Wage Allocations

In May we voted on how to allocate our new raises. Here are the new wage allocations to take effect in June: Increase to: New June Rates

Check H&W Base H&W Pension NEBF TOTAL

Flex Dollar Bank

Inside $1.26 $0.30 $0.00 $40.30 $9.91 $10.08 $1.20 $61.49

VDV $1.25 $0.21 $0.10 $27.16 $8.55 $6.79 $0.81 $43.31

Residential $1.54 $0.00 $0.00 $27.49 $9.09 $6.87 $0.82 $44.27

New Officer Training We will be holding new officer training at the hall on July 10 from 8:00am to 4:00pm. All newly elected officers need to attend. I encourage any returning officers to also attend.

Flexible Benefit Account (HRA/Flex) Flex benefits are available to reimburse you for out of pocket medical, dental, vision, and prescription expenses. Flex may also be used to make your insurance premium payments for continued health coverage. Flex benefits will only be available for reimbursement to the extent of the assets in your Flexible Benefit Account. Only after ALL

health insurance plans have made payment on your claims can you file any outstanding balances for flex reimbursement.

Filing for reimbursement out of your Flex account requires the Participant to complete a flexible reimbursement claim

form along with the explanation of benefits (EOB) from the insurance carrier(s) indicating the Participant’s out of pocket balance. If you have two insurance carriers the Plan must have either both insurance plan’s EOB’s or the secondary Insurances Plans EOB which will indicate what the primary carrier paid, what the secondary insurance paid and any out of pocket balance due. All claims must be filed within 12 months from the date of service and no partial payments will be issued (you can only file an EOB one time even if you were not reimbursed for the total amount owed on that EOB).

The following is a condensed list of rules and regulations under the Flex Account: 1. Your Flex account can still be accessed even if you are no longer eligible under the Plan (unless you are not in

good standing);

2. Orthodontics is the only type of claim that can be reimbursed out of your flex in advanced as long as the Plan

has proof of payment to the extent permitted by applicable law;

3. Claims must be filed within 12 months from the date of service;

4. No flex reimbursement for any claims made prior to your effective date under the Plan;

5. The Plan will reimburse annually Participants claims that do not exceed $100;

6. If the Participant dies, only eligible dependents on the policy will have access to the Flex account balance;

7. If the Participant dies and has no dependents but does have some out of pocket claims and a flex account

balance, the Plan can pay those out of pocket claims directly to the Providers until either the flex account is

depleted or there are no more claims on the deceased Participant, any remaining balance will be forfeited;

8. If the Participant dies and has no dependents, no outstanding bills and a flex account balance, the flex account

balance will be forfeited to the Fund.

9. If the Member Retirees (or terminates coverage) and has a flex account balance he may still access, however,

since there are no incoming contributions (activity) the rules state if no activity on flex accounts with a balance

OVER $400 for five consecutive calendar years your flex account will be forfeited;

10. If the Member retirees (or terminates coverage) and has a flex account balance of LESS than $400 and no

activity in a twelve-month period, the flex account will be forfeited;

11. If any “Opt Out Form” is completed by you or your eligible dependents the Flex account will be forfeited;

12. Any forfeited flex account balances are NOT reinstated if you are reinstated as an Active Participant under

the Plan.

What qualifies for out of pocket expenses from your Flex account is governed by the IRS, Publication 502 and updated annually.

SPARKIE SENTINEL

IBEW LOCAL 159

JUNE 2019

BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

By Michael Grassy

FUTURE CHANGES TO THE FLEX PROGRAM: The Fund was approved for program upgrades which include electronic submission of Flex claim reimbursement requests directly from the WEEBF.com website. You will

be able to upload documents to the website and also select which claims from your claim history that you wish to file for flex reimbursement and electronically send to the Fund Office. Currently, checks are still mailed to Members, however, the Fund is checking into direct deposit options.

Referral Agent, Greg Storkson

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

Work has picked up and is mostly going out to

book 2. Westphal has been putting out calls for

Verona HS. Staff calls have been for UW

Chemistry, SERF, and Promega. Morse Electric

calls have been for Epic. All of our contractors

seem to be picking up work as we expected. We

cooked 800 brats for 300+ Workers for the

Safety Stand down with the Building Trades at

Verona HS. I have also visited Epic.

Our apprentice class for this year has steadily

grown to about 53 so far. We have hired more at

this time than we had last year. Congratulations

to all our new apprentices.

The union is not someone else’s responsibility.

Be seen, show others what the union is, help

each other when they are in need. Without you

there is not a union, but a worker at the will of

an employer with the rights that they decide for

you. We set the standard if we stand together.

YOU are the union,

Greg Storkson Office: (608)255-2989 Ext. 114 ~ Cell: (608)334-6224 Email: gstorkson@ibew159.org

Organizers Report, Casey Healy

Organizing is the local’s tool to gain market

share. Market share is the percentage of work

performed by the local compared to the non-

union. Organizing workers, especially key

journeymen and foremen takes work away from

the open shops and makes it difficult for them to

bid future work. We need to embrace and

encourage each other to be organizers by

promoting the values of the IBEW to the

unrepresented workers and open shops. When

we stand united and work toward a common goal

that’s solidarity.

If you are on a jobsite that has non-union

electrical or low voltage technicians working, give

me a call and let me know where the job is. This

presents a great opportunity for yourself and the

local to engage in conversation with these

workers about the benefits of being an IBEW 159

member. We also have brochures that members

can hand out to the person or leave one on their

cart.

Are you willing to get involved in your community

in a positive way? How about helping your local

at any level it takes to make a positive impact in

the community that you live in or work in. Think

about it for a while and ask yourself, do I want to

wait around and hope for change or do I want to

be part of the reason for change.

On a closing note I would like to sincerely thank

all instructors for their time, and dedication in

educating our members. THANK YOU.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which

you can use to change the world.”

United we Stand - Divided we Fall,

Casey Healy Office: (608)255-2989 ~ Cell: (608)515-3552

Email: chealy@ibew159.org

Local 159 Books:

INSIDE

Book I – 33

Book II – 29

Book III - 0

RESIDENTIAL

Book 1 – 1

Book 2 – 0

VDV

Book I – 4

Book II – 1

Our May luncheon was held at Murphy's. Twenty-Five members attended. Greg gave a report on work in the area and the contractors that have that work. He also talked about the

election coming up and who was running for which position. Door prize winners were: Tim May, Dave Krey, Doug Smedema, Mike Stassi, Marvin Milleville, Ron Krueger, Eldon McDaniel, Ken Hillebrand, Ed Kroth, and

Greg Storkson.

Our June Luncheon will be at Maple Leaf Supper Club in McFarland.

Fraternally, Jim Virnig IBEW 159 Retiree

RETIREES LUNCHEON

WELCOME NEW

IBEW LOCAL 159 MEMBERS BROOKS JEWELL CODY NEUMANN THEODORE CHARNECKI ADAM KIENBAUM

JUSTIN HANSON KYLE ARENZ TROY OUTHOUSE MICHAEL GEBHARD

JOHN REGEZ LIZA FEHR LARRY LANGLOIS

* SOLIDARITY * BROTHERHOOD * EMPOWER * SPARKY * PROUD *

SAFETY FIRST

Please keep YOUR safety and the safety of your co-workers in mind at all times

on the job!

❖ IBEW 159 ReNew Chicken Shoot: July 13th at the Deerfield Rod & Gun Club at noon.

❖ IBEW 159 ReNew Grill-N-Chill: July 15th at Warner Park, 2pm.

❖ Robert Palmer Golf Tournament: July 20th, 2019 at The Meadows of Six Mile Creek in Waunakee. Foursome in $280 and includes Golf, Cart, and Lunch. Register/Sign Up/Pay at IBEW Local 159 Union Hall. (608)698-6523.

❖ IBEW Race Night: Jefferson Speedway, Saturday, July 27th, 2019. Gates Open @4pm for Heat Laps/Qualifying and Races start @ 7pm. Contact the IBEW Local 159 Hall to sign up!

❖ Budgeting & Savings Seminar: Thursday, August 22nd, 2019 @ IBEW Local 159 Hall by Park Bank. Contact the IBEW Local 159 Hall to sign up!

❖ Retirement & Investments Seminar: Thursday, October 24th, 2019 @ IBEW Local 159 Hall by Park Bank. Contact the IBEW Local 159 Hall to sign up!

JUNE SAVE THE DATES

JAMES AELLIG JAY MEIER

PAT ANDERSON ADAM MELKA

MARK BACON GERARD MILLER

WILLIAM BAHR ROBERT MILLER

CARL BARRETT GERALD MILLER

THOMAS BAYRHOFFER JEFFREY MOLINE

MITCHELL BLOOM GAVIN MOORE

ROBERT BOLLE CHAD MUMM

BERNARD BRAUN DONAVON NACHREINER

HUNTER CAPADONA BRAD NEITZEL

PATRICK CHANDLER CHRISTOPHER NICHOLS

ADRIAN CIOBANU ETHAN NOLDEN

BENJAMIN CISLER BRYAN NOVEY

BENJAMIN CLARK CALEB O'BOYLE

DOUGLAS CLAUSEN KEVIN OLSON

KEVIN DAANE DANIEL PIERCE

JAMES DALSANTO DAVID PITZNER

CORRINE DAWSON THOMAS QUINN

LUCAS DEWITT DALE RICHARDSON

ROBERT DORMAN JEREMY RICHMOND

TERRANCE DOYLE JUSTIN RICHTER

JAMES EMDEN TONY ROESSLER

BRIAN ESSER RICKEY ROYEM

LUCAS FARRELL DANIEL RUSSELL

DUANE FILLMORE JAMES RUST

DEREK FIRARY RON SCHLAFER

GENE FLEMING MARK SCHREIER

DANIEL FRIEL RILEY SCHUETZ

ROBERT FRITZ DAVID SEDDON

MICHAEL GEBHARD TANNER SEE

EUGENE GOLDADE RONALD SMALL

CASEY GRADY TYLER SMITH

GRANT HARMES PERRY SORENSON

DILLON HASSLER CAMERON SPINLER

CRAIG HEIN RAYMOND SPRECKELS

MARK HOFFMANN DEVON STELSE

RICKEY JAHN GREGORY STORKSON

DOUGLAS JOHNSON ROGER SWANSON

KEVIN KANTER RUSSELL THOMAS

MITCHELL KATZE WADE TIEDEMAN

TIM KILEY CASSANDRA TREPTOW

JOHN KINDER DYLAN TUGGLE

JON KOWALD GARY VANNATTA

NATHANIEL KRAUSE THOMAS VERBSKY

DUANE KREKLOW JAMES VIRNIG

MICHAEL LAKE JUSTIN WACKER

STEVE LANGE CHARLES WALKER

MATTHEW LEMAHIEU JOHNNIE WALTON

LELAND LEMENS SHELDON WARD

BRIAN LENSKI TORY WEIDEMANN

TODD LEWELLIN CHRISTOPHER WEIDENSEE

MICHAEL LEWIS AARON WEILAND

KEVIN MACHESKY JEFFREY WILT

JACQUELINE MAIER RYAN YAGER

JEFFREY MCALLISTER JOSHUA YAHNKE

BRANDON MCGAW CURTIS ZOET

Additional SAVE THE DATES

❖ Take Kids Fishing Day: June 1st, 2019 at Vilas Park from 9:00am to 11:30am. Space is limited to the first 150 kids and is a free event!

❖ IBEW Hall Open Late: Open until 7pm on Wednesday, June 5th, 2019.

❖ Retirement Luncheon: 11am Monday, June 10th, 2019 @ Maple Tree Supper Club in McFarland.

❖ Renew Committee Meeting: Thursday, June 13th, 2019 @ 4:30pm @ Madison Labor Temple, Room 212.

❖ Monthly Membership Meeting: Thursday, June 13th, 2019 @ 5:30pm @ Madison Labor Temple.

❖ Father’s Day: Sunday, June 16th, 2019. ❖ Madison Mallards Game Night: June 22nd,

2019. Contact the IBEW Local 159 Hall to sign up!

❖ Executive Board Meeting: Monday, June 24th, 2019 @ 4:30pm @ IBEW Local 159 Hall.

Brothers and Sisters,

This month has been another good one for RENEW159. We currently passed a motion to

sponsor a kennel at the Dane County Humane Society. We are also gearing up for the

Chicken Shoot and Tough Mudder coming this summer. We have a Grill-n-Chill coming up

June 15th at 2pm at Warner Park in Madison. Come out and join us for some food and a

good time.

We also nominated our next year’s officers, Pablo Baxter as Chairman, Rebecca Schave and

Mitch Johnson for Co-chair, and Josh Stern as Recoding Secretary.

The Chicken shoot will be July 13th at 12pm at the Deerfield Rod & Gun Club. Bring your

dues receipt and get three free rounds. Annie Oakley at 3pm, hunt and cover as

available. $4 per shooter per round or 3 for $10. We have the club until 6pm.

The Tough Mudder is Aug 24th and we still have spots available. Its $75 per participant. You

will get an IBEW 159 t-shirt, bag drop at the event, an extra beer, and free lunch. Please

forward your email to renew159@ibew.org if you are interested and make sure to find Josh

Stern, Pablo Baxter, or myself, Cam Knuteson to get your check for the event. Make it out to

IBEW159 memo: RENEW159 TM.

Our next meeting will be at the Madison Labor Temple at 4:30pm in room 212 across the hall

from the General Membership meeting. Please come by and join in.

In Solidarity,

Cam Knuteson

RENEW Chairman

18 Holes with Cart and Lunch for Four $280!

If you are 35 or younger, there is a RENEW committee which meets before the meeting at the Labor Temple in Room 201 A&B. The RENEW committee is about developing friendships, doing well for the community, and building brotherhood among IBEW members.

ARREARS – MONTHLY COUNTER DUES

LUCAS ALEXANDER MARK KASTIGAR ZACHARY ROGERS JOSH ALT KEVIN KATOVICH MICHAEL RUFF LAUREN ANDREWS PAUL KERR JUSTIN RUSTLIE MARK BACON TODD KILEY ROBERT SANDERS ZACH BALCH RICK KISLIA EDMUND SCANLON KEVIN BANES DAVID KLEIFGEN BRANDON SCHAITEL LEON BARRETT ELLICIA KLETT JOSHUA SCHELL JAMES BELLINGER TANNER KOLBECK NATHAN SCHNEIDER NIKOLAS BOLIN JAMES KOMATZ JOSHUA SCHOCH JOSEPH BOURASSA NATHANIEL KRAUSE TANNER SEE TRAVIS BROWN RACHIA KRUEGER JOSEPH SEEFELDT BRAD BURZYNSKI FATOS KUQO JACOB SEIBERT KURT BYSTOL RANDY LANDPHIER MITCHELL SHERMAN JASON CAMPBELL JAMES LARSON DONAVON SMITH DALE CARPENTER JUSTIN LARSON DUSTIN SOLCHENBERGER GORDON CASEY MARK LEE VICTOR SPATARO MICHAEL CHADWELL ZACHARY LINK TY STEWART DOUGLAS CLAUSEN CURTIS LYON JAMES STUHR JAMIR CROWLEY COLE MAIER BAILEY STUMPNER ZACHARY CUMMINGS ALEXANDER MANION NICHOLAS TARBET BRYAN DELORIMIER FREDERICK MANKEFOR VINCENT TERASA BENJAMYN DENEEN JUSTIN MARTIG JACOB TONSTAD MATTHEW DERENNE PHIL MARTINSON ANDREW TRAVERSE ENRI DERVISHI ALEXANDER MARX MARQUICE VANCE JENA DIETZMAN JOEL MASARIK ISAAC VAREBROOK COREY DOBSON ERICA MCVAY BRYAN VIND JAMES DULMES JOHN MEINHOLZ SEAN VOLKER

KYLE DZIUBLA PHIL MERHEMIC THOMAS WAGNER JOHN ERICKSON GAVIN MOORE SHANE WARD ALEX ESSER CODY MUSSEHL SHELDON WARD JOSEPH FARNSWORTH ROBERT MYERS DEREK WARD RICHARD FASSL TYLER NIESL BRENT WEHRENBERG LUKAS GERSICH MITCHELL OAKEY PETER WEIKERT ANDREW GRAMLING CALEB O'BOYLE CANYON WEILER SCOTT GROSS DION OKESON CRAIG WELLS MICHEL GUELTZOW TRENTON OTT JAY WESTON JIM HAAK CHRISTOPHER PETERSON FRITZ WESTPHAL SHINAR HEIDER GREGORY PLASS RYAN WIELAND TEAGAN HEILMAN MASON PLUIM ETHAN WILKINSON STEVEN HENRY ROSENDO PORTILLO JOSHUA WIPF SHAWN HIME CANDACE PRIEBE CODY WORRELL JESSE HOLLENBECK SAMUEL REILLY JONATHAN YEADON ROBERT HUMPHREY SETH REPLOGLE JASON ZENZ JOSHUA JONES GILBERT RICHARDS MICHAEL ZOUSKI YAZAN KAMAL ANGEL RIOS

RONALD FOYE ADAM MELKA TRENT STADELE JIM HAAK DEANDRE NEWSON NATHAN TUGGLE SHINAR HEIDER KIM RAMMINGER RANDY WAGNER JOHN KOPISH RICHARD REIS THOMAS WAGNER HOWARD LAMERE MARK SCHREIER HEATHER WIPPERFURTH DONALD MAAHS KRISTINE ZWEIFEL

ARREARS – WORKING DUES

* MONTHLY DUES (effective 1/1/2019) *

$19.00 Dues goes to IBEW Pension

$19.00 Dues goes to IBEW General Fund

$ 1.75 Dues goes to Local 159 Dues

$39.75 Total

1st Quarter (Jan/Feb/Mar) Pay by

December 31st

2nd Quarter (Apr/May/June) Pay by

March 31st

3rd Quarter (July/Aug/Sept) Pay by

June 30th

4th Quarter (Oct/Nov/Dec) Pay by

September 30th

Death benefits are assessed for any active or

retired member who passes away. Active

members pay $1.00 for each death benefit.

This is also a benefit for all #159 active and

retired members. We are currently on death

benefit #257. If you currently have your

union dues set up on bill pay with your

bank, make sure you are sending $39.75

each month. Remember to check on death

benefits. We accept checks, cash (in person),

debit/credit cards (in person or by phone

during business hours) and money orders.

DUES NOT PAID IN A TIMELY MANNER

MAY CAUSE THE

LOSS OF SOME OR ALL BENEFITS.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY

DUES TIMELY. IBEW #159 IS NOT

REQUIRED TO SEND OUT BILLING

STATEMENTS

IBEW LOCAL 159

4903 COMMERCE COURT

MCFARLAND WI 53558

608-255-2989 www.ibew159.org

Follow us on Instagram at ibewlocal159

or like us on Facebook

CONGRATULATIONS

APPRENTICESHIP

GRADUATES

INSIDE

Tyler Ayers Michel Gueltzow David Bade Matthew Hillebrand

Amanda Becker Michael Johnson

Curtis Belter Duane Kreklow Darin Berge Kevin Sankbeil

Timothy Boettcher Jonathan Schuett* Tyler Box Jacob Seibert

Michael Bunderson Matthew Twombly Daniel Crans Seth Urso

Kyle Erickson Jacob Welch Logan Fahlgren William Ziege

VDV

Nicholas Turany* Fritz Westphal

------------------------------------------------

* = Outstanding Apprentice

------------------------------------------------

Thank you to the family of Henry Amundson for the generous Suchoman

Scholarship Donation. What a lovely way to honor Henry’s memory and

dedication to IBEW Local 159 and the electrical field!

THANK YOU

IBEW Local Union 159 4903 Commerce Court McFarland, WI 53558

Find breaking news & information at the Local 159 Facebook page: facebook.com/IBEWLocal159

CONTACTS: Local 159 Office (608) 255-2989, office@ibew159.org Apprenticeship Office (608) 221-3321, wijatc.org Department of Safety & Professional Services (DSPS)(Licensing) (608) 266-2112, dsps.wi.gov WEEBF, Health Insurance & Benefits (608) 276-9111, weebf.org or Wisconsin Electrical Employees Benefits Fund (WEEBF) (800) 422-2128

MONTHLY MEETINGS: Office open late, First Wednesday of every month, until 7:00pm Retirement Luncheon: Second Monday of every month at 11:30am, location varies. Union Meeting: Second Thursday of every month, Madison Labor Temple, 5:30pm Renew Meeting: Second Thursday of every month, Madison Labor Temple at 4:30pm Executive Meeting: Fourth Monday of every month, Union Hall at 4:30pm