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Countdown to Contract 2010 Contract expires Sunday, Sept 19, 2010
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Contract 2007-2010

Local Lodge 774 "Election Results" 4-26-08

Business Representives

Mark Love

Rita Rogers

Becky Ledbetter

Terry Carrington

Steve Groom

Mike Burleigh

Tony Larkin

Mid Continent 1st Shift Plant Chairperson

Aguie Rios

Mid Continent 2nd Shift Plant Chairperson

Tammy Hourigan

Pawnee 1st Shift Plant Chairperson

Charlie Cowell

Pawnee 2nd Shift Plant Chairperson

Steve Elder

Show your support for Boeing and your outrage at our government for awarding the Tanker contract to Airbus by going to Todd Tiharts web site and telling them what you think!

http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/welcome.shtm

Don't forget to come out an vote in the up coming election on April 26th, polls will be open from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm.

The vote will be as follows:

MACHINISTS UNION DISTRICT LODGE 70 APRIL 26, 2008

District 70 Business Representatives

Vote for (7) Seven

Mark Love

Steve Groom

Terry Carrington

Michael Burleigh

Rita Rogers

Garland “Bear” Moore

Frank Molina Jr.

Roger Stamback

Kyle H. Taylor

Tony Larkin

Becky Ledbetter

Local Lodge 774

Mid Continent 1st Shift Plant Chairperson

Vole for (1) One

Danny “G” Gutierrz

Pete Carroll Jr.

Dave Philpott

Aguie Rios

Local Lodge 774

Mid Continent 2nd Shift Plant Chairperson

Vole for (1) One

Linda Abercrombie

Tammy Hourigan

Local Lodge 774

Pawnee 1st Shift Plant Chairperson

Vole for (1) One

Ray Nuckolls

Big “ED” Ratcliff

Charlie Cowell

Local Lodge 774

Pawnee 2nd Shift Plant Chairperson

Vole for (1) One

Rick Harvey

John Brown

Steve Elder

Machinists Back Massive Investment in Skills Training

WASHINGTON , Nov. 12

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is joining with the Workforce Alliance, a coalition of business, civic and labor leaders who are calling for the largest investment in workforce training since the G.I. Bill.

Members of the coalition today announced the Skills2Compete campaign, a national effort to give every U.S. worker access to at least two years of technical education or training that would lead to a vocational credential or an industry-specific certification.

"It's hard enough when workers are looking for jobs that don't exist," said Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger. "It's far worse when good jobs go unfilled because workers don't have access to the training or education they need to qualify for those jobs."

The Skills2Compete campaign is aimed at providing the kind of skill-specific education that will match America's workers with the jobs that U.S. employers are trying so hard to fill. Thousands of production jobs in the U.S. go unfilled each year because workers lack the basic training to operate precision machinery. According to the Workforce Alliance, the demand for skilled workers will remain robust in the future.

"We need to give apprenticeships and vocational education much more than the lip service they have received in the past, and we fully intend to make this an issue in the presidential campaign," said Buffenbarger.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is among the nation's largest industrial trade unions, representing nearly 700,000 members in aerospace, manufacturing, shipbuilding, transportation and defense-related industries. For more information about the IAM, visit www.goiam.org.

SOURCE International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

Contact: Frank Larkin of IAMAW, 1-301-967-4520 (office), 1-202-285-3831 (cell), flarkin@iamaw.org

Peru Trade Act Moves to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives today voted 285 - 132 to approve the controversial Peru Free Trade Agreement, despite strong objections from labor and human rights activists who are concerned the pact does not include adequate enforcement provisions.

“We have repeatedly stressed that labor chapters in any trade agreement must unequivocally and unambiguously include all core and other appropriate labor standards explicitly encompassed by the International Labor Organization (ILO),” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger in a letter to representatives. “Without explicit incorporation of ILO Conventions and accompanying jurisprudence, the Administration can interpret the agreement so narrowly that the positive improvements could prove to be meaningless.”

Critics also point to this week’s government crackdown on striking miners in Peru as evidence that the South American nation cannot be relied on enforce the most basic labor and environmental standards. The Peru FTA is the first trade deal to come before the 110th Congress and now moves to the Senate.

Union Voters Claim Victory in Kentucky

Kentucky Governor-elect Steve Beshear with Benny Adair, President of the Kentucky State Machinists Council during a campaign rally in Calvert City, KY.

A fierce determination by union members in Kentucky to end the reign of a Republican governor who has been called the “worst in the state’s history” led to a resounding victory for Democrat Steve Beshear over incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher.

The 59-41 percent thumping drove home the message that union members remain a potent force in statewide elections and do not take kindly to seeing bargaining rights cancelled for thousands of state employees, one of many anti-labor moves by Fletcher.

“This victory belongs to the thousands of union members who turned out for Steve Beshear and knocked on doors from Covington to Paducah and everywhere in between,” said GST Warren Mart. “The Machinists in Kentucky can be very proud of the part they played in this important election win.”

Labor activists also play a key role in Virginia, where Democrats took control of the state senate for the first time in more than a decade. “Working people are driving a major change in the political landscape,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “We’re on the cusp of a shift that could redefine American politics for decades to come. Voters sent a powerful message that if you attack working people, you do so at your peril.”

NLRB Targeted for Nationwide Protests in November

The current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) long ago earned its place in history as one of the most anti-labor federal agencies in U.S. history. Packed with Bush-appointees, the board thus far has issued more than 60 decisions that dramatically reduce workers’ rights under existing federal labor law.

On Nov. 15, union members will march on NLRB headquarters in Washington, D.C., to demand the board live up to its original mandate or be shut down until it ceases its assault on U.S. workers.

Click here for more information about the Washington, D.C. rally and similar actions in Austin, TX; Albany, NY; Nashville, TN; San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Little Rock, AR; Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ. Additional events are being planned for Miami, Boston, Chicago Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Leading the list of recent decisions that run counter to the NLRB’s stated mission of encouraging collective bargaining, the current board gutted a long-standing provision that protected bargaining units formed using majority sign up.

Negotiations Resume for 4,100 at Pratt & Whitney

The IAM and Pratt & Whitney (P&W) are back at the bargaining table this week after an initial round of talks and an overwhelming strike authorization vote by members of three IAM locals in Middletown, East Hartford and Cheshire, CT.

The strike sanction follows a vote in August by IAM members to reject a so-called “last, best and final” offer from P&W, the Hartford-based jet engine maker and subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC).

Key issues for the 4,100 IAM members at P&W include job security, pension benefits and health care costs. “We put Pratt and Whitney on notice in August,” said Eastern Territory GVP Lynn D. Tucker, Jr. “A one-way relationship is no longer acceptable to our members or the IAM.”

The current three-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney expires on December 2. Additional information and negotiation updates can be found here.

House Bill Doubles TAA Funding

The House last week passed the Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007 by a vote of 264-157, reauthorizing and overhauling the current U.S. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.

TAA provides retraining and financial assistance to American workers who have seen their jobs shipped overseas as a result of foreign trade. The bill passed by the House doubles the current TAA funding level from $220 million to $440 million and expands TAA eligibility to public and service sector workers who lose their jobs due to trade.

The bill would also improve the program’s training opportunities and associated health care benefits, create new benefits and tax incentives for industries and communities impacted by trade and promote reforms to the unemployment insurance system.

“We must be certain that, as our nation moves forward with expanded trade, we send a clear bipartisan signal that it won’t be at the expense of American workers,” said Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Despite broad bi-partisan support, the Bush administration is threatening to veto the legislation.

U.S. Toymakers Use China Prison, Sweatshop Labor

Many Chinese workers producing toys imported to the U.S. are subjected to ‘sweatshop’ conditions, according to testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism last week.

Prison labor is also being exploited in China, according to Harry Wu, executive director of the Laogai Research Foundation, who said prison laborers make garments, electronic components, coffee mugs and toys that end up in U.S. stores. “The Chinese government continues to use forced labor to make goods, condones sweatshop conditions in its factories and refuses to allow workers to create independent unions-- is it really any wonder that low-quality, harmful toys are being exported to the US and into the hands of our children?” said Wu, who spent 19 years in a Chinese prison.

Wal-Mart was singled out for their role in allowing the exploitation of cheap Chinese labor. “Wal-Mart bears a lion’s share of responsibility for pushing the toy industry into a region where product safety and worker safety inspection is virtually nonexistent,” said Bama Athreya, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum.

Subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has introduced the Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act, which would prohibit U.S. companies from importing and selling products made overseas under “sweatshop” conditions. The bill, which has 13 co-sponsors would also allow U.S. companies to sue competitors for selling products made overseas under conditions that don’t adhere to core labor standards. A similar bill has been introduced in the House by Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and has 116 co-sponsors.

District 140 Convention Held in Calgary

IAM members from across Canada gathered recently for the annual District 140 Convention in Calgary, Alberta, where delegates discussed challenges facing members and debated bylaw submission from District 140 members.
Delegates also heard from International President Tom Buffenbarger, General Vice President Dave Ritchie and others on issues such as organizing, politics and finances. District 140 received special honors at the 2007 IAM National Staff Conference for organizing more than 250 members this past year.

District 140 consists of 18 local lodges with 16,000 members at over forty companies including Aeroguard, Air Canada, Air Transat, Algoma Central Railway, British Airways, Cara Operations, Consolidated Aviation Fuelling, Penauille/Servisair, MTU Maintenance Canada, United Airlines and Worldwide Flight Services.

Do you know where your dues dollars go?

Currently our dues are $40.48 per month;

Monthly Dues ----------------------------------$40.96

Grand Lodge Per Capita -----------------------$21.27

District Lodge 70 Per Capita -------------------$11.20

Strike Fund ---------------------------------------$.50

Insurance for Membership -----------------------$1.50

Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Fed --------------------$.50

Kansas AFL-CIO --------------------------------$.90

Balance for Local Lodge 774 --------------------$5.09

posted at 9:47 AM

CONTRACT 2007