February 16, 2017
Vol. 1, No. 1
It’s time to get involved ….
A message from Metal Trades Department President Jimmy Hart
President Jimmy Hart
It’s time to get involved …. It’s up to you to keep your Council strong! Keeping your Council strong and vital is hard work that involves your everyday participation. Most members will never hold council office, and many have never attended a meeting, some may not have even opened this newsletter. However, if we are to thrive and better our lives in the workplace, it will take a team effort with everyone pulling together. Indifference and benign neglect of our responsibilities as trade unionists to our councils, local and international unions can no longer be accepted if we are to remain a viable and dependable voice for workers in the workplace.
Our Councils serve as the lifeline for Metal Trades Workers. A union is not about its treasury or its elected executive board or officers. A union is built on participation and buy-in by all members, recognizing the reality that if you allow others to make the decisions, they just might make them in a manner that you strongly oppose.
As I travel around the country visiting metal trades job sites, attending council meetings and such, I never grow tired of meeting dedicated trade unionists who have become activists simply by attending an organizing or political meeting. I revel in meeting the once staunch anti-union advocate who worked against the Union in a representation election, who, over time, not only learned the value of union membership but went on to become one of our greatest advocates and assets. It’s inspiring.
Participation changes minds! The Metal Trades and the labor movement as a whole face serious challenges as we confront opponents in the world of politics and management. To confront our challenges, our councils will require interested, engaged and serious delegates and workers to come together as one to fend off adversaries whose sole aim is to set us back generations by attacking our job security, wages, and protections.
We are the Metal Trades and you and your fellow brothers and sisters are the members of Unions that make us strong. It’s time to get involved: signup a new member and join the fight to keep our unions strong and vibrant. May God Bless America and protect the house of labor, for it is truly the only place in which a worker may find their strength and take refuge.
I look forward to meeting and speaking with you as I visit your councils, plants, and facilities.
Remember …… We Need You! #MetalTradesStrong
OLMS Filing Requirements and Webinars
for more compliance resources
OLMS is offering free webinars on use of the OLMS Electronic Forms System (EFS) for filers of the Form LM-3 and Form LM-4. See: www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/olms_webinar/olmswebinar2017.htm. OLMS encourages Form LM-3 and LM-4 filers to participate in the webinars, as electronic filing is mandatory for such filers beginning with fiscal years that start on or after January 1, 2017. See: www.dol.gov/olms/elec_file.htm. At that point, OLMS will no longer provide paper forms or accept paper reports, except in cases of hardship.
Time to Grow Your Council. Looking to organize new contractors and workers? … Here’s the place where Metal Trades Councils can go to find out where the jobs are. USASpending.Gov
Things We’re Reading:
- White House Throws Weight Behind Cutting Feds Retirement Health Benefits
- Protect Your Paycheck: Fight Back Against National Right-to-Work
- Shipyard Will Be Able to Start Hiring Again
Find us on
Facebook: Facebook.com/Metaltrades/
Twitter: @metaltradesafl
Build Union, Build Metal Trades Union, Build Safe, Save a Life
The article below highlights the dangers of working in non-union shipyards with little regard for workforce safety.
(from Politico.com)
Bram Ates felt the urge to vomit. A chemical stench filled the engine room of the tugboat in a sprawling Mississippi shipyard. Ates scrambled over to an oval hole in the floor and peered into the dark abyss. Below him, two men were crawling through cramped steel boxes laid out like coffins. They had been told to wipe the inside of the hull with paint thinner.
“Look, y’all need to get out of that tank,” Ates screamed.
He heard hissing. A tangerine fireball erupted through the hole and catapulted him across the boat. The deafening boom reverberated through the rooms of a Super 8 motel more than 2 miles away. READ MORE…
METAL TRADES COUNCILS RECORD RETENTION POLICY
It is the policy of The Metal Trades Councils to retain records as required by law and to destroy them when appropriate. The destruction of records must be approved by the [The Office of The Secretary-Treasurers], and logged into the Union’s [Destroyed Records Log]. The formal records retention policy of Metal Trades Councils is as follows:
