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February Labor Views
SAFETY: How safe are you really at work? While addressing safety issues which Union members have brought to me, I discovered on the 761 boat that there were a number of violations of our safety policies. One being the material used to sand blast areas on the boat. That material which is called brown aluminum oxide is cited as being a cancer hazard. I believe that our members have been exposed to this on the 761 boat, and it’s also been used on the 21 boat. Why weren’t the safety department and MTC safety aware of the fact that the labels were missing from the material? Also, the lack of fire extinguishers in areas where hot work is being done is a major safety violation. Another safety hazard/environmental issue is that porta potties are overflowing, resulting in unsanitary work conditions. We are told that the safety department and MTC safety conduct weekly inspections, and my question is: If I noticed these issues, why didn’t they? How thorough are their inspections? Are they going through the motions just to say that they did their jobs? These work conditions are totally unacceptable from our safety departments, and it is especially disappointing from our MTC Union brothers and sisters. One would hope that the safety of our work environment would be protected by our fellow Union. I believe that these inspections need to be reassessed, and a more professional job needs to be conducted. Is a change in personnel needed? Isn’t safety supposed to be our #1 priority?
Road jobs are slowing down. By the end of this month, we will have everybody back from Portsmouth, Puget, Norfolk, and Newport News. The only people who should be on road jobs will be long-term members. The Union would like to thank our members who supported the many road jobs we’ve been asked to work on in the last eight months. We appreciate the fact that sometimes this work is done at the expense of our Union members (both personally and financially). Some carpenters would have been offered the opportunity to make more money working overtime in Groton rather than supporting a road job where they didn’t have overtime opportunities. These people should be commended (especially those who experienced difficulties with a certain boss at Puget Sound).
Election results are as follows: For the trustee position, Paul Brie received the most votes. For the second shift steward position, Charlie Miner was elected. Congratulations to both of these Union brothers, and best wishes in your new positions.
New seniority lists are out. If you’d like to see one, contact your area steward.
Congratulations are extended to Bill Balzer who retired in December after 32 years as a member of our Union. We wish him many years of good health in his retirement.
The MTC negotiated an $80 shoe allowance for 2005. This represents a $5 increase from previous years. Last year 3,206 employees were eligible to use the shoe voucher, and only 2,138 took advantage of this benefit. That means that 1,068 employees did not take advantage of this opportunity. Why did 1/3 of the employees not use the voucher? Was it because it was inconvenient for people to shop for shoes on their own time? Was it because $75 wasn’t enough money to purchase the quality of boot that individuals are looking for? Are people aware that boots can be ordered from catalogs or stores of one’s choice as long as they meet certain safety requirements? You only need to submit your receipt and have your boots inspected by safety to receive the $80 reimbursement. I encourage everyone to let EB pay $80 for shoes or boots that you have to buy anyway.
Graven Dock work was awarded to Keywitt Construction which is a union company. The other companies which submitted bids were non-union. We are pleased to see that this subcontracting work was awarded to union workers.
In last month’s Labor Views I mentioned that there was an opportunity for us to earn four bonuses. We only earned one….the $500 performance award. One of the three which we didn’t receive was the $250 incentive award for the delivery of the 774 boat and the 23 boat. The Company changed the schedule on the delivery date of the 774 boat, and this made it impossible for us to earn that bonus. Regarding the $150 safety bonus, the goal was for us not to miss more than 3% of work days due to injury. Our actual rate of missed work due to injury was approximately 3.25%. It seems that the Company is setting unrealistic standards considering factors such as the influx of new employees and the number of hours we’re expected to work. The other $250 bonus would have been awarded if we exceeded the stretch goal of 19.2 million hours. Obviously, we didn’t exceed that, but we did work at least 18.7 million hours, and we were awarded the $500 performance bonus for that. Hopefully, in the future, when goals are set for achieving bonuses, the Company won’t change dates, and our MTC negotiating committee will negotiate with realistic expectations.
The Apprentice Program is in jeopardy. The Company promised new employees that they were going to continue with this program, however, they do not appear to be sincere since apprentice classes continue to be put on hold. We were led to believe that the Apprentice Program would start in September, then the date was postponed to January, and it still hasn’t happened. New hires are being misled when they are encouraged to take a position at EB, and they expect to be educated and trained in a trade, and the Company fails to follow through. When I’ve gone to new employee orientations, the Apprentice Program is often named as one of the main reasons young people are interested in working at EB. Failure to support the Apprentice Program is a disappointment for the entire work force.
We continue to lose members when their security clearances have been pulled, yet we continue to see painters being brought in off the street with no security clearance. In addition, they walk around the yard without escorts, having access to top secret information. Obviously, there are two sets of standards here. If the government conducted security clearances on all of these painters, how many of them would actually still be working at EB? Apparently, this is acceptable when you have to meet scheduling deadlines. Is it acceptable for security to take a back seat because schedules have to be met?
If anyone has an address change, please see Dave Comery.
I encourage our members to check out our website at www.local1302.com.
Fraternally Yours,
Mike Malone
President
Carpenters’ Local 1302
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