MAY LABOR VIEWS

A service award to a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners for the month of May was presented to: Gordon Olsen 45 yrs.

Richard Miller retired in April, having started at Electric Boat over 46 years ago. Isn’t that unbelievable? Richard is wished a long and healthy retirement. Roland Beliveau retired after 34 years, and Harold Edman retired after 30 years of service. Best wishes to both of them. 

Nominations and an election will be held at our June Union meeting for a steward to represent the Graving Dock area. Our by-laws state that in order to be eligible for nomination for steward, the nominee shall be a member in good standing in Local 1302 for at least one year. All nominees must attend the June meeting. For information regarding who’s eligible to vote, visit our website at www.local1302.com. 

Our brothers and sisters who supported the 753 boat in Norfolk, VA, have started returning from that assignment. They will be added back onto the road job list as they return. Members need to check the posting on your area bulletin boards to see if your name is on the road job list. I need to remind members that, if you’re not on the list, and you want to be, you should tell your steward.

Our department has the following work scheduled for the current calendar year:
775 boat, 774 boat in June, 778 boat, 780 boat, 757 boat at the sub base in June.
Hopefully, we will get the contract for the 706 boat plus any road work that we have. 

All of this work will require more carpenters so the Company has transferred eleven sheetmetal workers to the carpenter department. These sheetmetal workers were slated to be laid off. Also, the Company will be offering carpenter jobs to twenty painters who are currently laid off. Despite hiring sheetmetal workers and painters, the Company will
still need more carpenters to complete the scheduled work. The Company will be using versatility to support some of this work. One of the problems with versatility is that they can only use it for a maximum of twelve weeks per year. That won’t be long enough to complete jobs that are scheduled. The Union’s stance is that more full time carpenters need to be hired to support this work. 

A memo of understanding was signed between the MTC and the Company for a $250 performance bonus. The terms of the agreement as far as hours are the same as last year.

Prescriptions: Apparently, some our members had a problem obtaining more than 365 pills of their prescription in a calendar year. The old policy allowed members to get three refills of 100 pills each, and then the fourth refill would only have 65 pills. Members still paid the full co-pay even though they weren’t getting the full 100 pills in their refill. This has been straightened out, and now the fourth refill of the year will be a full 100 pills. If any member has a problem trying to fill their prescriptions, please let me know.

Reminder: Last year our brothers and sisters were given the opportunity to work unlimited overtime hours to meet the schedule. Because people worked so many hours, the number of injuries increased. It seems that when people are overtired and overworked, their concentration declines and mistakes are easily made. It is important that everyone be aware of their surroundings and take the time and effort to concentrate on the work at hand. We also need to make sure we wear our PPE. We all want to go home in the same condition in which we arrived. Safety should be our number one concern.

Our next meeting will be held on May 10, 2007, at 2:45pm in the Union Hall at 171 Thames Street in Groton.