Local Lodge 687

Lost-time injuries drop to record low

TO PREFACE THE NACBE awards presentation at the Boilermakers Construction Division Conference held at Marco Island, Fla., March 20-25, NACBE Exec. Dir. John Erickson congratulated all locals for driving the 2010 lost-time injury rate to an all-time low. “We could not have accomplished these numbers without the participation of each and every single Boilermaker,” he said.

Thomas Sibley’s communications job is critical and dangerous work

THOMAS SIBLEY, who joined Local 687 (Charleston Heights, S.C.) as an apprentice in 2006, is serving his country in Afghanistan as part of his reserve unit. The Army sergeant is the communications specialist in his company and his job is a vital one.

Northeast & Great Lakes

Toth and Buskey win Northeast; Vodraska and Woods win Great Lakes

THE NORTHEAST AND Great Lakes areas held their 23rd annual joint graduate apprentice competitions May 4-8 at Local 5 Zone 197 (Albany, N.Y.). The top two finishers in each contest will represent their areas in the national contest in Kansas City, Kan., Sept. 27-Oct. 1.

Local 40 places first for third consecutive year

FOR THE THIRD year in a row, a Local 40 (Elizabethtown, Ky.) member has won the Paul D. Wedge Memorial Award for the Outstanding Graduate Apprentice of the Southeast Area. William Dietsch took the top honor at the competition, which was held July 28-31 at Local 433 in Tampa, Fla. Christopher Carpenter of Local 667 (Charleston, W.Va.) was the runner-up.

Structure named in honor of SAJAC’s Mike Peterson

MEMBERS OF LOCAL 199 (Jacksonville, Fla.) dedicated their new rigging training structure to Michael Peterson Aug. 29. Peterson, a graduate apprentice and member of Local 199, serves as an Assistant to the International President and Director of SAJAC — the Boilermakers’ Southeast Area Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

On June 13 Boilermaker apprentices from the Southeast Area Joint Apprenticeship Committee (SAJAC) Program marched in a Flag Day parade in Jacksonville, Fla. Joined by SAJAC instructors, they represented Florida Locals 199 (Jacksonville) and 433 (Tampa), South Carolina Local 687 (Charleston Heights), and Tennessee Local 263 (Memphis).