Local 470 News and Information

 

We would like to thank everyone for their attendance at the February meeting.  Our next regular meeting will be on March 1st and we are hoping that you will make plans to attend.  There have been many inquiries about the new fatigue management guidelines that have become an OSHA/DOT compliance requirement.  Negotiations on this portion of the contract language will be taking place soon and will be facilitated by a federal mediator.  The membership will be kept informed as information becomes available.  It is expected that this will be concluded prior to normal contract negotiations.

 

  Our contract expires in August and the negotiating committee

 is already making preparations.  The membership will be surveyed in the near future to see what issues they want addressed in the next contract.  As always, ample opportunity will be given for members to participate in this survey.  Stay alert for further news on this and other important matters concerning your union.  Remain involved as an active member of this local because we value your suggestions.

 

Everyone should have received correspondence from IAM Grand Lodge about the new smartphone application.  The Journal is going electronic and will no longer be mailed to your homes.  Go to www.goiam.org, you will see the smartphone application link.  The i-phone app is not yet complete so be patient and check periodically for updates. The IAMAW is moving into the 21st century with the latest technology available in an effort to better communicate with the membership.

 

  The official results of the OSHA investigation into the tragic death of a contractor at the PPG Lake Charles Membrane Unit will be released soon.  The fatality occurred on September 28, 2011 when Garrick Deshotel of R and R Construction was electrocuted while installing buss work.  We are hopeful that the investigation will pinpoint the causes of this incident and prevent another family from experiencing such a terrible loss.

 

 

Labor News

PPG cited by OSHA

CLEVELAND – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited PPG Industries Inc. for four safety violations, including a willful violation for operating an unguarded winder machine, at its Cleveland resin production facility. Proposed fines total $90,000.

"Failing to ensure machine guarding is in place to protect workers from the point of operation puts employees at risk for injury and amputation hazards," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "Employers have a responsibility to recognize the hazards that exist in their facilities, and take necessary precautions to protect workers' safety and health."

An inspection was initiated Sept. 26 after OSHA received a complaint alleging the use of an unguarded winder machine in the facility's Teslin department, which resulted in the citation for the willful violation. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

PPG Industries also has been cited for three serious violations: failing to lock out the energy sources of equipment prior to servicing or conducting maintenance, have authorized personnel affix lockout/tagout devices on equipment and ensure guards were affixed or secured to equipment. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., PPG Industries is a coatings and specialty products and services company that operates in more than 60 countries. It has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Cleveland Area Office at 216-615-4266.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

 

Be Patriotic, Buy American
By John Leveque IAMLL470

Do you remember when almost everything we bought was made in America?  There was a time when it would have been considered less than patriotic to purchase a foreign made product over an American made product.  The loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States is staggering and has been going on for several decades.  The big factory closures grab the headlines but so many of the losses have been in small factories all across this nation.  The passage of these so-called free trade agreements such as NAFTA, have paved the way to economic ruin for many manufacturing jobs in America.  Some companies that have a global presence like General Electric, Caterpillar, and IBM have really benefited from these “free trade” agreements but what about the small manufacturer.  The so-called experts told us that NAFTA and other similar agreements would lead to great prosperity for America and its trading partners.  When H. Ross Perot ran for president, he warned everybody of the tragic consequences that NAFTA would have on jobs in America.  He used the phrase “giant sucking sound” to describe what would be heard as jobs left America and went to Mexico.   History has vindicated Mr. Perot and his straight-talking prediction of what would happen.  There have been many other free trade agreements enacted since NAFTA and there seems to be no end in sight.   

American labor unions have and will continue to fight against these “free trade” agreements because of the harm that has been done to working class Americans.  Organized labor cannot fight this battle alone and would like to enlist the help of all Americans in this struggle.  Make a commitment to buy American made products whenever possible.  Let the merchants you shop with know that you want to purchase American made products.  It will take a grass roots patriotic effort to preserve jobs in America.  One of the more useful resources I have found is www.howtobuyamerican.com which is run by Roger Simmermaker.  Mr. Simmermaker is a member of the Machinists Union and author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism.  We must become “patriotic consumers”.

 We cannot afford to remain idle because it will surely spell disaster for many more working families and communities.  We must not remain paralyzed and unresponsive to this epidemic of factory closures, high unemployment, and home foreclosures which continue to eat away at America like a cancer.  We have to use what powers we have at our disposal to turn this situation around.  We have to become informed consumers and be willing to seek out products made in the good old U.S.A.  We can make a difference if everyone in America will commit to this buy American campaign.  If we use our dollars wisely we can make a big difference in the future of job creation in America.  We should take on this challenge because the jobs we save may be our own.

 

 

Preserving Organizing Freedom

By John Leveque IAMAW LL470

Why is it that in America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave”, workers have such a difficult time organizing a union?  Why is organized labor so vilified by corporations and so many politicians?    The answers are fairly simple and straight forward.    

When workers try to organize a union in their workplace, the response by the company is usually very anti-union.  The company wants absolute control over its workforce and doesn’t really want workers to be able to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. The company will normally hire a union avoidance law firm and spend tens of millions of dollars to defeat any organizing process.  These firms will use any tactic necessary to squash a union organizing campaign and many of these tactics are illegal.  Fear, intimidation, and misinformation are the main methods they use. 

If a group of workers decide that they would like to be represented by a union, the process is time consuming and tilted in the company’s favor.  The NLRB requires a minimum of 30% of the employees fill out a union authorization card before it will conduct an election.  The union presents the signed cards to the NLRB with a request for an election.  The NLRB determines if the criteria for an election is met and sets an election date.  The election usually happens 40 to 45 days after the submittal of the signed cards.  The Union, a Company representative, and the NLRB meet to set an election date, time, and location that is mutually agreeable.  Workers decide by a secret ballot whether or not they want a union to represent them.  That sounds like an easy process but it isn’t.  During the waiting period prior to the election the employees are subjected to “captive audience” meetings during working hours.  The company then uses these meetings to intimidate, coerce, or scare employees from voting for the union.  These tactics are illegal but highly effective in killing a union organizing effort. 

Companies don’t want unions to represent its workforce because it will cut into their profits.  Greed is the driving force behind the business world’s anti-union stance.  They spend untold millions of dollars to fund politicians who will also attack labor by passing laws that take away worker’s rights to organize.  These politicians are working to undermine or overturn existing legislation that currently protects worker’s rights.  If you don’t believe me, just look at what happened with HR 2587 “The Freedom from Government Interference Act” that recently passed in the U.S. House.  This bill was drafted to take the teeth out of the NLRA as a result of the recent ruling by the NLRB against Boeing.  Hopefully this legislation will not pass in the Senate.  It is obvious by this legislation that many politicians are bought and paid for by big business.

The working people of America need to fight back and elect candidates to office who can help us.  We must no longer let corporations and politicians divide the working class.  The freedom to organize and collectively bargain is our right under the law and it must be preserved or there will be no future for our children.

 

 

 

If you have any news of interest to the membership of Local Lodge 470 please contact  John Leveque at leveque@iam470.org