,William J. Kidd, and Jack D. Ruby

Local 29 – Boston, Mass.35 years – Robert A. Senechal30 years – Richard E. Angevine,James F. Armitage, David A.Cordeiro, Gabriel Cordeiro, DamonW. Curtis, Jimmie W. Loftus, ThureA. Munro, William A. Richards Jr.,James F. Shephard Jr., Nathan W.Spencer, and Raymond D. Spencer

25 years – William R. Anson,Ernest A. Christmas, Joseph P. FayJr., Wayne R. Gauthier, John A.Kallenberg Jr., Ralph E. Maxwell,James L. Nicholson III, Richard A.Saucier, and Edward D. Yukon

Local 374 – Hammond, Ind.50 years – Matthew Meneghetti45 years – William Lynn35 years – Leon Bland, KennethR. Burk, Thomas J. Salakar30 years – Frank Camacho,Harold G. Hacker, Larry Springer25 years – Donald H. Anderson,Gary L. Begle, Terry G. Boyd,David L. Brosz, Melvin P. Coomer,Paul W. Davis, Terry L. Duzan,Willie Edwards, Raymond F. Els-

berry, Roy R. Fleck, Edwin K. Flow-ers, Harold A. Franzman II, RussellR. Gehlhausen, Daniel W. Heeke,Raymond Houston, Colin Lackey,Ronald R. Mains, Robert MarshallIII, Allen E. Pick, Francis K. Reed,Larry A. Seger, Robert O. Sinclair,Darrell J. Sparks, Rodney K. Wall,Walter W. Zale20 years – Paul C. Davis, RobertJ. Flores, Timothy F. Gericke,Robert L. Gonzales, Jackie L.Good, James F. Heeke, John M.Lesko, David C. Memmer, OrvilleJ. Merkel, Timothy A. Merkel,Terrence A. Nord, Randall W.Sallee, Larry T. Sparks, Danny L.Turner, Anthony R. Williams15 years – Jim R. Tisdale, LouieW. Zollman

Local 531 – Amarillo, Texas60 years – Roy C. Martin55 years – F. G. Hudgins45 years – Jack Garrard40 years – Jimmy Bennett35 years – Gary Adams, JoeDarter, Tommy McDonald, RayUrton, Jerry Williams, and Ken-neth Williams30 years – Robert Flanary andJesse Williams25 years – Kelly Adams, MikeBrown, Scott Carney, Steve Con-nelly, Richard Irwin, RonnieLewis, Mike Perry, Leo Williams,and Steve Winters Jr.20 years – Clarence Cooper Jr.15 years – Tom Woolsey

ROBERT H. Forsyth Jr.,who joined Local 182 in1984, has turned in hisBoilermaker tools for aguitar. He has just fin-ished his first recording,under the stage name ofRobert Hall.

“It took me a year towrite the 11 songs on myCD, and another year torecord and complete theproject,” said Hall. “Itwas a lot more work thanI had anticipated. Hun-dreds of hours of workare involved in making a40-minute CD.”

Hall did most of the acoustic guitar work, all the leadvocals, and most of the background vocals as well. Sofar, he’s had a few radio interviews and is receivingsome air time.

But he hasn’t forgotten his roots. “The Boilermak-ers have been good to me. For each CD I sell to a Boil-ermaker, I will donate $2 to the NationalApprenticeship Fund. I feel it is important to thefuture of the union to train our apprentices to becomeproud and skilled craftsmen.”

To order a copy of Hall’s CD, send a check ormoney order in the amount of $12.50 to Robert HallForsyth, 132 Point Drive #8207, Draper, UT 84020. Besure to include your local lodge number so Hall cankeep track of all Boilermaker donations.

He’s also on the Web at w w w . r o b e r t h a l l . o r g ❑

L - 1 8 2 ’s Hall re c o rds CDFormer Boilermaker will donate $2 to theNational Apprenticeship Fund for each CDpurchased by a member of this union

Robert Hall is donatingproceeds from his CD tothe Boilermakers’apprenticeship fund.


P A G E I DL O C A L N E W S

His youngest son is also American Legionbaseball player of the year

LARRY W. ROBERTSjoined Local 587, Orange,Texas, in 1999, and he has plenty of reasons to beproud of his sons. Both are honor students whoearned scholarships to Southern Arkansas University(SAU) in Magnolia, where they are playing baseball.

His youngest son, Jeremy, is the 1999 AmericanLegion Baseball Player of the Year. A 1999 honorgraduate of Woodlawn High School, Jeremy earnedthe outstanding offense award, and was all-confer-ence and all-district player for three years. He plans tomajor in pre-engineering at SAU.

Damian, a 1999 honor graduate of North ArkansasCommunity College, was nationally ranked in RBIsin Division II baseball, was ranked first in the divisionwith a batting average of .522, and was picked for theall-regional tournament team. He plans to major inkinesiology at SAU. ❑

L - 5 8 7 ’s Roberts has twohonor students onuniversity baseball team

Damian Roberts, at left, and Jeremy Roberts, at right, arethe sons of Dana and Larry Roberts (Larry is a member ofLocal 587). Both are honor students, playing baseball onscholarships at Southern Arkansas University.

JAMES P. HERON JR., a31-year member of Local13, Philadelphia, Pa.,was recently featured ona local television stationfor donating 17 gallonsof blood.

Heron first donatedblood in 1972, at thesoutheastern Pennsylva-nia Red Cross blooddonor headquarters, andhas since made donationsabout every other month at mobile units. So far, hehas given a total of 136 pints.

With the most common blood type, O positive,Heron often thinks about how many people he hashelped. “Whenever I go to Philadelphia’s VeteransStadium, I look around and wonder if anyone Ihelped is there.”

In an emergency, anyone can receive type O blood;therefore, people with type O blood are known as“universal donors.” Heron is a universal donor; how-ever, he humorously adds that he is also a full-blooded Irish-American.

Heron says he always feels good after givingblood, and he encourages everyone to become regu-lar donors. “There’s always a need for blood,”Heron says. “Remember, the Red Cross is usuallythe first group you see on the scene when there’sbeen a disaster.” ❑

L-13’s Heron donates17th gallon of blood

DEB KOSTER, wife of31-year Local 647 mem-ber Marvin Koster, Min-neapolis, Minn., broughtdown this 1,000-poundmoose. It took her fourshots from a 30-06, earn-ing her a once-in-a-life-time moose tag in NorthDakota. Marvin may beretired as a Boilermaker,but he now helps hiswife run their bar, theWesternaire Bar, in Cen-ter, N.D. ❑

Wife of L-647 retireegets her moose

L - 1 0 8 ’s Gene McDonaldre t i res after 26 years

GENE MCDONALD has retired after working 26years at the trade. McDonald, who often worked as aforeman on area outages, is a 23-year member ofLocal 108, Birmingham, Ala. When he ended his ten-hour shift at M & D Power Constructors on March 31,McDonald’s co-workers gave him a Boilermakerwatch and treated him to a retirement party, orches-trated by his son, Robert, an 11-year member of Local108. Pictured, l. to r., are Jack King, Wayne Milam,Libby Ratliff, Gene, C. R. Dixon, Robert, Carey For-rester, Tommy Payne, and Eddie Brower.

L - 4 0 ’s Heady re t i re s

Larry “Wrinkles” Heady, a L-40 member, second fromright, receives a cake in honor of his retirement at theD.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman, Mich. L. tor., general foreman Tom Kopp, foreman George “Terry”Lajoie, and steward Bob “Trapper” Card.

LARRY HEADY, a 29-year member of Local 40, Eliz-abethtown, Ky., has retired as a field constructionboilermaker. He started his career at W. R. Grace inOwensboro, Ky., where he served as a union stewardfor 13 years. In 1974, he put on his traveling shoes tobecame a field construction boilermaker, and workedall across the country. His last job was at the D. C.Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman, Mich.,where he got to work with one of his lifelong friendsand union brother, Ron “Cornbread” Webster.

His coworkers at the Michigan power plant threwHeady a retirement party, where he received a pre-arranged phone call from another of his long-timefriends, Local 175 BM-ST John Fultz. ❑

L - 2 9 ’s Gilcoine weds hiss w e e t h e a rt at job site

IT WAS A HARD-HAT WEDDING, held at a job sitesimilar to the one where they first met 20 years earlier.The wind chill was 45 degrees below zero, but thatwasn’t going to stop them from tying the knot. BillGilcoine, a 23-year member of Local 29, Boston,Mass., wed Deb Williams, a painter with DistrictCouncil 36, on January 17, 2000, during their lunchbreak at the Canal Electric Plant in Sandwich, Mass.Local 29 ABM Paul Meade was best man; CaroleNewcomb was maid of honor. (With her back to thecamera is the Justice of the Peace who performed thewedding ceremony.) ❑

Locals award pins

A BILL BEFORE the Ontario Legisla-tive Assembly poses one of the mostcomprehensive threats to unionizedworkers Canadians have seen.

Bill 69 proposes radical, far-reachingchanges to the province’s Labour Rela-tions Act that seriously threaten theunion’s ability to negotiate and main-tain a collective bargaining agreement.

Provisions of Bill 69 include creatingmechanisms for employers to circum-vent the hiring hall, reduce wages andbenefits on union jobs, and in somecases completely void the collectivebargaining agreement.

Although the provincial govern-ment claims this law is necessary toallow Ontario contractors to remaincompetitive, union analysts say thebill appears to have been designedwith no other purpose than to reduceworkers’ wages and benefits. The bill’ssupporters claim it provides a flexibil-ity in manning projects not possibleunder current law, but union repre-sentatives point out that collective bar-gaining agreements are presentlystructured to allow for variations inwage rates, benefits, and other termswhen needed to allow union contrac-tors to be more competitive.

Bill 69 destroys the hiring hall

A KEY PROVISIONof Bill 69 allowsemployers to name/hire up to 76 per-cent of the employees required for aproject, rather than going through thetraditional hiring hall rotation list.Thus, contractors will not be requiredto hire local workers, even though theymay be completely qualified. This pro-vision will no doubt be used by somecontractors to “punish” some cate-gories of workers, such as older work-

ers, workers with physical limitations,or workers perceived by the employeras being troublemakers, such as healthand safety activists.

Bill 69 threatens foundation ofcollective barg a i n i n g

THE MOST DISTURBING of manybad provisions in this bill is one allow-ing companies to seek amendments tocollective bargaining agreements theyhave freely agreed to. This provision

would allow unionized firms to lowerwages or reduce benefits on jobsdespite objections from the union byreferring this proposal to an arbitrationprocess, which is heavily tipped tofavor the arguments of employers overthose of the workers.

Bill 69 is a threat to union membersthroughout Ontario. It would reducethe role of the collective bargainingagreement so greatly that workers maylegitimately ask why one is necessary.

Not only should every Boilermakerin Ontario oppose this bill, but everyworker in Canada should watch it care-fully. If it can happen in Ontario, it canhappen in your province. ❑

Members raise money,food, donations, and a ro o f !FIRST CAME HURRICANE FLOYD,leaving devastation for miles around.Then came the Boilermakers, leavingfood, money, labor, and a hope for abetter future.

After Hurricane Floyd hit their area,the members of Local 684 in Norfolk,Va., collected $518 and non-perishablefood items for the victims. But the foodbank and the relief center had plenty offood. What the victims really needed,they said, was help getting back intotheir homes.

One victim, Elaine Johnson, livedalone. She refused to leave her home,even though her roof was badly dam-aged and water leaks were damagingher kitchen. Local 684 members col-lected another $180 and got HomeDepot to donate roofing shingles. TheLocal 684 shop stewards then replacedMs. Johnson’s roof.

“We tore off a tin roof and added1,400 square feet of plywood and shin-gles,” said L-684 President JohnnyThomas. “We replaced several areas ofdeteriorated wood around the roof bor-der, and painted parts of the houseexterior. It took us 16 hours to finish thejob. Everyone was tired and exhausted,but the joy on Ms. Johnson’s face madethe labor worthwhile.

“We even got a Christmas card fromMs. Johnson. At the bottom she wrote,‘I’m really enjoying my new roof. Thankyou very much and thanks to the union.May God forever bless you.’”

Thomas sends a special thanks toLocal 684 members James Anderson,David Tew, Mike Comb, Steve Tarken-ton, Joe Tatum, Bill Stevens, Mike Pat-terson, Doug Goodman, attorney GregCamden, and roofing contractor TevaPretlow for volunteering their services.Photos were taken by Local 1999 Presi-dent Sam Hill. ❑

Live in comfortwith union-madeheating & cooling IF THIS IS THE YEARyou need anew furnace, boiler, heat pump,baseboard or wall heater, air condi-tioner, gas stove, or even a stovepipe,check out the quality of these prod-ucts first, made by members of theBoilermakers, IUE, Machinists, Steel-workers, Teamsters, and the UAW.

Home furnaces, heatpumps, & air conditioners:

Air Pro, Armstrong, Bryant, Burn-ham Boilers, Carrier, ColemanEvcon, Comfortmaker, Empire,Empire Comfort (Boilermaker LocalS7 – Belleville, Ill.), GE Zoneline,Guardian, Heil, Lennox, Payne,Quantum, Rheem, Tempstar, York.

Other equipment:

Cozy brand wall, floor, and consolegas stoves by Louisville Tin & Stove(Boilermaker Local S20 – Louisville,Ky.); gas stoves and logs by EmpireComfort Systems (BoilermakerLocal S7); baseboard and panelheaters by Embassy Industries; gas,wood, coal, and pellet stoves byUnited States Stove Co. (Boiler-maker Local S56 – SouthPittsburg,Tenn.); strip and ductheaters by Delta Flo Mfg.; and stovepipe, chimney caps, and hearthaccessories by GSW Jackes EvansMfg. Co. (Boilermaker Local S100 –St. Louis, Mo.).

Get election flyersin English, Spanish A 1998 STUDY SHOWEDthat themost effective tool for motivatingmembers to be politically active is thejob-site flyer. One-page flyers onworkers’ issues handed to memberson the job (or immediately before orafter) can make an enormous differ-ence in a close election.

This fall we expect to see a numberof close races. The BoilermakersDepartment of Communications hasavailable a series of copier-ready fly-ers in English and Spanish. For moreinformation, contact Donald Caswell(913) 371-2640.

L e a rn truths aboutSocial Security HOW BAD ISthe Social Securityshortfall problem? For the past sev-eral years, we have heard a steadydrumbeat telling us that our cher-ished social insurance program isdestined to fail and we must beginto look for ways to scrap it.

But how much of what we arehearing is true and how much ispropaganda from people who wantto get their hands on the Social Secu-rity surplus? Will the baby boomersbust Social Security? Can weimprove it by letting Wall Streetmanage the funds?

The answers to those questionscan be found in a special sectiondevoted to explaining Social Secu-rity on the Boilermakers Web site athttp://www.boilermakers.org/SS. html.

This page contains links to articleson Social Security by dozens offinancial experts. Don’t be fooled bynews articles intended to convinceus to dismantle Social Security. Getthe facts. Decide for yourself.

This letter is from S t e e l a b o r,the publication of the UnitedSteelworkers of America.I WANT TO MAKEa public apologyto all those connected with Local 1010.When they came to me at the ResearchDepartment at Ispat Inland to jointheir team last September, I did not lis-ten. When union representative Den-nis Shattuck came to my house to talkof the advantages of the union, I didnot listen. When I got a letter fromRep. Pete Visclosky about joining theunion, I did not listen.

Instead, I chose to listen to others.After being told things would proba-bly be better without a union, I voted,along with 23 others, not to unionize. Italked many others into voting “no,”not only this past election, but all theothers as well. I believed the companywould take care of its salaried employ-ees. By a 24-17 vote, the union wasvoted out last September.

My reward for voting the union outwas having my 30-year pensionslashed nearly in half. The old planwould have given me around $1,200 amonth, whereas under the new plan,I’ll get about $700. If I had joined theunion, my monthly pension at 30years would be $2,080. The new con-tract calls for promotions every twoyears for union members. I went tenyears between promotions; some havegone as many as 20 years.

The new contract calls for Local 1010members to get yearly raises. The com-pany gives me a one to two percent raiseevery 15 months. Union members havenegotiated eye care, but I have none.

I’m hoping we get one more chanceto unionize in the Research Depart-ment before the company kicks us inthe teeth (I hope not too hard, becauseI have very poor dental coverage).

Once again, my apologies to Local1010, Shattuck, and the 17 people inresearch to whom I did such an injustice.

BE R N I E ZE M E N, Highland, Ind.

Worker re g rets voting nonunion


P A G E I DS O L I D A R I T Y

Local 684 helps Hurricane Floyd victims

ABOVE: Elaine Johnson, center, thanksLocal 684 members for repairing her

home. L. to r., James Anderson, DavidTew, Greg Camden, Johnny Thomas,Joe Tatum, Teva Pretlow, Bill Stevens,

Steve Tarkenton, Ramone Henderson,Doug Goodman, and Michael

Patterson. Not pictured is Mike Combs.

R I G H T: L-684 members, Norfolk, Va.,replace a damaged tin roof and

border, then add a little paint.

LOWER RIGHT: Elaine Johnson’s homelooks as good as new, thanks to the

caring members of Local Lodge 684.

Photos by Local 1999 President Sam Hill.

Ontario Boilermakers battle dangerous billBill 69 would allow employers to change terms ofcollective bargaining agreement, ignore hiring hall


P A G E I DC O N S U M E R N E W S

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CO R R E C T I O N – Due to areporting error, the nameof L-45’s Howard Matneywas incorrectly includedin the “In Memoriam”column of the Mar-Apr2000 issue.

N T L Akins, TonyN T L Dixon, GeraldN T L Havill Sr., JohnN T L Nolan, RussellN T L Parker, ClarenceN T L Peterson, WilliamN T L Poland, RobertN T L Polster, JamesN T L Thomas, Milton E.N T L Villalta, EduardoN T L Williams, Bransford1 Bryant, Gordon J.1 Burns, James1 Koch, Joseph1 Rodenberg, Robert1 Ryan, Edward1 Stauffer, Ernest

1 Urlicks, Bruce5 Mignone, Michael6 Espinosa, Edward T.6 Johnson, Willie6 Rhodes, Otis7 Huthmacher, M.7 Park, Robert7 Templeton, Robert7 Yavicoli, Harry1 0 Muldrow, Lawrence1 3 Di’Marcella, M.1 3 Gilmer, James2 6 Ponsell, George2 7 Owen, Calvin2 7 Sanker, Charles2 7 Sheppard, Charles2 8 Bott, Henry2 8 Moos, Milton2 8 Pierce, Robert2 8 Raab, Edward2 9 Demaris, Norman E.2 9 Lafferty, DavidD 3 7 York, Nallace4 0 Adelman, Clifton

4 5 Robertson, James4 5 Tillery, Julian6 0 Mayer, Larry6 6 Parkhill, M. L.M 6 8 Purdom, Carl7 2 Campbell, Francis7 2 Hoppe, John7 2 Muir, Robert H.8 3 Barker, France8 3 Edmonds, Gilbert8 3 Harrison, Jimmie O.9 2 Hill, Luther9 2 Ohls, Richard9 2 Trent, Donald9 2 Underhill, Evart9 4 Straw, Ernest1 0 4 Hutchins, William1 0 4 Johnson, Gunnar1 0 4 Killmer, Edward O.1 0 4 Morse, Isaac H.1 0 4 Norris, James1 0 4 Pitchford, Homer1 0 5 Presley, Ernest1 0 5 Schoenlaub, H. J.

1 0 7 Richter, Nick1 2 6 Bailey, Ralph1 2 8 Carroll, David1 2 8 Ferreira, Carlos1 4 6 Blain, Gilbert1 4 6 Linklater, Archibald1 4 6 Springer, Roderick1 5 4 Felitsky, Robert1 5 4 Krill, David1 5 8 Clough, Donald1 5 8 Lichtenberger, H.1 5 8 Manes, Rayburn1 5 8 Spainhour, Lyle M.1 6 9 Bittner, Richard1 6 9 Sawdo, Roger1 6 9 Usher, Richard1 6 9 Yates, Elmer R.1 6 9 Zink Jr., JosephD 1 9 4 Gormley, JamesD 2 0 9 Lewellen, Jackie2 4 2 James, Earl2 9 0 Allen, CabyM 3 0 0 Kinnett, Dana3 5 7 Rogers, Sherman3 6 3 Martin, Thomas3 7 4 Bruder, Charles3 7 4 Harris Jr., Frank3 7 4 Leach, Charles

3 7 4 Loehrke, Ronald3 7 4 Maluga, Steve3 7 4 Sissel, William3 7 4 Stamper, George3 7 4 Walker, Elton3 7 4 Williams, Van4 0 8 Covington, James C.4 3 3 Blanton, Zoya4 3 3 Chastain, Kenneth4 3 3 Kelley, Stephen4 3 3 Post, Earl4 3 3 Wilder, Elmer4 5 3 Booker, Paul E.4 5 3 Spears, Edward4 5 4 Coble, William4 5 4 Vaughn, Jerald5 0 0 Benedetti, Charles5 0 2 Calkin Sr., Wayne5 0 2 Knutson, Kenneth5 0 2 Loberg, Lloyd5 2 4 Dicken, Terry5 2 4 Reinmiller, Robert5 3 1 Cagle, Harry5 4 9 Bolfing, Wilbert5 4 9 Bounds, Kevin5 4 9 Lewis, Ronald5 4 9 Morales, Raul5 9 2 Bryan, Allen O.

5 9 2 Williams, Herbert6 1 9 Stevens, Harry R.6 2 7 Wisnieski, Clarence6 4 7 Kurosker, William6 4 7 Leikas, John G.6 4 7 Lemler, Earl6 5 1 Thornton, Michael6 5 6 Ryan, Edgar W.6 6 7 Clark, Clayton6 6 7 Fulknier, William6 6 7 Jacobs, James6 6 7 McGlone, Curtis6 9 6 Denowski, Anthony7 1 7 Shaw, Hayward7 2 3 Young, Otis R.7 3 5 Lombardo, Dominic7 4 4 Lowery, James7 4 4 Ryglewicz, Stanley7 4 4 Vanvalien, William8 0 2 McKee, William9 0 8 Payne, RobertD 9 9 9 Garnett, Michael1 1 6 2 James Sr., Jesse1 5 0 9 Kitzman, Gordon1 5 0 9 Konkol, Chester S.1 5 0 9 Liska, Charles1 6 6 0 Kimble, Robert L.1 9 9 9 Davis, Thomas

WITH DEEP SORROW the International Brotherhood records the death of these members as reportedto the Intl. sec.-treas.’s office, and extends its heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families.

L O D G E & N A M E

I n t l . Perkins, Tyrone C. $ 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Becker, William J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Bergstad, Albert O. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Culpepper Jr., Allen 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Davis, William E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Kennemuth, Ralph A. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Love, James B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L McCrary, James A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Shank, Wayne M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Towler, Jesse M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Beba, Nicholas 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Botwinski, Ben H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Murley, Bobby T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Patrick, Charles R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 Bonich, Frank 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 Korkowski, William G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Andrews, Donald L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Barbosa, Joseph 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Berchtold, Walt E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Dove, Edward W. 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 06 Francesconi, Alfred 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Gale, William J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Kaanapu, Frederick P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Leonard, M. L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Mondragon, Ralph G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Morrison, Johnny W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Pearson, Robert N. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Prewitt, Paul E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Smith, Berton 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Unger, Wallace R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Wise, Junious 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 Jarzynski, John E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 McCarty, Frank 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Leonardo, Robert L. 7 5 0 . 7 51 3 McEwen, Milton T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Stanki, Charles K. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Stine, Kenneth D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Young, Russell Edgar 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Barnard, Lewis D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Bryant, Ben C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Willis, Bernard F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Holt, Ralph T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Kleissle, Raymond L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Manley, Verle L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Phelps, Elmer Wayne 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Engle, Frank 8 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Kelley, Winfred F. 5 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Marconi, James J. 8 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Sharkey, Charles 5 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 9 Brathwaite, Roy L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 9 Lafferty, David R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 Mack, Paul C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 Mang Jr., Henry R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 Sears Jr., Irvin P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 0 Hardin, Clarence C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 0 Napper, Raymond 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 0 Summers, Charles M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 Robertson, James E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 0 Norris, Alfred L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 9 Thannisch, Glendale 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Backus, Harvey A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

7 2 Brummer, Eugene P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Campbell, Francis M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Dietterle, Erwin A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Ehrlich, Clarence A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Gaston, Jimmy D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Heilig, George E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Hoppe, John E. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 White, Norman A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Yung, John 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 Burdick, Sam C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 Meadors Jr., Irvin J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 9 Holland, Herbert 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 9 Roy, John E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Davis, Wesley C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Edmonds, Gilbert C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Herrington, James R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Hess, David B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Jackline, Wesley S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 5 Hendricks, William B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 5 Koester, Harold C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Bailey, Floyd Louis 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Doney, Samuel A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Hanlin, Elba F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Hubbard, George W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Jones, Charles E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Kreis, Harry L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 McBride, William G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 6 Valderas, Alfredo H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 1 Knighton, Archie G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 1 Wiser, Roland C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 1 Zaberdac, Joseph 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Casey, John C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Chittum, Troy E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Clark, George D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Conley, Anton A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Cristel, Henry B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Dunn, Merle F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Feldman, Morris 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Houlton, Walter H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Jeberg, Henry S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Knapp, Rudolph 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Main, Felix W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Pollack, Iver 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Riddle, Harry L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Sheridan, Willis H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Bovard, Ralph E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Hammons, Danny R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

1 0 5 Hoderlein, Carl A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 McVey, Robert B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Meade Sr., Timothy M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Stottlemyer, Victor H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Williams, Warren 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 2 Manning, John B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 2 Mizell, Roy E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 7 Androsky, William A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 7 Tyren, Edwin 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 2 4 Sprague, Gerald J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 2 Harper, Virgil O. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Mack, Frank 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Miller, James A. 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Miller, James A. 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Ray, Jeffrey S. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 9 Clause, Turhan E. 1 , 2 1 3 . 3 51 6 9 Gibson, Edward A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 9 Sanford, Alonzo W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 8 2 Judkins, James F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 9 3 Bremer, Paul D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 0 4 De La Cruz, Gilbert L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 3 7 Most, Wayne R. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 4 2 McLellan, Robert B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 5 5 Arison, Charles E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 5 8 Foster, James D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 5 8 Gaughan, Thomas P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 6 3 Critchfield, Glenn W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 6 3 Dunne, Lawrence J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Nickell, Roy E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Stamper, George 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 4 9 Madden, John P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 3 Harris Sr., Edward A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 3 Johnson, R. Dallas 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 3 Thompson, Brance 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 4 Ernandez, James L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 4 Johnson, James W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 5 Beasley, James L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 5 Gray, Douglas C. 4 4 9 . 7 84 5 5 Motes, Jasper R. 1 , 8 7 2 . 7 04 8 7 Besserdich, Arden H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 8 7 Charles, Randall 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 8 7 Guillette, Wallace 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 0 0 Loberg, Lloyd V. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 0 0 Springsted, Dale D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 0 2 Knutson, Kenneth A. 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 05 0 2 Knutson, Kenneth A. 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 05 2 6 McClary, Willard S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

5 4 9 Gregory, Vernon L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 4 9 Sackett, Homer Jay 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 4 9 Straw, Ernie 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 4 9 Thomas, William G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 6 8 Odom, James R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 6 8 Roehlen, Burchard G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 6 8 Trumbly, Francis A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 2 Ryland, Carl 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 3 Goodwin, Carl C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 7 Bufford, Ravis J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 7 Guillory, Donald R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 7 Hall, Clyde D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 9 0 Lollar, Lucille P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Braziel, James W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Gulseth, Maurice 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 6 7 Fulknier, William L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 6 7 Jacobs Jr., James E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 7 9 Wright, John S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 8 8 Lizana Jr., Viren John 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 9 6 Stuart, William S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 9 7 Lang, Lester J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 9 7 Swanson, Melvin L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Bittel, Leroy F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Smith, Brian D. 2 , 4 9 3 . 2 27 4 8 Sklarz, John S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 5 2 Doucette, Raymond J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Bakey, Joseph 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Buckley, William J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Czarnota, Bernard L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Davis Sr., Felton A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Detwiler, Charles 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Evans Sr., Elton 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Myers, William R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 7 Fernandez, Lawton B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 0 6 Hallowich, Paul P. 5 , 3 4 8 . 7 81 2 3 4 Yeargan, Ardis M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 2 4 8 Buckley Sr., Robert L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Johnson, William M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Karhut, John S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Magnus, Floyd M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Niedzolkowski, John 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Repinski, Carl M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 9 2 Buskaritz, Frank 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 0 3 Stephenson, Glen E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 7 0 Keffer, Edith M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 7 0 2 Huntsman, William 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 0 0 0 Hammond, Herman 2 , 1 3 3 . 8 4

M o v i n g ? Tell us where . . .N a m e

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Local Lodge No. Register No.(Also please notify the secretary of your local lodge.)

Mail form to:Publications Department

753 State Avenue, Suite 565

Kansas City, KS 66101

(Allow five weeks for change of address.)

THE DEATH BENEFIT PLAN under the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust haspaid the beneficiaries of the following deceased members who were covered by the plansince the last issue of our publication.

IF YOU HAVE NOT yet been furnished this information, contact your local lodge, secure the beneficiaryforms, complete the required information and forward to the Administrative Office of the Pension Fund,754 Minnesota Avenue, Suite 522, Kansas City, KS 66101, at the earliest possible date. NOTE: Theseadditional death benefits can only be derived for members who worked under a collective bargainingagreement with an employer contributing to the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust.

L O D G E , N A M E & B E N E F I T

D E A T H B E N E F I T S


P A G E I DI N M E M O R I A M

IN MARCH,the Social SecurityAdministration (SSA) releasedtheir latest projections for SocialSecurity. They reported that theOld Age, Survivors, and DisabilityInsurance (OASDI) funds will be

able to meet all obligations for another37 years – even if we change nothingabout the system.

That is good news. It means we have37 years in which to adjust Social Secu-rity to make up for our longer lifespansand varying birth rates. Rarely do weget so much advance warning regard-ing a potential problem.

Yet news accounts make the shortfallsound imminent. As recently as thismorning (May 16), a story in the N e wYork Times stated that “demographicchanges will soon threaten the solvencyof Social Security.”

I suppose it depends on what yourdefinition of “soon” is.

In 1982, the Social Security trusteesreport predicted a shortfall by July of1983 if nothing was done – a warningtime of only 15 months. To me, thatqualifies as “soon.”

The fact that Congress was able to actin those 15 months to make the neces-sary adjustments to avoid a Social Secu-rity shortfall makes me confident thatwe can find a solution for this projectedshortfall in the next 37 years.

Nonetheless, many Americans –especially younger Americans – havelittle confidence that Social Securitywill be available to pay their retirementbenefits. A CBS News/New York Timespoll showed that 45 percent of Ameri-cans feel this way. That number is con-siderably smaller than the 61 percent

who felt that way in 1981, but it is dis-turbing nonetheless. This lack of confi-dence opens the door for politicians topropose schemes to “save” Social Secu-rity through privatization.

Presidential hopeful George W. Bushjumped on that bandwagon in May,with a plan that would allow workersto place a portion of their Social Secu-rity taxes in private accounts, whichthey could invest in stocks and bonds.

Like most of his proposals, this planis long on promises and short ondetails, but he explained enough tomake it evident that his plan will notwork. Not only will it raise the costs ofadministering Social Security, but itwill reduce benefits for most workers.Worst of all, it will eliminate the most

fundamental aspect of social insurance:guaranteed benefits.

Yes, Bush promised that those at ornear retirement would still get the fullbenefits guaranteed by the current sys-tem. But he made no such promise forworkers in their 20s, 30s, 40s, or 50s.

He cannot make that promise for tworeasons. First, diverting some SocialSecurity money to private accountsdoes not change the fact that there isn’tenough in the fund to meet all futureobligations. Private accounts may earnat a higher rate than the Treasury bills

Social Security buys, but those higherearnings remain with the individualaccounts. The general fund remainsshort – unless Bush lowers the guaran-teed benefits for future retirees.

Second, those who choose to put partof their Social Security money in pri-vate investment accounts cannot beguaranteed anything. No one knowswhat the stock market will do. If it is upwhen they’re ready to retire – great. If itis down, then so are their retirementbenefits. Bush points out that over any20-year span the market has alwaysgone up, but retirement decisions aremade on much shorter notice. Whatdoes a person do if the market collapsesjust before he or she retires? Workanother 20 years?

In fact, a study conducted by theGeneral Accounting Office (GAO),Congress’s research arm, found thatprivate investment accounts are a gooddeal only for those in the top ten per-cent of wage earners. They looked atthree Texas counties that tried privateaccounts for nearly two decades andcame to this conclusion: “In general,low-wage workers and, to a lesserextent, median-wage earners, wouldfare better under [the current system].High-wage earners can expect to dobetter under [privatized plans].”

The report also noted that women, nomatter their age or economic status,would be losers under a system of pri-vate accounts, because current SocialSecurity protections for women arewiped out under privatization.

Finally, this GAO report showed thatthe expense of maintaining the privateaccounts system is far greater than the

two percent administration costs thatSocial Security currently runs. Bush’splan would be even more expensivethan the Texas plans, because he wantsthe federal government to regulate theway these private accounts areinvested. That means creating an entiresystem of auditors and investigators tolook over the shoulders of those whoopen private investment accounts.

The projected shortfall is real. Let’sfix it. But not by creating private invest-ment accounts. Social Security is socialinsurance – not a wealth-building plan.

We must ensure that all Social Secu-rity recipients get every penny that isguaranteed to them by law. Not just thewealthy ones. Not just the lucky ones.

Let’s keep the “security” in SocialSecurity. ❑

L - 6 6 7 ’s Deem on unionismI WAS RAISEDin a union household,and the food I ate, and the clothes Iwore came from union wages. I’veseen my dad come in from the job, dis-gusted, cold, and hungry, sometimesfrom standing on the picket lines fight-ing for what he believed in. So, youmight say I got a little education onunions at an early age. I’ve never for-gotten those days, or the heated discus-sions my dad and uncle had on unions.I’m proud of them both, because I’mworking under the conditions, whatlittle bit we have left, that they madefor me. I’ve even experienced picketlines myself in the coldest part of ourstate in the winter months. I thinkinstead of teaching our young peoplethe political aspect of unions, theyshould first be taught about unions –what they stand for and the purpose ofthem. Not only the young, but the oldas well, because 70 percent of the mem-bers are worried about how muchmoney they’re going to make this year,getting in debt so far that they can’tmake their payments on unemploy-ment. They should sit down and readthe obligation they took when theywere initiated into the Boilermakersunion. I can’t remember any wordingin it that says you should mistreatanother brother because of money. Allmen, including brother Boilermakers,should be treated equal.

ST E V E DE E M, L-667Clarksburg, W. Va.

L - 3 7 4 ’s Kyle on early re t i re m e n tI WONDER IF the (pension) board isaware of the changes in the field?Contractors no longer put the oldermembers to work helping the welders,nor do they give them tool room jobs

like they did in the past. Now, it’s upthe stack or down the track. If you hirein on a job and you are 50 years old,you can bet you’ll make the first layoff.I heard a (company) employee makethe statement, “There is no room in thefield for anyone who is 50 years old.”

So with this in mind, is 30 years andout with full pension too much to ask?Is a death benefit that will at least givea member something besides a pinebox to rest in peace too much to ask?

MI K E KY L E, L-374Derby, Ind.

L - 5 5 5 ’s Wiens on training OUR TRADE HASa long and success-ful past. In order to remain a strong,vital trades group, we are going tohave to keep current. To stay superiorto nonunion shops, locals acrossCanada and the U.S. must invest fundson training the journey person.

BO B WI E N S, Local 555Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

L - 1 3 ’s McElhaugh on annuityMAYBE AN APOLOGY l e t t e rattached to our annual annuity state-ment would have helped the thou-sands of members prepare for thedisappointing investment perform-ance of our fund. The automatic with-drawal from our hard-earnedpaycheck is undisputedly a terrificway to invest for our family’s future.Realistically, few (if any) Boilermakerswould be able to save an amount equalto a year’s worth of contributions.However, we need OUR fund man-agers to work as hard as we have toeveryday as Boilermakers. I, for one,feel we deserve better performanceand some new ideas.

JO E Y MCEL H A U G H, L-13Jim Thorpe, Pa.

Widow commends co-workerON FEB.23, 2000, my husband, Rev. BenD. Armstrong, a member of L-S14, diedin an automobile accident in Lewisburg,Tenn. One of my husband’s coworkers,Timmy Morton, and another unknownmotorist tried to rescue my husbandfrom the wreckage. Their attempts werenot successful, but I think their actsshould not go unrecognized.

In these complex times, so manypeople are involved in their own livesand problems. So often, we measuresuccess and accomplishments by whatwe achieve, instead of by one’s efforts.The thought of these two risking theirown lives and health to assist my hus-band is most commendable.

This story is exemplary of what peo-ple talk about in the South . . . peoplehelping people and expecting nothingin return. This is a story about a man ofdistinguished valor.

MR S. JE A N E T T E AR M S T R O N G

Columbia, Tenn.

L-105 widow thanks membersI RECENTLY LOST my husband, Mike“Jenks” Jenkins, of Local 105 (Chilli-cothe, Ohio), and I want to express mysincere thanks to all of Mike’s Boiler-maker brothers who sent cards andtook up collections. Their kind wordsmeant a lot to me and Mike’s family. Ithelps to know so many felt the sameabout Mike as we did. Mike wouldhave been so proud of his brother Boil-ermakers, although he would not havebeen surprised by their actions. Afterall, he knew just how great the Boiler-makers are. Believe me, he told memore than once!

God bless you all,MR S. GA Y L A JE N K I N S and family

L - 1 2 8 ’s Hendrie asks for moreCanadian content in R e p o rt e rI HAVE BEEN A LOCAL 128 B o i l e r-m a k e r in Sarnia, Ontario, for the past 27years. Most of my time has been spentin the Shell Refinery. I am very proud tobe a Boilermaker, whether it be inCanada, or in the U.S., or any othercountry. Although I was very proud tosee that our brother, Joe Maloney, hadbeen put in a very high position in theAFL-CIO, being at one time the B.A.here in Sarnia, there is something thatbothers me. The Canadian content inthe news vessel was almost nil for theMar/Apr issue. I am very interested toread what is going on in the U.S., withthe Boilermakers and the great stridesyou are making over there, but we arealso making great strides over here andif no Canadian content is in the vessel,what is the use in sending it over here.Remember, we are all brothers/sistersand we are all union for the same cause.A little Canadian content would nothurt. Hope you agree.

PE T E R HE N D R I E, L-128, proud Boiler-maker from North of the border

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Reporterrelies onmembers and local lodge officers to submitstories, story ideas, and photos. If you want tosee your local or a member mentioned in t h eR e p o r t e r, someone has to pick up a pen or aphone. We have no other way of knowingwhat is happening. Please send stories, photos,and suggestions to the address given below.

D o n ’t let reformers destroy Social Security

Charles W. JonesInternational President

Letters to the Editors


C O M M E N T A R Y

Social Security pro v i d e sold age, survivors, and

disability insurance – it isnot an investment vehicle

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The Boilermaker Reporter753 State Ave. Suite 570Kansas City KS 66101FAX: (913) 281-8104E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

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