IN MARCH, LOCAL 128 (Toronto) faced a dilemma when the Humber College instructor for advanced boilermaker apprenticeship classes went on medical leave.
We would like to thank Local 83 and all
the Boilermakers for their kindness during these
trying times. This is a long, rough road [for Dale
Hunt and his family, due to his serious illness],
and if not for the union, I don’t know where we
would be. Even during a difficult economy, the
Brotherhood still stands strong and united. We are
so thankful for the union and all its benefits. So if
anyone ever gets to wondering if it’s all worth it,
trust me, it is — and your brothers have got
your back.
All of your cards and heartfelt prayers mean so much to our family.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the reception held on March 18th to celebrate my 50th year as an active Boilermaker. Special thanks to Glen Aker, Ernie Aker, [L-73 BM-ST] Kevin Chaisson, and “Big” Joe Linthorne, for providing music. Thanks also to Derek Carey, Kevin Chaisson, [L-73 President] Marcel Losier, [IR] Kent Oliver, and [retired IVP] Sandy MacDonald for the gifts presented on behalf of Local 73 and the International.
BY ALL ACCOUNTS, the Montour Unit #1 Spring 2011 boiler outage [in Washingtonville, Pa.] was a huge success. We would like to thank you [BM-ST James Banford], Jack Borzell [L-13 business agent], your staff and the Boilermakers of Local 13 for making this possible. Jack’s constant attention to the Montour site is very much appreciated and helped a great deal in achieving our goals. You should be pleased to know that not only did the Boilermakers of Local 13 perform above our expectations, they once again completed a major outage ahead of schedule and under budget.
I am writing this letter to commend and thank the members of Local 627 [Phoenix] who worked on the Cholla Unit 1 horizontal superheat project [Joseph City, Ariz.]. The Boilermakers removed and replaced 384 superheat assemblies and made 1,600 welds in 26 days. We x-rayed 240 welds, with no rejects. They managed to do this with wind delays, crane breakdowns and other obstacles. APS [Arizona Public Service, owner/operator] was very pleased with this outage. The project was completed with an excellent safety record and ahead of schedule.
Every now and then Boilermakers pull off a task others think is next to impossible. Recently members working in the jurisdiction of Local 363 [East St. Louis, Ill.] achieved such a feat.