LABOR BULLETIN
By
BUSINESS MANAGER BOB WARD
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
LOCAL 340 MEMBERS TURN UP & WIN!
In a major win for the Building Trades in early August, the Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 in favor of a historic citywide PLA for all public works projects over $1 million dollars.
We put out a call to action and I want to thank the 30 plus members who showed up that evening to the City Council meeting to show support for this PLA. This PLA guarantees 50% of all the work on publicly funded projects in the city of Sacramento will go to local businesses and construction workers. Apprenticeship hours under this PLA will be kept local and special consideration will be given to veterans.
This is great news for Local 340 members as well as members of all the Trades Unions in the Sacramento area.
Thank you again to our “army” of supporters. I know many of you came straight from work to help us and we are very appreciative.
FIRST UNION MEETING @ OUR NEW HALL!
We had a great meeting on Wednesday September 5th with close to 150 in attendance. Local 340 President Mark Steelman swore in over 70 new members that evening and along with the normal business at hand, the Sportman’s club held their annual raffle and we gave away a ton of free shirts, cups, wine glasses etc. I want to thank all of you for the positive comments about the new facility. We are very proud of it. Just to let you know, we still have some finishing touches to do, but if you haven’t had a chance to see your new Union Hall, just come to the next meeting on October 3rd, I believe you will also be impressed.
MONTHLY BASIC DUES INCREASE FOR “A” MEMBERS:
Effective with January 2019 dues, all “A” membership basic dues will increase by $1.00 according to action taken at the 2016 International Convention. This increase will go towards funding the International Pension Benefit Fund. If you self-pay be sure to increase your monthly payment by this amount. Those members on automatic dues checkoff or employer checkoff will see that increase with your deductions.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP PICNIC AT NEW VENUE
If you missed the picnic this year, you missed another good one. Well over 700 people attended. The picnic held on September 15th at Hagan Community Park in Rancho Cordova was a huge success. The park was packed and once again, thanks goes out to all of Local 340’s Secretaries (especially Reyna, Michelle and Justine), our Local 340 Agents and Organizers as well as this year’s picnic committee members who work behind the scenes for at least six months planning this event. Our Local 340 Softball players stepped up and we had a lot of new volunteers this year helping to ensure that the members had a great time. A special shout out goes to Brother Michael Adams Jr who was our DJ this year.
A very unique thing about this years’ picnic was that former President Tommy Meredith’s family purchased a bench at this park in his honor after he passed away. Our event was held in the Pavilion where his bench sits. This was not planned, but it definitely meant a lot to those of our members who knew him, especially his sons Brothers Matthew and Erik Meredith.
NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION CLASS
Mandatory New Member Orientation classes are scheduled on a regular basis to help new members navigate thru the IBEW and Union processes. We use this opportunity to answer questions regarding pension, health and welfare, dues, organizing, dispatch procedures etc. In the months of June, July and August, our organizers brought in over 130 new members and these members need this class. If you just joined Local 340 or rejoined Local 340 and received a notice to attend our next New Member Orientation Class on Saturday October 13th, call the Hall to RSVP now. Also, if you were scheduled to attend a previous class and missed it, this is your time to make it up. Call the Hall now.
PIN PRESENTATION – SATURDAY 10/27/18
The following names are members who are due their 50+ years of service pins this year. At the time of this writing (9/19) we have only heard from about 15 of you on whether or not you plan to attend the Pin Presentation being held in your honor on October 27th. If you are one of the recipients and haven’t responded, please call the hall. We need to make plans on your behalf. This event will be held at our new Hall and we’ll be giving a tour of the Business Offices as well as the rest of the facility on that day.
Please note: All members are invited to attend this event. We can always use some help and it is nice to show Brother/Sister support for these esteemed Retirees.
70 year members: Fred Kirchubel, John Wiant
65 year members: Richard Nelson, Gordon Snyder, Carl Vogt
60 year members: Bobby Abbott, Brian Boggs, Burt Campbell, Frank Fagnani, Roger Harrison, Arthur Myers, Richard Okamoto, William Roberts, Paul Schmidt, Robert Silva, Robert Slover, Earl Vanatta, Donald Walden, George Zielesch
55 year members: Arthur Barker, Joseph M Bell, Charles Cake, Wilford Haley, Curtis Hall, Elliot Lafreniere, Andrew Perata, Charles Shipman, Richard Sapinok, Duwayne Stillwell, Jim Vance
50 year members: James Broff, Douglas Brown, Randy Moul, Richard Myers, James Plummer, Douglas Porter, James Schooler, Robert Snider, Dennis Stoffel, Michael Uribe, Craig Wick.
PREPARING TO RETIRE – SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY 11/03/18
Speaking of Retiring, 30 members have signed up for this Get Ready to Retire Seminar, also to be held at our new facility. This is where you will get the information you need on how to prepare for retirement. We have invited speakers from all of our Pension Plans (and even hope to get a speaker from the Social Security office) to share important information that you will need in order to make a well informed decision as to when to retire. Whether you’re going to retire in 2 years, 10 years or 20 years from now, this event will help you to plan! We do need a count of members attending and we welcome your spouses or significant others to join you. Sign up now! Call Reyna at the Hall with your name and contact phone number and then save the date!
Operation Christmas Basket Raffle 2018 – The IBEW/NECA 37th Annual Operation Christmas Basket fundraiser is now underway. Tickets are available for $1.00 each. The prizes are as follows:
1st Prize – $1,500.00 cash
2nd Prize – Shotgun
3rd Prize – $250.00 in Lottery Scratchers
The kickoff for this fundraiser will be held at the October 3rd Union meeting. Tickets can be purchased at the meeting, at any of our events, at the Hall or from Local Officers and Members who have signed out books of tickets to sell at the jobsites. Although this has been another great year again for our members, there are still Union families who struggle during the Holidays. Every dollar donated to Operation Christmas Basket goes into purchasing food and toys for all Union members in all the Trades in the Sacramento area. Without this raffle, there would be no Operation Christmas Basket and a lot of families would have to do without Christmas for their kids. Let’s keep this tradition going which was started 37 years ago by IBEW Brother Lud Larson and Brother Harry Bain. Get your tickets now.
The drawing will be held at the Sacramento Membership/Christmas Dinner Meeting on December 5th @ 5PM. You do not need to be present to win, but this meeting is open to all IBEW Local 340 members, both active and retired, so hope to see you there. Again, it would be a good time for you to come see your new Union Hall.
Local 340 Toy & Food Drive
For the last 10 years, in conjunction with Operation Christmas Basket which helps Union families of ALL trades, we have held our own Christmas Food and Toy Drive specifically for Local 340 families in order to bulk up the baskets and put a personal IBEW Local 340 touch on them. We will be collecting non-perishable food items and new toys at the Business Office. Feel free to drop them off in our Business Office between now and December 7th. Thank you.
MEMBER NEWS
ACCIDENTS/ILLNESS
We are happy to report that Patty Paterson Local 340 Projects Coordinator, is now off of disability and has returned to work. She is happy to be back and grateful for all of the support she received this past summer.
REST IN PEACE
This was a tough 2 months for Local 340. We lost 4 retired members:
James Graham (24 year member/69 years of age), Brother Roy Lanham (46 year member/66 years of age), Brother Euell “Ed” McKown (58 year member age/81 years of age) and Brother Dan D. Wright (47year member. 81 years of age). Rest in Peace Brothers.
We have also been informed that Brother John Dyer’s wife Frances passed away.
Please remember these Brothers and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
SACRAMENTO MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS – 1ST Wednesdays @ 6PM – New location! 10240 Systems Parkway
REDDING UNIT MEETING – 1st Wednesdays – 5:30 PM – Redding Hall
SOUND & COMMUNICATIONS UNIT MEETING – Quarterly on the 4TH Tuesdays of January, April, July & October at the new Hall – NEXT QUARTERLY S&C MEETING Tuesday October 23rd @ 5:00PM – Note: 7 members needed to have a quorum.
CIVIL SERVICE UNIT MEETING – Quarterly on the 3RD Thursdays of January, April, July & October at the Hall. NEXT QUARTERLY CIVIL SERVICE MEETING Thursday October 18th @ 5:00PM! – Note: 5 members needed. to have a quorum.
