Local Lodge 104

Donations build Brotherhood’s political strength

LODGES, VICE PRESIDENTIAL sections, and individual members that excelled in raising money for CAF and LEF in 2011 received special recognition during the LEAP conference in Washington, D.C., April 23-26.

CAF stands for Campaign Assistance Fund. As the Boilermakers’ political action fund, CAF money goes to support worker-friendly candidates for the U.S. House and Senate.

More than 500 workers busy refurbishing massive boiler in Unit 1

COLSTRIP — Jason Small says a $70 million renovation of Unit 1 of the Colstrip Steam Electric Station translates into steady work for hundreds of people like him.

“If you're a craftsman and a boilermaker, you count on these outages for a primary source of income,” Small said. “The bigger (the project) the better for us. This is our bread and butter.”

AFTER SEVERAL DAYS of attending conference sessions and visiting the Hill to lobby for Boilermaker priorities

Donations build Brotherhood’s political strength

LODGES, VICE PRESIDENTIAL sections, and individual members that excelled in raising money for CAF and LEF in 2010 received special recognition during the LEAP conference in Washington, D.C., March 21.

A brief listing of recent agreements signed and ratified by Boilermaker local lodges

L-5 – New York

Local 104 members win wage, benefit improvements

MEMBERS OF BOILERMAKERS Local 104 employed at SIS Northwest, a custom steel fabricator 70 miles north of Seattle, won an impressive first contract March 27 after a 14-month-long union organizing struggle that saw an employee fired and more than a dozen others laid off because of their organizing activities.

The 26-2 ratification vote came on the heels of a ULP settlement agreement in which SIS agreed to pay more than $136,000 in back pay to 16 employees and reinstate 14 workers.

Program held in five cities in United States and Canada

2008 WAS AN election year — not only for the governments of Canada and the United States, but also for Boilermaker local lodges in both countries. While U.S. lodges must hold elections every three years, Canadian lodges do so every five years. Occasionally, the Boilermaker local lodge election cycles coincide, as they did in 2008.

IN LATE 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), comprising thousands of scientists from around the world, published its fourth assessment on climate change, warning the nations of the world that evidence of global warming is “unequivocal” and that the link between human activities (primarily the burning of fossil fuels) and rising worldwide temperatures can be stated with “very high confidence.”

For that many scientists to agree on such a strong statement requires thousands of measurements, studies, and experiments. It should surprise no one that the scientists of the IPCC have edged slowly toward this pronouncement over the past 20 years as the evidence mounted.

SIS Northwest breaks law to keep workers from organizing

BRIAN OPLAND LIKED his job at SIS Northwest, a custom steel fabricator 70 miles north of Seattle. He had friends there, the wages were good, and he enjoyed his work as a welder.

Illegally fired for his organizing efforts, Brian Opland now works for a union contractor.