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2012 POLITICAL ACTION FUNDRAISER |
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Our Thoughts and Prayers to Henry George Mavrinac |
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Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Henry George Mavrinac who passed away last fall after his battle with Parkinson's Disease. Mr. Mavrinac was a sixty-five year member of the Local 134 Union and all three of his sons are also proud members of the Local 134 Union. |
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Local 134 Membership Meeting on January 5, 2012 |
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Office Manager, Tim Fitzgibbons, presents at the Local 134 Membership Meeting on January 5, 2012.
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Business Manager, Terry Allen, presents at the Local 134 Membership Meeting on January 5, 2012.
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BUSINESS MANAGER TERRY ALLEN'S SPEECH TO THE MEMBERSHIP:
Brother and
Sisters,
Happy New
Year!
Tonight I
would like to share with you some of the progress our Local has made since the
start of our Administration three months ago. Since becoming your Business Manager in October, I have been
stressing the need for change in Local 134. In three short months, we have initiated changes at
Referral, we have started to negotiate changes in our B Agreements to help us
get back into our buildings downtown and our manufacturing facilities where the
non-union has made inroads. We
have also taken huge steps at the LMCC to truly become a Labor Management
Committee. I have met with John
Donohue, the Apprenticeship Coordinator at our Apprentice School, and we are
starting to work on many new ideas to take advantage of the great asset we have
at our Apprentice Training Center.
Brothers and
Sisters, when I became Business Manager, I pledged to have an open,
transparent, and honest administration.
AT that time, I brought in a new office manager. I told him to focus on, and take a hard
close look into, our finances at Local134. Brothers and sisters, tonight we will share with you a
detailed presentation of our finances.
So with that I would like to introduce Office Manager, Brother Tim
Fitzgibbons.
(PRESENTATION OF FINANCES BY OFFICE MANAGER TIM FITZGIBBONS)
Thank you
Brother Fitzgibbons. I truly
appreciate your tireless work on behalf of the members.
Brothers and
Sisters - In October of last year, I was asked by the I.O. to go to an
organizing conference. At that
conference, International President Ed Hill said something that stuck with
me. He said that as a Business
Manager, your members are giving you a sacred trust. As I thought about this it struck me how true that is. All of you are placing your trust in me
to look after your pension, your wages and your health and welfare
benefits. Basically, you are
placing your trust in me to look after you and your family’s finances. I am proud of what we have done with
our finances at the local in these three months. I hope this shows you how seriously I have taken that trust
that you have given me.
In the last
couple of months, I have had a couple of opportunities to talk to our
apprentices. I spoke with one
group getting their first permit and I spoke with another group of apprentices
who were “topping out” and getting their Hard Cards. One common theme I have been speaking about is “personal
accountability”. Myself, and your
BA’s, are personally accountable to you, the members. So must our members be
personally accountable to the Local and to their employers. We must demonstrate
the work ethic that has made this great Local what it is today. We are making a
lot of positive changes here at Local 134 and personal accountability is going
to be a very important part of these upcoming changes.
Brothers and
Sisters – In October of last year, I received an e-mail from a very close
friend of mine - you can even call him a mentor, who is a forty plus year
member of our local union.
It said, "Terry, Congratulations and remember, always work each day as if it is your first day
in office and always keep the working men and women and their families as your
first and only priority.”
Brothers and Sisters, I keep that advice in my thoughts and
prayers every day.
As we were working on the finances of our local, one item
that kept jumping out at me was the $2 million check that Local 134 must write
each year to fund the officers’
pension. I asked our EIT Trustees,
John Dalton, Kevin Connolly, Sam Evans, and Office Manager, Tim Fitzgibbons, to
contact the financial consultants that handle the officers’ pension and ask
them to come down to the Union hall.
I met with them and asked for a clear explanation about this $2 million
dollars. The way it was explained
to me was that the $2 million dollars would be necessary for years and could
quite possibly go up. I was told
there were two reasons why.
First - Due to changes in the federal law
several years ago that number had jumped to roughly $2 million dollars. They further explained that most other
Local Union’s Officers pensions are through their international, while ours is
a stand-alone pension.
Secondly - quite simply this is a very
generous pension. Brothers and Sisters, our “A” members get $55.00 per credit
year for their pension. That is
what it is now and I hope we can look at that number down the road. Under the
current officers’ pension, your Business Manager, Terry Allen, an electrician,
gets roughly $250.00 per credit year.
Let me say that again. Under the current officers’ pension, your
Business Manager, an electrician, gets roughly $250.00 per credit year.
Brothers and Sisters, this pension is excessive and a financial
burden to the working men and women of this local.
Pause…..
#1. Sacred
Trust
#2. Personal
Accountability
#3. We
are all in this together.
Brothers and Sisters, I can truly say that we are all in this
together, because tonight I am freezing the officers’ pension. In the spirit of working together, the
contractor’s trustees at our EIT have tentatively agreed to let the BA’s and
Business Manager participate in Pensions 2 and 5. We will now truly be in this together. If Pension Plan #2 and #5 are good
enough for the members than they are good enough for the officers of this local.
Brothers and Sisters, there is only one way that we can
surely fail, and that is to live in the past. We have accomplished a lot in our
first hundred days. We still have
a lot to do, but if we stay united, and work together, there is nothing that we
can’t accomplish.
Thank you. God
Bless you. Let’s make 2012 a great year and remember we are truly all in this
together! |
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Schedule for the LMCC Certification Cards |
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The following dates are the schedule for the LMCC Certification Cards. All times are from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the Union Hall on the 2nd Floor.
January 14, 2102
February 11, 2012
March 31, 2012
April 14, 2012
May 12, 2012
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The Passing of Former Business Manager Warren Jennings |
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Former Business Manager Warren Jennings has passed away. Brother Jennings served as Business Manager from 1992 until 1995. Warren also served the members of Local 134 as a delegate to the 100th Anniversary I.B.E.W. International Convention in St. Louis in 1991 and prior to that as a Trustee at the Electrical Insurance Trustees. Brother Jennings' spirit will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.
Warren Jennings Services
December 28th
11:30 AM
Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum
6001 W. 111th Street
Alsip, IL 60803 |
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Prayers out to the families of our brothers and sisters. |
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Prayers out to the families of our brothers who have recently passed - Chester Wnek, Gene McCutcheon, Allen Peterson, Marvin Sholar, George Hammond, Warren Jennings, Eugene Disbrow, George Stathakes, Albert Capizzi, Joseph Filion, Joseph Bialas, Robert Olsen, David Quirk, Maryalice Tosh, Carmen Falbo Jr., Walter Mader, Sydni Hacker and George Neubauer. We will always remember you. |
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Christmas wishes come true in Tinley Park |
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Read the SouthtownStar's article by Hannah Kohut about how Cathy Kowski, of Tinley Park, was surprised with a Dodge Stratus as part of the 16th annual Tinley Wish program this past Saturday morning. Other benefactors of the Tinley Wish program included Brett Lucas' family and Abby Skarbek.
The program was founded by police officer Dennis Mahoney 16 years ago. The Tinley Park Wish program takes in nomination every year from the community for families who are in need.
Read the entire article here. |
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Dreams for Kids "Holiday for Hope" Event - December 17, 2011 |
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Chicago, IL - December, 17, 2011 – Dreams for Kids is set to host their annual Holiday for Hope celebration event on Saturday, December 17th at
the IBEW Hall, 600 W. Washington Boulevard. The event will run from 9:00AM – 4:00PM.
Holiday for Hope is the Chicago area’s largest holiday celebration
for homeless and underprivileged children. This day of giving will bring over 1000 area youth and 100 volunteers
together to experience a once in a lifetime holiday experience. The children
will take part in a day of games, entertainment, music, magic, meetings with
Santa and of course, every child will go home with a bag full of presents.
This is Dreams For Kids 22nd Holiday For Hope and it is
shaping up to be our best ever. Dreams For Kids mission is to empower young
people by giving them opportunities to help other young people and focuses on
the engagement of at-risk groups of youth. Programs help kids build a
foundation of self worth, while also obtaining the skills and experience necessary
to succeed in school and life.
Thanks to the generosity of IBEW local 134 we will again have
Holiday for Hope at the IBEW Hall
9am-4pm. With the founder of Dreams For Kids in attendance, we will also be
welcoming specials guests Representative
Derrick Smith as well as Representative Annazette Collins, Tommy Hawk (the
Blackhawks Mascot), Secretary of State Jesse White and
other Chicago area celebrities.
Check out video from last year’s event here.
Event organizers encourage the media to join for what is sure to
be a purposeful and enriching day for not only our participants but volunteers
as well. For more information on the event please contact:
Andrew Horn, COO
Dreams for Kids, National Office
Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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NOTICE: Change in start time for Membership Meetings |
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Please note that from this time forward, membership meetings with begin at 7:00 PM. Membership meetings previously started at 8:00 PM, but from this time on, they will start at 7:00 PM. |
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PRAYERS OUT TO THE FAMILIES OF OUR BROTHERS |
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Prayers out to the families of our brothers who have recently passed -- Jordon Mann, Bernard Kurgans, Hyman Fishman, Boguslaw Curyllo, Peter Khamoo, Howard Taymor, Hubert Mertes, Richard Damato, Anthony Dalberti. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this time of grieving. |
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PRAYERS OUT TO THE FAMILIES OF OUR BROTHERS |
Prayers out to the families of our brothers who have recently passed -- Vallan M. Reynolds, Stanley J. Kedzior, Mario Moreno, Peter A. Delpage, Michael F. Delaurentis, August A. Bartocci, Roman Dybala, Arthur H. Ryan III, and Robert Dabrowski. Our thoughts and prayers are always with you. |
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BUSINESS MANAGER TERRY ALLEN SPEECH TO MEMBERS 12/01/2011 |
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Good Evening Brothers and Sisters. First let me take this opportunity to wish all of you Happy Holidays. I will keep my comments brief. I would like to report on a few things since our last union meeting.
Last week we had a L.M.C.C. meeting. While I believe that the L.M.C.C. has been successful in the past it is time to move forward. We will no longer be spending money on radio advertising and baseball tickets. We plan on being more hands on. We are going to rebuild are relationships in these buildings downtown building by building. We are going to use the L.M.C.C. to its full potential.
In the last month we have also met at the Apprentice training center to talk about the "B" Members education fund. The "B" members have been paying in to this fund for many years without any plan to move forward. We are working with "B" members and our counterparts at the Contractors association to change that.
I can also report that our efforts towards transparency at the Referral hall took a step forward this month with the posting of every call out on the website.
As part of any new administration there comes the responsibility of evaluating the financial health of the Local. There is an audit currently under way and I will report back to you soon.
As most of you know at the last few union meetings we have announced many cost saving items. I reported on the reduction in the number of law firms, the savings in our I.T
spending, the updating of the Local's auto policy, and a consolidation of the Local Union staff. In these difficult economic times we as a Local need to adapt. I strongly encourage every member to attend the January Union meeting.
We are going to talk in great detail about the financial health of Local 134.
Thank you Brothers and Sisters
Happy Holidays |
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CHANGE IS COMING TO UNION BUTTONS! |
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Beginning with 2012, Local 134 will change the way quarterly union buttons are issued. Effective with buttons for the first quarter of 2012 (January-February-March), we will issue each member only one button per year. When the next three quarters of dues are paid, you will receive a decal to put on your union button to convert it to use for the next three quarters.
The reason for the change relates directly to the high cost of mailing the buttons. Because of the buttons’ unusual size and shape, the U.S. Post Office cannot use its automated equipment to process the mailings. The USPS considers these pieces to be hazardous mail and adds extra postage and surcharges to the normal fees, making the mailings very expensive. Switching to the decal system saves money. |
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Donate Toys This Thursday for "Dreams for Kids" |
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The IBEW Local 134 has been involved with "Dreams for Kids" for a number of years, and we're pleased to announce that we will begin collecting children's toys for the organization at Thurday's membership meeting. "Dreams for Kids" needs toys for children ages 0-12 and especially for the older children (examples: basketballs, backpacks, etc.). Any contribution is greatly appreciated. Please note, though, that all gifts must come unwrapped so that the staff can organize the gifts based on age and gender before distribution. Thank you in advance for your help and support of "Dreams for Kids"!
If you are unable to donate this Thursday, we will be accepting toys up until Tuesday, December 13th. If shopping for toys isn't on the "to do list", but you still want to help, we will also accept cash donations, or checks made payable to "Dreams for Kids" (tax-deductible).
If you are interested in sponsoring a collection on your jobsite, please contact Karen Daly at our union hall.
Please join us for the Wrapping Party at our hall on Thursday, December 15 at 5:30pm. Bring your friends and family! Or consider volunteering at the Christmas Party on Saturday, December 17. RSVP to Karen Daly at 312-474-4146.
www.DreamsForKids.org |
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2012 WILLIAM A. LEE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS |
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The Chicago Federation of Labor will offer five (5) academic-based
scholarships and five (5) random-drawing scholarships in the amount of
$2,000 to students graduating from a Chicago or suburban high school.
Students or their parents must belong to a union affiliated with the
Chicago Federation of Labor and may apply in only one of the two
categories. The period for submitting applications is January 1 through March 1. For more information and an application, please visit http://www.ChicagoLabor.org/scholarship |
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