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August 2005
Bedford, IN 47421
Phone #279-1113
Home Page
http://www.iue-cwalocal84907.com
LOCAL
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS
Union Meeting
The next regularly scheduled Union meeting will be held Wednesday,
August 3rd, 2005 at the UAW Hall in Bedford. Meeting times are:
Day Shift: 4:00 pm
Night Shift: 1:00 am (Tuesday after work)
Midnight Shift may attend either of the above meetings.
PROPOSED AMMENDMENTS TO THE LOCAL CONSTITUTION WILL BE PRESENTED FOR MEMBERSHIP APPROVAL AT THE AUGUST MEETING
Following is a list of candidates for Officers. Voting will take place in September. See notices posted in the glass cases in the vendeteria hallway for times and place.
PRESIDENT
David Baker
Dusty Davis
Earl Wilson
VICE PRESIDENT
Steve Butterfield
Phyllis Gassaway
Frank Nelson
Travis Vincent
RECORDING SECRETARY
John Boshears
Debora Flynn
Judy Harrison
Paula Leonard (Lowery)
FINANCIAL SECRETARY
Donna Daniels
Donnie Gratzer
Tammy Hudar
Jeff Ritter
Sherry Short
HEALTH & SAFETY
Gary Davis
Steve Ingle
Terry Kirk
SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
David Edwards
Ray Fleetwood
Dave Haste
Troy Johnson
Jim Lobbes
Scott Patton
DAY SHIFT CHIEF STEWARD
Jerry Bailey
J. D. McPike
Tanya Sovern
Chris Taylor
NIGHT SHIFT CHIEF STEWARD
Bill Ater
Bill Blackwell
Robbie Phillips
Al Strunk
DELEGATES (VOTE FOR 2)
Chris Begarly
Phyllis Gassaway
Judy Harrison
Scott Patton
Robbie Roberts
Travis Vincent
Good luck to all of you!
Tom Jones presents David Grogan with a plaque at the July day shift union meeting.
Saying Goodbye
Dave Grogan looked at the buyout as an opportunity to start a business of his own, so he officially retired on July 1st, 2005. Dave served our Local as Sergeant-at-Arms for the past nine years. The Executive Board decided to present him with a plaque thanking him
for his years of service. We wish him well in his retirement years. David Haste
was appointed to serve as Sergeant-at-Arms until the upcoming elections. Don’t worry, Dave Grogan taught him to make the popcorn and he does a fine job!
Health Care Premiums
Surprise folks! We have another issue with health care premiums! This one can be blamed on Ceridian, the new company who issues our paychecks and keeps track of our deductions and deposits. It seems that all night shift employees did not have their health care premiums deducted from their checks this month. Tom Jones and Trena Bond are working with Ceridian to correct this problem before the end of the month. Hopefully, when all you night shift people get your checks this Thursday your health care premiums will be taken care of. Let’s hope Ceridian doesn’t catch day shift people in the loop and deduct their premiums a second time. Keep your fingers crossed!!
THANKS!!
To the membership of Local 907: Thank you for allowing me to serve you for the past three years as your Vice-President. I can honestly say that it is a job in which I never had boring day. I have enjoyed serving the Union and the members, but have decided it is time for me to return to the production floor. This will allow another member the opportunity to serve you as the Vice-President. I would like to ask one last favor of you, however, and that is to please go and vote for your choice of candidates on September 7 at the 4-H fair grounds.
Do you have any insurance claims that are still open? Unless you want them returned personally to you, I will turn all claim information over to my replacement. If you want your paperwork returned, please see me or call me here at 279-6079. I will be glad to return them to you. Most claims are already closed and I will shred that information before leaving office. If payment has been made, most of those have already been shredded. Because of your privacy rights, I will continue to do everything I can to protect you and your rights to privacy.
In Solidarity,
Tom Jones
Vice-President
IUE-CWA Local 907
Another Thank You
I would like to thank all of you for your support during the past three years. Due to personal reasons, I decided not to run for office this time. I am honored that I was given the chance to serve as your Recording Secretary and hope that I will be given another chance the next time around. Thanks again for all the support and help I received.
In Solidarity,
Debbie Daughrity
Recording Secretary
IUE-CWA Local 907
Refunds for Prescription Receipts from Unicare
Do you have prescription receipts from Unicare that are not over two (2) years old? If so, you can still send them in for a refund. This is a benefit that we do not have with our current prescription carrier. Some members were under the impression that they could not send receipts in for a refund anymore. Under the current plan, that is correct. However, Unicare will still send you a refund for prescriptions purchased up to two (2) years prior to the date you submit them for reimbursement. Also, they have to have been purchased before 01-01-05. The form to fill out is Medical Plan Claim Form and they are available in the vendeteria on the west wall next to the HHCU money mover.
Ceridian Web Site
Have you logged on to the Ceridian web site and set a password for yourself? If not, you are STRONGLY advised to do so. Identity theft is a common thing these days and if you do not set a password, someone with minimal personal information about you could set your password for you and have control of your deductions, deposits, etc. Posters displaying the web address and directions are posted throughout the plant. Still need help? See your shop steward.
OrthoIndy
OrthoIndy has informed Anthem that as of 07-31-05 they will NO longer be in the Network system. If you are a patient with their office, you can still continue to do so. However, you will notice more out-of-pocket expenses. You may personally want to contact your physician and see if they will work something out with you concerning the additional charges you will experience by being their patient.
Central American Legislators Lobby Congress on CAFTA
The national debate over the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) continued in June, highlighted by a visit to Congress by a delegation of legislators from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The group’s message was clear: that CAFTA’s main objective will bring down living standards in both North and Central America, while enriching corporations.
“CAFTA’s main objective is to support Big Business, and it will upset the political and economic stability of Central America,” said Salvador Arias, a member of El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly and leader of the delegation.
If CAFTA passes in its present form, Arias said, Central America could lose as many as 500,000 jobs, primarily agricultural, in the first few years after implementation.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney blasted the Bush administration for ignoring petitions filed six months ago asking our government to withdraw trade benefits to Central American countries that violate core workers’ rights.
“This administration simply refuses to enforce labor rules that already exist in our trade programs, and now they are sending Congress a trade agreement with Central America that actually weakens protections for workers’ rights, despite overwhelming evidence of rampant violations and abuse in the region,” Sweeney said.
If approved CAFTA would replace the current petition mechanism and replace it with a weaker system.
While congressional Republicans continued their effort to push CAFTA to passage this summer, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a bold threat to lawmakers who oppose the deal. Referring to the possibility of the Chamber cutting off campaign contributions to opposing lawmakers, Chamber President Thomas J. Donahue told 500 business leaders in a speech, “If you are going to vote against it, it’s going to cost you.”
New Coalition of Major Unions Presses Organizing, Change
Five of the nation’s largest unions have created the “Change to Win Coalition,” aimed at boosting union membership across the country and reviving the labor movement’s political clout. The move was seen as a possible first step toward creation of a new labor federation.
The AFL-CIO meets in convention in late July to elect its leaders and set its agenda for the next five years. Leaders of four of the five Change to Win unions have said in recent months that they would leave the 57-mamber-union AFL-CIO if the changes they seek are not approved at the convention.
The five unions represent about 40 percent of the AFL-CIO’s total membership. They are the Teamsters, Service Employees, Food and Commercial Workers, Laborers and UNITE HERE, the textile and hospitality industry workers union.
For its part, the AFL-CIO says it is aware of the rebel unions’ concerns and has taken steps to address them, including boosting the amount of money it spends on organizing, to $22.5 million a year, restructuring its staff to economize and focus more on organizing, and developing a plan to strengthen local labor councils.
Change to Win leaders say the AFL-CIO’s actions are not enough, that labor is in such sharp decline that half of the AFL-CIO’s budget, $60 million, should stay with the unions to be used for organizing. The AFL-CIO’s plans “continue the status quo and (do not) provide for genuine reform to build worker power,” according to UFCW President Joe Hansen.
Only about 12 percent of all full-time U.S. workers are in unions today compared to about 35 percent 50 years ago, when the AFL-CIO was created. If the relatively highly unionized public sector is dropped from the equation, only about 8 percent of workers are union.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, 71, who has said he will run for a third five-year term at the convention, reacted to the announcement of Change to Win’s formation: “Now is the time to use our unity to build real worker, not create a real divide that serves corporations and the anti-union politicians.” Sweeney supporter Gerald McEntee, president of the State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said forming the coalition “is a step toward a truly divided labor movement.”
Some observers saw creation of the coalition as a tactical move to force changes within the AFL-CIO leadership and program, while others viewed it as a move comparable to a period in the 1930’s during which some unions left the American Federation of Labor to form what was to become the Congress of Industrial Organizations. The two groups reconciled in 1950.
Neither side in the fight disputes the decline in organized labor’s ranks. The real argument-egos aside- essentially comes down to whether more resources should go into organizing new members or spending more on political action in the hope of changing laws to make organizing easier.
Of the five unions in the new coalition, all but the Laborers have indicated they would leave the AFL-CIO if the July convention does not approve the changes they desire. Laborers President Terence O’Sullivan has said his union would work with both groups.
States Step In to Increase Minimum Wages
The President won’t endorse it, and Congress won’t enact it. Increasing the federal minimum wage is all but impossible in the current Republican-controlled government. But with pressure from labor and anti-poverty activists, states are beginning to step up to the plate-and low wage workers in many parts of the country are finally seeing better wages.
According to a report in USA Today, 17 states and the District of Columbia-covering 45 percent of the U.S. population-have raised their own minimum wages above the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour.
“The federal government is not living up to its responsibility, so the states are acting,” said New Jersey state senator Steve Sweeney.
In several remaining states, advocacy groups are campaigning to put minimum wage initiatives on state ballots. The Ballot Strategy Initiative Center plans ballot measures in nine states, including Ohio, Michigan and Arizona.
“This is going to take off like wildfire,” said Kristina Wilfore of the Initiative Center. “It will pull progressive voters to the polls.”
