From the Business Manager:

A tally of the ledger for year end 2007 shows that a record number of hours were worked in Local 400 in 2007. This means more paychecks for our members and more contributions to all the trust funds, which is vital in ensuring the health of these funds for the future. Despite all the negative reports in the media, the work outlook remains positive. As always, those members with the best skill sets are the easiest to employ, with certified welders topping the list. However, record work hours, high employment, and a bright forecast doesn’t mean that we can sit back and relax. All of us that have been around for a while know that eventually a downturn will come, and now is the time to take steps to minimize the impact.

 

Over the last several months, the membership has ratified the implementation of a three- tiered strategy that will hopefully help soften the blow of any future slowdown by increasing market share and job opportunities. This plan consists of the following:

 

  • Increased Political Action – whether we like it or not, government regulations and requirements have a huge impact on how our industry operates. We can sit back and let others such as the ABC set the legislative agenda for our industry, or we can take action to provide an environment that encourages union jobs and the benefits they bring to our members and our communities. Local 400, the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association, the Mechanical Contractors Association and the UA have committed to a statewide effort to increase political action in efforts to create a favorable legislative environment for the unionized sector of our industry.

 

  • Marketing – the Executive Board and the membership has approved the use of a professional firm to market Local 400. We have hired a marketing agency to help us develop a three-piece mailing campaign and an eight-page color brochure that details the benefits of employing Local 400 members. The targeted group will consist of general contractors, non-union mechanical contractors, developers and end users. If we are successful in signing one contractor or securing one decent- size project through these efforts, the project will pay for itself.

 

  • Market Recovery – the membership has agreed to refund the Market Recovery Program with the upcoming wage increase this June. Though work overall is good, there are areas in the local construction market that have seen an increase in competition from the non-union sector. Now is the time to take action and help our signatory contractors secure as much of this work as possible. The operation of the program will be revamped to ensure that every dollar collected is used as effectively as possible.

 

All of the officers know that it is your hard-earned dues that will pay for these initiatives, and we pledge to ensure they are spent wisely. In implementing these strategies, the membership has shown true vision and courage in their commitment to the future of the Local and to the industry we all serve. I have never been more proud to be a member of Local 400.

 

See you at the next union meeting.

 

Mark Buss, Business Manager

 

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Appleton Area

Let me start off by thanking the members for giving me the opportunity to represent them and take care of everyday business.  I look forward to working with the officers and members of the local.

 

Earlier this year, work was slow for fitters, welders and especially for plumbers. Georgia Pacific West, the Nuclear Plant shutdowns, small jobs and Local 601 this spring has helped with the low numbers of unemployment.  Some of our members are out on travel card, and finding out that there is a lot of money to be made out there.  Holding UA certifications, they can find employment pretty much anywhere.  The fab shops are the place to be to collect steady paychecks, filling mostly welding positions especially on nights.

 

Recently, I have been receiving complaints about pre-apprentices performing work that is not in their job descriptions. If your superior tells you or your foreman to allow pre’s to perform our work, please give one of the agents a call, and the problem will be taken care of.  It is impossible to act on anonymous phone calls and messages.

 

Also, please contact the hall as soon as you are laid off, because it is important to get the correct dates entered into the system.

 

The Market Recovery Program is still coming through for Local 400 members securing work. With the added $.25 per hour, the fund will build so that we can target larger jobs and certain non-union contractors. Thank you to the members for keeping Local 400 moving forward into the future.

 

Local 400 Money Purchase Pension Plan trustees elected me as Plan Administrator effective in January 2009.  Currently, Business Manager Mark Buss is the interim Plan Administrator until I come up to speed on the plan. Congratulations to all who retired last year.

 

See you at the next union meeting.

 

Have a happy and safe summer!

 

Fraternally,

 

Steve Van Grinsven, Referral Agent

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Bay Shipbuilding Report:

 

I would like to start off by introducing myself. My name is Jim Anderson, and I am the new Marine Group Pipefitters Steward.  Carl Beckstrom is the Assistant Steward. On behalf of Carl, the entire Marine Group Pipe shop, and myself, we would like to say thank you and job well done to John Britton, our former Marine Group Pipefitters Steward and Charlie Baxter, our Assistant Steward.

 

Moving on.  We made it through another winter in Door County. The last of the winter fleet, The Kaministiqua, will be leaving on 4/22/08.  We had 17 vessels come through this year, and the yard was full. We had 7 dry dockings.  With our share of overtime, now we’re glad to see them all leave.

 

We are currently working on three new barges for US Shipping. That will keep us busy the entire summer.

 

We hope everyone has a safe and fun summer.

 

Jim Anderson, Marine Group Pipefitter Steward

Green Bay/Marinette Area

Kewaunee and Point Beach Nuclear Plant outages created some new challenges for us this year, due to both outages scheduled simultaneously, and Point Beach being under new ownership. I thank all of you for working through issues that came up. It’s our intention to begin a dialog with both plants in hopes that these issues are not repeated.

 

Marinette-Marine shipyard is on a week-to-week basis for manpower with Jamar. Additional ships have been ordered for construction at the yard in the near future. I’m told the Navy is extremely pleased with the craftsmanship of the UA members and would like to keep them on for as long as possible. Great job to those who are or were working there.

 

This spring/summer will see several jobs beginning in our area such as: waste water treatment facilities in Wrightstown and Denmark, Kraft Foods expansion, St. Norbert’s College library, several hospital projects, new Theda Care Surgery Center in Appleton, two new facilities for Time-Warner Cable, Children’s Museum in Green Bay, WPS office expansion, The Guardian Pipeline with WPS/WE laterals, several casino projects in Shawano and Menominee counties, Arla Foods in Holland Town, Georgia-Pacific West, Downtown Green Bay projects, Lawrence University expansion. More can be seen on our local’s website.

 

The fabrication shops are still in need of quality welders and continue to remain busy. Some shops have had to cut back recently due to lack of material or drawings, but will pick up again soon.

 

The importance of the upcoming Presidential election cannot be stressed enough.  Volunteers are always needed for various campaign duties. Hopefully, the incoming administration will be friendlier to Union Labor than the current one.

 

The 298 Pension Plan Financial Advisors, Associated Wealth Management and Morgan-Stanley, have both reported losses in the first quarter. Most plans are experiencing the same financial losses due to the slowdown in the market.

 

Good luck to all apprentices taking their final exam this spring.

 

Also, I’d like to thank the Local 400 officers and staff, and especially the membership, for their support. We’ve accomplished a lot in our first three years in office, and there is still much more we can do to secure work for our contractors and membership in the next three years. 

 

In Solidarity,

 

Jeff Knaus, Assistant Business Manager

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Fond du Lac Area:

Employment in the District 2/3 area continues to be very good at this time; we have quite a few members working at the nuclear plants. We still have some of our members working at Port Washington, although that project is winding down. Kuhlman Refrigeration is still working at Sargento in Kiel. Bassett, Ahern and Aldag-Honold have picked up work at Sargento in Hilbert. At the time of this newsletter, bids are being submitted for the Satori Foods plant in Plymouth, which is a $15 million dollar cheese plant; hopefully, our contractors will pick up the work on this project. S&S Mechanical has been very busy with numerous projects, mostly in the Milwaukee area, but they have picked up some of our members to assist on those projects. JF Ahern’s fab shop continues to have plenty of work, as well as the other fab shops in the Local. August Winters has a crew at the Fond du Lac Water treatment plant and has picked up some well work for the city of Fond du Lac.  Bassett Mechanical has picked up the refrigeration and HVAC work at Master Gallery in Plymouth. Dempsey Hall remodel at UW Oshkosh--the HVAC went to J&H Heating and the plumbing went to Ahern Gross.

 

I attended a labor summit in Madison that was sponsored by Alliant Energy and included managers and agents from across the state of Wisconsin. The purpose of the summit was to have as much support for the new power plant proposed for Cassville, WI. The new unit will be 300 mega watts and Alliant is looking for union support from across the state of Wisconsin to help get the licensing. Alliant has stated that they want the whole project built with union labor, so Local 400 will do what we can to help support this project.

 

206 Pension Trustees met on March 14th and interviewed three Financial Consulting firms. Bogdahn & Associates was chosen by the Trustees to look into the financial investments of the 206 plan and bring back a report to the trustees. The reason the Trustees chose to hire a financial consulting firm is to get the opinion of a third party on how well our money is being invested, and if there are ways we can improve our investments. We will keep the members updated at the union meetings as soon as we have any information from Bogdahn & Associates.

 

Just a reminder that the Fond du Lac hall is always open for members to come in and upgrade their skills or get some practice welding. Currently, there are many calls across the country for welders, and we see this trend continuing.

 

I would like to congratulate Larry Barthuly, Pete Dirks, and Butch Henke on their recent retirements, they are well deserved and I hope you enjoy them.

 

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer, and hopefully we will see you at the monthly union meetings.

 

Fraternally,

 

Steve Acheson, Business Agent

 

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Welding Department:

Brothers  & Sisters,

 

I have had the pleasure to attend a few different events in the last month and instruct and converse with a number of fellow UA members throughout the United States, and even a few from Canada.  In my conversations with them, one thing has shown through, every local that I talked to needs all the welders they can hire and are looking for members who have a variety of UA certifications. The class I was instructing in Detroit happened to have a few students in it from LU 357. Local 357 recently employed a number of our members, and I’m proud to say that these brothers were very impressed with the members of our local.

 

At the last number of membership meetings, apprenticeship committees have been reporting a number of contract cancellations. While it is easy to dwell on the few who choose not to uphold and fulfill their obligations to the local or contractors, let us try to focus on the great majority of the Fabricators, Plumbers and Steamfitter apprentices who have completed their final testing with great success. If you happen to be working with them, or if you see them at a meeting, pat them on the back and congratulate them.  

 

Upcoming events this summer include UA Weld Tests on June 14, July 19 and August 23, 2008. If more sessions are needed to accommodate the membership, they will be added accordingly. Medical Gas Brazing continuity will be held in both the Fond du Lac and Kaukauna training centers in July 2008. Postcard notification will be sent to all members who currently hold the Medical Gas Installers certification with the dates and times at these locations. In August 2008, a number of our members will be attending the UA training week in Ann Arbor.

 

In closing, remember the Local 400 golf outing at Hickory Hills on June 21, it will be a great way to kick off the summer. My best wishes for you and your families to have a safe and fun summer.

 

Jim Clark, Welding Coordinator

 

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Training Department:

Another school year is coming to an end. By the time this newsletter is in your hands, we will have had our 9th annual graduation banquet and completed the second semester of night school. This past semester, we also held certification classes in med gas, valve repair and backflow/cross connection. We also are getting ready for final tests for steamfitters and fabricators.

 

Congratulations go out to our “Honor Graduates” at the recent graduation banquet. Plumbers: Dustin Hoftiezer, Benjamin Schmidt, Jay Wolff and Samuel Woolsey. Steamfitters: Cody Clark, Gary Feldkamp and Todd Mc Laughlin. Twelve plumbers, fourteen steamfitter construction and four steamfitter service graduates were given graduation diplomas and a great time was had by all.

 

Both of “your” training centers were well utilized this past year. Between the Fond du Lac and Kaukauna training centers, we filled 945 chairs for night school classes and another 320 for plumber’s continuing education. Our steamfitter and fabricator apprentices also filled 145 seats for their day school training totaling 16,240 hours. This past year, we also ran 43 apprentices through an accelerated welding program where they were under the hood for four ten hour days. The improvement in their welding skills in one or two weeks was really noticeable. Local 400 really needs to put out a THANK YOU to all of our night and day school instructors. Without their dedication, we could not train people in the quality and numbers we do.

 

Once again this August, we will be sending our instructors to Ann Arbor to sharpen their teaching skills. Congratulations to Ricky Hembel, who will be graduating this year.

 

As always, we will run any class that we can get enough people to attend. If there is a class you would like to see run at either Kaukauna or Fond du Lac, give us a call, or better yet, stop by on any third Wednesday of the month and let us know at your union meeting.

 

Have a good and safe summer!

 

Wayne Lamers, Training Coordinator

 

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The Organizers Corner

Steve Shew

WPTA Organizer

(920) 232-4916 phone

e-mail: uaplumber@yahoo.com

 

Kyle Croft

WPTA Organizer

920-858-5496 phone

920-398-1329 fax

e-mail: uafitter400@yahoo.com

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Understanding Your Health Plan

 

A review of the data for the year ending December 31, 2007 showed continued progress in maintaining the financial stability of the Plan. Though the year end audit is not yet complete, it is estimated that the Plan net reserve is currently at 10.4 months. 12 months of net reserve is considered to be the financial benchmark for determining a “healthy” self-funded plan. Overall expenses were up 5.5% from the previous year and the Trustees authorized a rate increase of 4% across the board. This will result in a $.25 per hour increase for building trades members. The metal trades/pre-apprentice rate will remain the same. The aggregate retiree subsidy is projected to remain at approximately 37%. Portions of each active participant’s contribution fund the retiree subsidy. This amount for 2007 came to $.65 per hour.

 

The trustees continue to work with the plan consultant in efforts to identify any and all means to reduce plan expenses. However, the most effective ways to minimize expenses are in the hands of the participants. Small decisions made on a daily basis that result in a healthier lifestyle are proven to be the best cost savings measure of all. The benefits to the individual and their family aren’t bad either – the potential for a longer, healthier and happier life! Though we may all be tired of hearing it, eating right, exercising regularly, moderating our alcohol intake and abstaining from tobacco products is still the best way to improve our own health, and consequently, the health of our Plan.

 

Mark Buss, Committee Chair

 

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Miscellaneous:

Regular Special Meeting

 

May 21, 2008

 

Election of delegates/guests for the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Convention.

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Reminders:

 

BPA Website

 

Just a reminder that Benefit Plan Administration has a website that you can access information and forms for the Local 400 Health & Welfare and 401K plans.

 

The website address is: www.bpalja.com.  Click on “Client Access” on the left of the screen.  You can get the logon ID and password by calling one of the union offices. 

 

You will be able to access SPDs, Enrollment Forms, Beneficiary Forms, Dollar Bank Reimbursement Forms, Benefit Bulletins, and many other forms as well as contact information if you have questions.  You can also fill out the health forms necessary to change from Plan A to Plan B, etc.

 

It’s there for your convenience, so please utilize it!

 

 

Upcoming Events:

 

Bay Shipbuilding Solidarity Picnic at Brussels Park

§         Sat., May 17th Picnic begins at 11:00 am, family & friends are welcome.

 

Rebuilding Together-Green Bay

§         May 17th & 18th: Plumbers needed to install various plumbing fixtures providing assistance to elderly/low income home owners in Brown Co.

 

Local 400 Annual Golf Outing at Hickory Hills in Chilton

§         Sat., June 21st, Shot Gun start 8:00 am, cost $35.00 per person, includes 18 holes with cart & food.

 

Union Night at the Timber Rattlers Ball Park

§         Sat., August 23rd at 6:35 pm ~ box seats $8.00, reserve seats $6.50, call Jon Thorn at 733-4152 ext. 260 to reserve your seats.

 

Project Heat’s On

§         Sat., Oct. 4th at 8:00am ~ meet at the Kaukauna Hall and Green Bay Labor Temple, providing assistance to Brown, Outagamie & Winnebago Counties.  Please call Jeff Knaus at 920-462-0404, if you’re interested in participating.

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Last Revised: May 2008