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NEWSLETTER |
Past Newsletters |
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Carpenters Local 247 January 2005 meeting report
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When you come to meetings, please remember to bring donations for the food bank.
General membership
Meets the second Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2215 N.
Lombard, Portland.
Note: Membership meetings will now begin at 6 p.m. This was voted on by the membership at January’s Special Called Meeting.
Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, Feb. 14, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s,
10520 NE Halsey, Portland.
Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the
Carpenters Hall, 2215 N. Lombard.
Carpenters in the Portland Metro Area are holding
a special Rank and File Meeting on the first Tuesday in March.
All UBC carpenters are welcome to join us and be heard at a special meeting at
Local 247 on March 1, 2005, 6:30 p.m.
We will meet in the conference room on the first floor if 25 members or fewer
attend. Alternately, the meeting will move to the upper hall on the second floor
if we have an outstanding turnout.
Two large, central issues are proposed as starting points for this first Rank and File Meeting. One issue is to broadly generate a list of our members’ specific concerns and issues. Such a list will be valuable for writing surveys which we can then send out to the field to collect data from all members. Knowing the facts about our collective concerns helps us determine and substantiate what we collectively consider most important and what we want. We will more easily see which areas to focus on first, and we will be able to see the potential in bringing together members who share the same concerns. While this is immensely valuable to know where we stand as a group at all times, it is especially important now, when contract negotiations are coming up in the next four months.
A second central issue proposed for discussion is organizing the Rank and File with a simple, efficient communication structure based on models that prove to be “key” in organizing members and building solidarity in unions worldwide. Carpenters would choose communication representatives among the membership at each jobsite. A representative’s responsibility would be to distribute information or to collect information/surveys from 6-10 members on the jobsite. Information is then relayed to the job steward (or a substitute) and passed onward to central groups of members involved with compiling our group information, discussing/researching/developing productive courses of action, and suggesting actions we can take to improve our circumstances, agreements, and so on.
While these central themes have been proposed for this meeting, we are holding the meeting in order to discuss issues that are important to us, so please bring your concerns and ideas.
The next May Day Meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the IWW Hall, 616 E. Burnside, Portland. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office.
At the January Special Called Meeting, the membership voted on a change to the dues structure. Outlined below are the dues rates for 2005. The $1.00 increase in monthly dues is effective Feb. 1, 2005. All annual and first quarter payments are due in the office by Feb. 14, 2005. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office.
Monthly dues
Apprentice Carpenter $15.00
Journeyman Carpenter $27.00
Tradeshow Carpenter $18.00
Reduced quarterly dues
Payments for each quarter are due prior to the first day of the quarter.
Payments received after the quarter starts will be applied at the monthly rate
as shown above.
1st Quarter – Due by 2-14-05
2nd Quarter – Due by 3-31-05
3rd Quarter – Due by 6-30-05
4th Quarter – Due by 9-30-05
Apprentice Carpenter $42.00
Journeyman Carpenter $72.00
Tradeshow Carpenter $48.00
Reduced yearly dues
Must be paid by 2-14-05
Apprentice Carpenter $160.00
Journeyman Carpenter $264.00
Tradeshow Carpenter $180.00
My father and our entire family are proud of his and our union affiliations. Decent pay and benefits will only remain being paid as long as unions remain strong and wise. Although times change and unions ebb and flow, the quality of union craftsmen is constant.
— Mike Manning
Third Annual Unions for Kids Motorcycle Poker Run & Chili Cook-off
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Registration: 10 to 11 a.m.
$10 Entry
You judge the chili.
All proceeds benefit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
All riders welcome. Come for a nice ride, good people and a great cause!
WHERE: Start and finish at IBEW Local 48, 15937 NE Airport Way, Portland, Oregon
WHAT: A scenic round trip ride with four checkpoints.
Participants will receive a card at registration, at each of the 4 checkpoints
and return to the IBEW.
You may donate $5 for a draw card prior to first and after last card.
FUN: Cash prizes awarded for HIGH and LOW hands; Door Prizes, Vendor Appreciation drawing and 50/50 tickets. Motorcycle Raffle Drawing~~Drawings start at 3 p.m. Chili cook-off between the trades. Hot dogs, hamburgers and sodas available.
For additional information, call Barry White (503) 702-7899, Lee Duncan (503) 260-5905 or Kathy Streifel (503) 658-7412.
Sponsored by Columbia Pacific Building Trades, Northwest Oregon Labor Council & Affiliated Local Trade Unions. Special thanks to the sponsors of our motorcycle raffle: Millwrights & Machinery Workers Local 711; IBEW & UW Federal Credit Union; Witham & Dickey Promotions & Printing; Columbia Harley-Davidson. Unions, Vendors and Riders have contributed $8,500 to date.
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Rebuilding Together
By Joe Baron Fellow Members, We are looking for members to volunteer their time and skills for one day! On Saturday, April 23, 2005, we will be assisting individuals in our community with various home repairs through Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April. Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April is the leading local volunteer organization that, in partnership with the community, rehabilitates the homes of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly, disabled, and families with children so that they can continue to live in warmth, safety, and independence. If you are interested, please contact the office and Dawn or Sherrie will be happy to sign you up and send you the information to complete. Thanks so much for your help! We need your help, so please volunteer! Mark your calendars for April 23! |
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By Gene Lawhorn
Member
In the month of December, the membership at Local 247’s General Meeting had a very lengthy discussion about whether or not to allow a former member to rejoin the union. I am guilty of generating that discussion by making a motion to not allow this member to rejoin. My motion was defeated by a majority who felt we should welcome back this Brother with open arms, kiss and make up.
I feel I must explain my reasons for making that motion. I was not in reality trying to prevent this person from joining the union; I merely wanted to send a symbolic message that this kind of behavior was wrong. What this Brother did along with several other Brothers was to enable a union company to begin subcontracting their installs to a non-union company.
Then when things didn’t work out with the newly revised non-union company, this Brother comes back to work within the union. So, excuse me if I am not in the mood to hold hands, kiss and make up! I sat on the unemployment line while I watched these non-union workers, some still members of the UBC, remodel the store in Salem, only two miles from where I live.
Well, welcome back Brother! We all have accepted you with open arms, after you helped a union company go non-union, after you helped this same rat company compete at lower standard wages and benefits and take union wage jobs away from the very Brothers and Sisters you once worked with.
This Brother is not the only one to participate in this kind of activity. I am not talking about Brothers and Sisters who do small-time side jobs for family, friends or acquaintances. I am talking about Brothers and Sisters who go work for non-union outfits whenever work slows down. This activity undercuts all the work our business representatives and organizers do, and it undercuts our wages, benefits, and pension plans.
Being in the UNION means we stick to the UNION. We help each other find work, and we work to maintain our work. If a company we work for wants to go rat, then it is our duty to stick with our UNION. If times are bad and work is hard to find, we do anything to keep working in the UNION: trade show, tilt up, metal studs, drywall, (I hate freaking drywall), concrete forms (hate that worse than drywall) … anything … just stay in the UNION. By doing this, we maintain our health and welfare, pension, and support our families. Then when times get better, we work the work we like and enjoy, not the work we have to do to get by.
I call upon all Brothers and Sisters of good conscience to join me in discouraging the kind of behavior, which encourages revolving door unionism.
So welcome back Brother. Now … stick to the union, we’ve been here for the whole time … with open arms, but don’t expect any kisses or hugs!
