January 2016 Newsletter

UnionWare Office Software

During the week of January 11th through the 15th UnionWare trainers and technical support attended the offices of Lodge 359 in order to first train and then go live with the Boilermakers new office system software. UnionWare Enterprise Core module which controls the membership data base and Dispatch are the first two modules of four that have been launched. MemberLink and TransferLink modules should both be available in early February.

Enterprise Core and Dispatch are very powerful programs with many functions that were previously unavailable to the Lodge. We ask that you please be patient over the next few months as it will certainly take some time for the staff to become confident and comfortable using the systems.

One change that would have been noticed by anyone who has posted during the last few days are the questions asked by the Posting Operator. You now need to provide two new pieces of information when you call the posting line. The Operator will ask what date you were laid off, you also will be asked to provide the time of your last paid hour (shift end time). For example, if you were working a 10 hour day shift with a start time of 8:00 am and a shift end time of 6:30 pm, you would inform the operator that your last paid hour at lay off was 6:30 pm. You must always post by stating the last paid hour of the day you were laid off. Your last paid hour at lay off can certainly vary depending on the circumstances evolving from you last shift, it is your responsibility to know what hours you are to be paid in accordance with the collective agreement that you are working under .

The new posting procedure completely does away with weekend posting as you will now be posted back onto the out of work list based on the date and time of your lay off, which works for every day of the week, not just weekends. This is a vast improvement over past procedures which did not use the time of lay off factor. You will always be grouped with people who were laid off on the same day at the same time.

MemberLink will bring the next improvement that will serve and benefit the membership. From your own secure online user account many functions will be available to you, among the new services will be online posting, view board position, tag out, check dues status, pay dues and assessments and more. Online posting to the out of work lists will be available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Once you submit your online request to post, you will be instantly back on the list and available for dispatch.

TransferLink will be a secure online portal available to contractors and will be used to upload remittance reports. This module can also be used by the contractor to upload copies of any safety certifications as well as tickets such as Aerial Lift or Forklift that you have obtained while in their employment.

One of many new features that the Dispatch module provides for the members is the ability to email job details directly to you on the same day as you are dispatched. It is recommended that you contact the general office either by email or phone and have your email attached to your member record. You can email memberservices@boilermakers359.org and request that your email address be added.

The staff would like to sincerely thank Natalie, Bill and Marcel from UnionWare and Joey our IT provider for the excellent service that Lodge 359 received during training and go live.

The Cody Brothers Apprenticeship Award

Brother Rick Cody spoke at the Christmas meeting about the importance of the Boilermaker trade and the pride he and his brothers have had as members of Lodge 359. Rick presented a cheque to the Apprenticeship and Trade Advancement Committee on behalf of himself and his brothers Bryan, Terry, and Rodney to recognize hard working Apprentices and not necessarily those with the highest training scores as the top student of each Foundation class is already rewarded with a $500.00 honorarium from the Union.

The winner of the first Cody Brothers Apprenticeship award was given to Michael Valliere for his hard work, reliability and dedication to the trade.

Training

A Level 04 Apprenticeship refresher course was held January 4th through January 15th at the Joe Kiwior – Ivan Shook Training Centre. The 9 apprentices attending wrote their Red Seal on January 15th, results of the exams are expected to be returned within the next two weeks.

West Kootenay Mechanical

A grievance was served upon West Kootenay Mechanical on Friday January the 15th. The complaint is in regards to a violation of Article 6 of the CLR Collective Agreement. In the statement of claim the Union alleges that the employer failed to provide a pre-job conference to the Trades in order to establish jurisdictional claims. The membership will be updated as the process unfolds.

Canron

An arbitration date has now been set to deal with a grievance filed against Canron late in 2015. The issue at hand is a dispute over Working Foreman, in particular Article 3.03 of the CLR Collective Agreement which states; In case of hiring members of the Union, the Employer shall retain the right to name request all Foremen and General Foremen and, in addition, name request fifty percent (50%) of the crew as follows: Employer the first (odd) number; Union the first even and second odd number; then Employer even number, Union odd number, and thereafter on a 50/50 basis.

The employer (Canron) feels that it is their right to hire as many Working Foreman as they see fit outside of the name request ratio. The Union contends that if a Working Foreman is to be used then that person must be hired within the 50/50 ratio and that any Foreman or General Foreman hired outside of the ratio are strictly non-workers. The membership will be updated once an arbitration award is released.

33rd Boilermaker Consolidated Convention

2016 will be the year of the next Boilermaker Convention, this event occurs only once every 5 years. The purpose of Convention is to review and amend the articles of the Brotherhoods Constitution as well as elect the International President, Secretary Treasurer and Vice Presidents, these are the Officers who will represent the United States and Canada.

During the February General Membership meeting an announcement will be made notifying the membership of the Convention delegate nomination meeting. Our elected delegates will be responsible to represent the entire membership of Lodge 359 and cast their votes accordingly for both Constitutional resolutions and the election of International Officers. Convention will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada convening on July 18, 2016. Lodge 359 is allotted 7 delegates, Business Manager Martin Nicholson is automatically seated by virtue of his current office, the other 6 will be elected from those members who are nominated at the special called meeting.

Fraternally,

Lodge 359 Staff