2 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

Inside this issue

Business Mgr. report 3

District 106 report 4

District 545 report 5

Training reports 6

Training schedule insert

District 832 report 7

Funds report 10

Deceased members 11

Meeting Schedule 11

Scholarship 12

Cover Story

BULLETIN BOARD

Training Schedule 4

Shops/Quarries/

Surveyors 6

Meeting Schedule 6

SPECIALLY NOTIFIED

MEETINGS 7

In the cover photo, Burt

Crane is setting precast

for GC James H. Maloy on

the Rt. 4 bridge in

Mechanicville, NY.

SPECIAL NOTE!

More and more of the

larger projects will have

Mandatory Requirements

such as drug testing, up

to date certifications and

possible background

checks.

Please be prepared if you

are called upon.

REMINDER!

Please take the time

this winter to update

any personal infor-

mation (address, phone

numbers, email address

and qualifications) with

your district office.

SAVE THE DATE

District 106 annual

Children’s Christ-

mas Party will be

held on Saturday,

December 6th at

the Shriner’s

12 – 3 p.m.

OFFICE CLOSING

All 3 district offices, 106, 545 and 832 will be

closed on the following dates:

November 27-28, 2014

December 25-26, 2014

Enjoy the Holidays!

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP

MEETINGS

JANUARY

January 20, 2015

Shriner’s – 8 PM

Glenmont, NY

JULY

July 28, 2015

Holiday Inn – 8 PM

Syracuse, NY

Training schedules for all three districts are enclosed

with this newsletter. Please review the classes offered

and sign up for classes online or by phone, fax or email.

“Please take advantage of our great training

programs to keep your skills current with the

demands of the industry.”

3

Business Manager’s

Report

Daniel J. McGraw

Business Manager

Happy Holidays to you and your

families. Once again, it is the

close of another very good year for

Local 158. As you will read in the

accompanying District reports,

work was plentiful throughout most

of our Local’s jurisdiction and man

hours worked met or exceeded last

year’s total. Projects large and

small put thousands of our mem-

bers to work and we were at times

faced with trying to find operators

to fill the jobs. Steady work, and

the related increased hours con-

tributed to our benefit funds, is vital

to all of us. The combination of

good work hours and positive in-

vestment returns has allowed us to

gradually increase our welfare

benefits, bolster our pension and

still maintain a zero increase in our

health fund contributions. I am

very optimistic that next year will

be even better for our Local. While

we can all agree these are good

things to hear, we must not lose

sight of the fact that we still face

tremendous challenges. Competi-

tion from non-union contractors

remains a constant problem. The

political atmosphere we live in,

both nationally and statewide, is

not labor friendly and we are con-

stantly playing defense. Perhaps

most discouraging though is the

fact that many of our members

look at our Local as a great way of

making a living but are reluctant to

involve themselves in the battles

we face. Not a day goes by that

we are not fighting for our work on

the jobsite, and fighting for our

work at nightly public hearings and

town meetings, attending rallies

and picketing jobsites, lobbying the

halls of our representatives or trying

to organize operating engineers.

We can only thrive if all of us are in-

volved.

The 2014 state and national elec-

tions are now over and the political

map has changed. Nationally we

will have a Congress controlled by

Republicans and the White House

occupied by someone who has, at

the very least, been a disappoint-

ment when it comes to our bread

and butter issues. The Operating

Engineers have always supported

people who support us, regardless

of Party, and I hope our organiza-

tion nationally can count on our

friends in Congress in both parties

to protect us from the extreme right

wing attacks that are certain to

come. Statewide, we face a

Democratic controlled Assembly, a

Republican controlled Senate and

a Democratic Governor. We have

some very big job issues that will be

addressed by our elected leaders

in New York very soon. Perhaps the

biggest issue is the current morato-

rium on hydro-fracking. I don’t

need to tell you the benefits for our

economy, our country, upstate

New York, and the Operating Engi-

neers hydro-fracking brings. We all

live here and have families and we

all want to ensure energy produc-

tion in any form is done safely. We

are more than satisfied that hydro-

fracking in New York is safe and we

are vigorously advocating the end-

ing of the moratorium. Other very

important issues we are weighing in

on are the Governor’s push for “De-

sign/Build” projects which would

potentially circumvent competitive

bidding in NY as well as attempts by

contractor and insurance organiza-

tions to weaken existing worker

safety legislation.

Let me close by saying I am optimis-

tic about the upcoming work sea-

son and the opportunities it will pre-

sent. We need to be prepared to

take advantage of these opportu-

nities though, in order to capitalize

on them. Please take advantage

of our great training programs to

keep your skills current with the de-

mands of the industry. There will be

a shortage of skilled operators in

the upcoming years and we should

be the organization that can fill the

void. Our Local has a history that

goes back to 1902 and has thrived

because we have always been

able to do so and the future should

be no exception.

I look forward to seeing you at our

membership meetings throughout

the year.

“…many of our members

look at our Local as a great

way of making a living but

are reluctant to involve

themselves in the battles we

face. … We can only thrive if

all of us are involved.”

4 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

Albany, NY

District 106 report

Capital District Once again, it has been a very busy

construction season for Operating Engi-neers in the greater Albany area. Work continues on the $180 million dollar Patroon Island Bridge project (Halmar/Servidone Joint Venture). All of the bridge deck on the eastbound lane has been replaced but there is still work to be performed on the westbound lane. Nasdi Demolition has recently arrived on this pro-ject to perform the remaining demolition to the piers on the I-87 and I-90 ramps. Lane Construction kept several Operating Engi-neers busy this summer on the I-787 pro-ject. Lane will be working with D.A. Collins next season on the last phase of this $100 million dollar endeavor. The ZEN (Zero En-ergy Nanotech) project at SUNY Albany has employed many operators all season and it looks like there will be another major job at the site when this one is complete. C.D. Perry and D.A. Collins were busy at the Port of Coeymans performing work in prepara-tion for the arrival of Tappan Zee Construc-tors who will be assembling components of that massive bridge. D.A. Collins continued work all summer on the $300 million dollar Gilboa Dam while Keller has kept quite a few operators working all season at the Ferguson warehouse in Coxsackie. Most of our local contractors have also been busy with various projects throughout the year in Columbia, Dutchess and Greene coun-ties.

Looking ahead to next season, the LaFarge Cement Plant and the Albany Con-vention Center are two large projects that will be starting soon. We have secured a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on the con-vention center next year in the Capital Dis-trict. You should be aware that MSHA cer-tification is required to work on site at LaFarge. We, along with our Training De-partment, have been working with the Federal government as well as LaFarge to ensure we are equipped to send certified operators. Please contact Training Director Bill Gray if you have any questions. Callanan Industries and Hudson River Con-struction have secured the Albany County, City of Albany and Rensselaer paving con-tracts. There are also several sizeable jobs in Columbia, Greene, and Dutchess coun-ties. We are awaiting a decision on the lo-

cation of the casino to be built in the Capital District. All of the owners who have submit-ted applications for their project have negoti-ated PLA’s with the Building Trades. Regard-less of who the successful applicant is, the construction work will be performed 100% union. We will next turn our sites to organiz-ing the engineers who will be working there permanently.

Fulton, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schenectady

Work continued this year at the Global Foundries site in Malta. New projects on the books for this site include the HPM building where LeChase will be the Construction Man-ager and Keller the site contractor. Sano Ru-bin will be doing the foundation work and Mid-West has the erection. The next building that will be coming out to bid is the CUB (Central Utility Building) attached to the TDC. This project is in design stage now. J.H. Maloy has the clearing and they are doing the test bores on a 24" waterline as well. Fab 8.1 is producing wafers but isn’t fully ramped yet. The start of Fab 8.2 depends on the success and production of 8.1.

The former American Locomotive Works

on Freeman’s Bridge Road in Schenectady is a now a brownfield remediation site called Mohawk Harbor. Rifenberg Contracting is performing the work on this sixty acre site that includes a hotel, condos, retail stores and a possible casino with an estimated value of $450 million dollars. Operators with Rifenberg Contracting are currently hammer-ing out slabs with Metzler Removal. They are crushing on site and producing road base. This, along with the dredged material from the constructed harbor will raise the grade by six feet. This is an impressive project and will be a great accomplishment for Metroplex and the Galesi Group. Building 33 at GE is out for bid. It is a total renovation down to the steel and slab and is valued at $11 million.

D.A. Collins continues work on the Am-

sterdam pedestrian bridge as well as locks 11 and 12 in Tribes Hill. They are starting the site remediation at the National Grid Broadway yard, a former MGP site. This job has been let in three phases. The first phase and third phases went union and were awarded to Maximillian and D.A. Collins. Aggressive bid-ding estimators and staff at D.A. Collins should be commended for obtaining the last phase.

Continued on page 9

District 106 Office

44 Hannay Lane

Glenmont, NY 12077

Phone (518) 431-0600

Fax (518) 431-0726

Staff:

DAN MCGRAW, BUS.

MGR., LOCAL 158

BUSINESS AGENTS:

BILL WALSH

JEFF KELLOGG

ROB AIKENS

MARK MINCHER

MIKE LYONS,

LABOR RELATIONS

SPECIALIST

LORI GIBBONS,

OFFICE MANAGER

MICHELLE MOORE,

ADMIN. ASST.

Training Staff:

BILL GRAY, DIRECTOR

STEVE PAYNE, INSTRUCTOR

5

Syracuse, NY

District 545 report

Thanks to a few large projects this year, members received greatly needed hours and for some, more than they had planned. Once again, the end of a busy construction season is closing in. We have started negotiating the shop and municipal agreements that are due to expire this fall and early next spring. We also have multi-year projects and PLA’s still underway, as well as a new fast track PLA for the Onondaga County Amphitheater targeted for completion by the end of next year. Furthermore, the Onondaga County Amphitheater was approved to begin late fall or early winter 2014. Various wind farms that were proposed may get new life now that the elected officials who were holding them up are gone and the $600 million dollar ALCOA modernization in Massena could start next year along with the possible start of the Grasse river dredging project in the spring. Our local contractors, Economy Paving and WD Malone, have also had several pro-jects in District 545.

The work for the Honeywell Reme-diation Project of Onondaga Lake is still ongoing. Sevenson Environmental has completed the dredging portion, but will continue to do the capping through 2015. The Novelis Expansion Project is moving along and the gas line in Seneca County will be completed this Decem-ber. Work for Spring 2015 looks promis-ing with the Nine Mile Refuel, Nine Mile ground upgrades, Onondaga Lake Clean Up, the Oswego Break Wall and several DOT projects.

In the Mohawk Valley, Tom Halstead, would like to thank members for taking the time to call about news-paper articles and work activity in their

prospective areas. Your calls are greatly appreciated!

Work east and south of Syracuse looks very promising for next year, in-cluding $100 million luxury retail and entertainment center at Turning Stone Casino, as well as the Quad C project at SUNYIT. There is much more to come with this project which is part of the $1.5 billion NANO Technology Initiative. The $53 million dollar Utica North/South Arterial project is going well as are other DOT projects including the Griffiss Taxiway project, Utica City School PLA, Cornell University new building/renovation and infrastructure projects, City of Ithaca Water Treatment Plant Project, Tompkins County building project, Wind farm maintenance, Cortland County landfill closure project, Cayuga Power Generation Plant and a couple privately funded projects to boot. All of these projects are keeping our members and contractors busy. While some of these projects are com-plete, others are ongoing and a few are planning to go all winter. Looking for-ward, Oneida and Tompkins Counties have some exciting prospects for future work seasons.

Up north, things got off to a very slow start for 2014 but started to pick up with the start of the St. Lawrence Gas line project and the GM cleanup,

both of which started in August. Even-tually everyone on our list got out and as of Thanksgiving, most are still work-ing. There are quite a few large pro-jects scheduled to start this spring and summer and others are going out to bid this winter.

Numerous projects again next year will require Hazmat, OSHA and fork lift certifications. Please utilize the Train-ing Site this winter to update your skills or acquire new certifications. Thanks again to all our sponsors who helped make the Bernie DeJoseph Fund Golf Outing a huge success rais-ing about $17,000 this year. A special thanks to Karl Button, Tom Halstead, Dave Van Deusen and Sarah McKernan for all they did putting this event to-gether. Anyone interested in helping out with next year’s event can contact Sarah for notification regarding the next Foundation Committee meeting.

District 545 Staff:

TERRY HOGLE, DISTRICT

MANAGER

BUSINESS AGENTS: BILL SHELLY

KARL BUTTON

TOM HALSTEAD

SARAH MCKERNAN

ADMIN. ASST.

District 545 office:

127 East Glen Avenue

Syracuse, NY 13205

Phone (315) 492-1752

Fax (315) 469-7870

6 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

District Training & Apprenticeship

District 106

training site

44 Hannay Lane

Glenmont, NY 12077

Phone (518) 431-1044

Fax (518) 431-1048

Staff:

BILL GRAY, DIRECTOR

STEVE PAYNE, INSTRUCTOR

District 545

training site

814 Co. Rt. 23

Constantia, NY 13044

Phone (315) 623-7176

Fax (315) 623-7194

Staff:

JOHN LEEMANN,

SITE COORDINATOR

Attendance has been good at the training site all summer and into the fall. We have had journeyman and dedicated apprentices coming in to improve their skills and help out with site projects. The training site hosted the NYS Crane test this year for the first time in a long while. District 545 had three members pass the test to achieve their NYS crane license after attending our crane class earlier this year. Check out our new website: www.unyetraining.org. We have added some new classes this year, the new training schedule for 2014-2015 is posted on the website and you will be able to sign up for classes through the website or by mail, email or simply calling the site. Upcoming classes in December include OSHA 30hr, 8hr HAZWOPER refresher and CDL training as needed. Check your certifications and contact the site for in-formation on upcoming classes. We continue with general site cleanup activities, with journeyman and apprentices utilizing the new John Deere 190 Rubber Tired Excavator (on loan from the International), our new Cat 930 loader, dozers and graders. We look forward to continuing with site improvements into the training season. We would also like to say thank you to the journeymen, apprentices and retirees that have come by to help out with cleanup, the NYS Crane test and the several Construction Career Days we attended this fall. We look forward to seeing everyone during the upcoming Training Season.

District 832

training site

121 State Rt. 70

Dansville, NY 14437

Phone (607) 545-8654

Staff:

Marty Swauger,

Site Coordinator

We are gearing up and looking forward to beginning this year’s training season. We will be adding one weld-ing & fabrication class and one lead awareness class. We are strongly urging our members to attend a lead awareness class as it is now state mandated that persons working on a site where children may be present must have their “lead handler” certification. We also urge you as a member to retain all of your qualifica-tions for OSHA, as the employers are asking it to be updated every three to five years. We are all aware OSHA is “good for life.” However, insurance carriers and companies are requesting it to be periodically up-dated. Also, please be aware Hazmat and Asbestos is a required yearly refresher. So, it is even more perti-nent that members attend, re-qualify, and keep their qualifications up to date. This expands your availability for potential work placement and longevity on the job. We encourage our members to take advantage of the training program as it is an opportunity to further one self personally and professionally. You can sign up for classes online at our new website (below). If you have any questions regarding training, contact any of our District Training sites for assistance. We hope everyone enjoyed a successful year and we look forward to seeing you in the classroom.

With the summer coming to a close, it’s time to gear up for the winter classes. Please check expiration dates on all your licenses or certifications. Remember, a forklift certification is good for three years but Hazmat and Asbestos need to be renewed each year. Go to our new web site at www.iuoe158training.org to sign up for any upcoming winter classes. Also on the web site you will find the Pipeline training schedule put on by the International. New to Local 158 training this year is a Brokk Robotic Machine. The Brokk will be shared with six training sites across upstate NY, Local 17, Local 137, Local 158 (Districts 106, 545, 832) and Local 463. Each site will have the Brokk for 2 months and then it moves to the next training site so if you are looking for training on the Brokk please call your training site to make an ap-pointment. District 106 would like to congratulate Keith Tambasco for completing his apprenticeship with us. Keith and four other 158 members also passed the NYS practical crane test.

New Training Websites!

District 106 – www.iuoe158training.org

Districts 545 and 832 – www.unyetraining.org

ON LINE CLASS SIGN UP

ALL 3 DISTRICTS!

7

Rochester, NY

District 832 report

District 832 Offices:

PO Box 93310

3174 Brighton-Henrietta

Town Line Road

Rochester, NY 14692

Phone (585) 272-9890

Fax (585) 272-7785

Staff:

DICK ROSS, DISTRICT MANAGER

BUSINESS AGENTS:

GRANT MALONE

PAUL MCCORMICK

JOE AGNELLO

TOM SCHWEIZER

JOHN TARASUK

BETTY JUDY

OFFICE MANAGER

TRAINING COORDINATOR,

UPSTATE NY ENGINEERS TRAINING

COLLEEN FRONCKOWIAK

ADMIN. ASST.

TRAINING SITE:

MARTY SWAUGER

DIST 832 COORDINATOR

As we approach the winter months, there will certainly be an impact on the pace of road and bridge con-struction projects and to a lesser ex-tent, building projects. We have had a decent construction season to date. Could we have done more? Certainly. We are always looking to maximize the amount of work our members will perform in any given year, but when you have State and Federal government unwilling or un-able to provide the funding for much needed infrastructure improve-ments, we as a community, suffer. Stationary Report: We do have many things to be thankful for, including the fact that our Local is a mixed Local, including Hoisting and Portable Charters, as well as a Stationary Engineer Char-ter. This means as a diverse Local, we can enjoy steady work opportu-nities throughout the year without weather having a negative impact on some of these jobs. The Stationary Engineers have seen steady growth over the last decade through organ-izing new units to the expansion of the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Complex to the signing of Jones Lang LaSalle, a Company well known and signatory with the Oper-ating Engineers nationally as a Com-pany that is currently performing fa-cility maintenance at the Xerox Webster Complex. It is absolutely imperative to the Operating Engi-neers to protect our members who are currently working under Collec-tively Bargained Agreements whose jobs may be outsourced to Compa-nies like Jones Lang LaSalle to ensure that if there is a transition from one signatory to another, our members’ wages, benefits and terms and con-ditions will in no way be diminished, but enhanced and that we have a strong successor agreement in place to protect our members.

Negotiations in 2015:

Highland Hospital

Delphi

Towns of Amity, Canadice, Na-ples and the Village of Dundee

Hoisting & Portable Report: We are fortunate to be working un-der multiple Project Labor Agree-ments ensuring steady work under favorable conditions for our mem-bers to include:

The second phase for school modernization. Funding has been approved by the New York State Senate and Assembly estimated to be $435 million

City of Rochester Intermodal Transportation Center Project Labor Agreement

City of Rochester Inner Loop Transportation Project Labor Agreement

Phase IV of the I390 Route 15 and 15A improvement Project Labor Agreement with the NYS Department of Transportation

The City of Rochester Marina Redevelopment Project Labor Agreement

Geneva Finger Lakes Communi-ty College Project Labor Agreement

Numerous road and bridge pro-jects

Negotiations in 2015:

Heavy Highway

Building Agreement

Tunnel Shops and Quarries: The High Acres Landfill is proposing the addition of a rail spur to allow for more refuse to be imported to their location from various areas around the State which could trans-late into 7 to 8 new full time Oper-

UPSTATE NEW YORK ENGINEERS

TRAINING FUND

Districts 545 and 832

Mailing Address:

P. O. Box 92600

Rochester, NY 14692

Phone (585) 730-7329

Email:

trainingfund@rochester.twcbc.com

Website:

www.unyetraining.org

8 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

District 832 cont.

mainly in neighboring Pennsylvania. There is going to be a tremendous amount of pipeline work in our Lo-cal, including 17 miles of 16” pipe for National Fuel Gas in Steuben County beginning in January of 2015, as well as multiple other loca-tions in our Local’s jurisdiction as reported in the 545 and 106 District Reports. Those who have been traveling out of state to work should start to consider the many benefits of working within our own Local. We continue to lobby our State officials to allow hydraulic fracturing in Upstate New York. When that work is allowed to begin, there will be a tremendous uptick in the number of hours worked in our Local. The Corning Glass expansion pro-ject is continuing ensuring steady employment for many Operating Engineers and signatory contrac-tors. We have continued to be busy with contract negotiations with multiple town highway departments.

ating Engineer positions to handle the increased volumes. Negotiations in 2015:

Elderlee, Monroe Tractor, An-derson and DiFiore Shops

Hanson-Batavia Sand, Aggre-gates, Honeoye Falls Quarries

We will endeavor to enhance the Agreements ensuring prosperity and job security for our memberships. Southern Tier Report: The Jasper Windfarm project went well this year with the first ten tur-bines erected. There are an addi-tional 40 turbines planned as the transmission lines are upgraded to handle the additional capacity. Department of Transportation work remains slow in Region 6. Our signa-tories continue to be successful se-curing work that is available. Pipeline has been very good to many of our members who are willing to travel to where the work is, which can sometimes be out of state,

Training: Please take advantage of our comprehensive training that is available to you. Make sure you update your credentials as needed. We now have several contractors who are insisting on safety and awareness training above and beyond that required by State and Federal Safety and Health Agencies. This training not only makes you more marketable as an Operat-ing Engineer, but also enhances your safety awareness on the job ultimately making for a safer and productive work environ-ment. Bring a Brother or Sister Operat-ing Engineer with you for im-portant Local and District up-dates. We look forward to see-ing you there. We hope you and your families all have a safe and happy holiday season.

9

DISTRICT 106

Keller has started site work on a

natural gas filling station in Manheim in Herkimer County. This facility will fill trucks from the Iroquois pipeline to transport natural gas to remote areas where no gas lines are available. This of course, brought out the anti-fracking protestors at the town planning board this summer. Despite their opposition the project was approved and has started. JH Maloy performed work on the Route 4 Bridge in Mechanicville for most of the summer and hired Burt Crane to set the precast.

North Country We have been busy in the North

Country this season. With the excep-tion of the Hudson River dredging pro-ject, most of our work has been on smaller jobs. The Hudson River project alone has employed over 150 Operat-ing Engineers all of whom have been working many long hours. As with any job of this magnitude, it has had its try-ing days. Once again, we have exceed-ed the expected yardage to be re-moved from the river this year and the job is ahead of schedule. The skill and professionalism of our Operators can-not be emphasized enough. At this time, it looks like next year will be the final year of dredging for the initial pro-ject. Studies are ongoing to determine if there is any additional dredging or landside remediation that should be done before the systems are disman-tled and the land is restored to its orig-inal state. The State is also looking into navigational dredging which would be very beneficial to the Operating Engi-neers. Another job in the North Coun-try that has started is the demolition of the Pfizer Pharmaceutical buildings in Rouses Point by Brandenburg Industri-al. Although it provides us with work in the short run, it is alarming to see large businesses in the north closing their doors and moving to another state or country. If the decision is made to re-move all the buildings, this job could go well into next year. We are looking at the possibility of the Champlain Hud-son Power Express power line from Canada to New York City starting to come together next year. These power

Continued from page 4

lines will be buried the length of Lake Champlain. It will then come on shore and follow the rail road right of ways for approximately 130 miles before going into the Hudson River and on to New York City. This project is ex-pected to employ up to one hundred Operating Engineers and is going to take several years to complete.

I encourage everyone in the off season to take advantage of our training facilities to be sure we are always ready for the next challenge ahead.

Southern Tier Work in the Southern Tier was

relatively slow this season, but it looks like we have a good possibility of an earlier than usual start next year. The award for the casino gam-ing license is going to be issued in the upcoming weeks, with two potential locations in the Southern Tier; The Traditions at the Glen or Tioga Downs. There are Project Labor Agreements in place for whichever site receives the casino license. The Constitution Pipeline has been mov-ing along with their permits. The Fed-eral Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued their final environ-mental impact statement which came out positive in our favor. Now, they have 90 days to issue the permit. They are looking to start clearing in February and then begin the main line sometime in May, depending on state approvals. There is also the 10 mile Laser line in Windsor, which is still in the process of receiving their permits, and the expansion of the Dunbar compressor station. It is pos-sible that the Public Service Commis-sion could issue these permits at the end of November. Even if they re-ceive their permits then, it is unclear at this point whether they will start before the end of this year. Depend-ing on these decisions, there is a real possibility of having a busy winter and an early season next year.

Shops, Quarries, Municipalities Our local contractors and con-

struction in general were very busy

this summer, which directly trans-lates to our shops and quarries working a lot of overtime and our members banking a lot of pension and welfare hours. Most of our quarries will be shutting down in the coming weeks, but not before the majority of our members had profitable seasons.

There were several negotia-tions in the Shops, Quarries and Municipalities in 2014. The Local saw a return to wage and benefit increases that are more in line with pre-2008 settlements, which is very encouraging moving forward. Our most recent negotiations in the pri-vate sector have included Precision Concrete Pumping, Lewis Crane, Warren Fane Trucking, Norlite Cor-poration, Morgan Linen and Rozell East. We are currently negotiating successor contracts with Callanan Industries for their King Road facility and Walter Pratt and Sons. We are optimistic that we will reach fair agreements at both locations.

As stated above, negotiations in the private sector have returned to “normalcy” in respect to total package increases. With a statewide cap on tax increases and increasing animosity towards public employees however, some of our municipal contract negotiations have been much more difficult. We recently reached agreements with the City of Schenectady and the Town of Rensselaerville where we obtained fair and equitable raises and kept health insurance increases at bay in the face of upsurges in the cost of those benefits. Negotiations with the Town of Vestal have been much more problematic and we are utilizing mediation to aid our collec-tive bargaining. Hopefully we will come to a resolution soon.

Special thanks are in order for all of the Stewards and members that were involved in all of these negotiations. Their input and expe-rience are invaluable when we bar-gain over wages, benefits and con-ditions.

10 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

Upstate NY Engineers Health Fund

Mark your Calendar!

The Upstate New York Engineers Health Fund is pleased to announce that effective January 1, 2015 dental benefit coverage will increase to $1,000.00 per year for each eligible family member. The Health Fund’s preferred provider EBS-RMSCO has changed their name to Lifetime Benefit Solutions. In December participants will receive new medical ID cards. The ID cards will contain new Member ID numbers as well as new Member Service phone numbers. A notice from Lifetime Benefit Solutions will be forthcoming to all eligible participants. It is important that you present your new ID cards to all your service providers. The new ID card contains new information that will assist your service providers with your health claim submission. Active participants can lose health coverage on May 31, September 30 or January 31. This loss of coverage is due to not meeting the minimum required hours to continue eligibility. Participants who have lost coverage on one of the three dates mentioned will regain eligibility on the first day of the month following 300 hours so long as the hours are worked in the immediate four month period start-ing on the first day of the month in which coverage was lost. This will avoid having to wait until the beginning of the next benefit period for coverage to start.

Upstate New York Engineers Health Fund

Daniel Harrigan, Administrator

101 Intrepid Lane

Syracuse, NY 13205 (315) 492-1796

District 106

Children’s Christmas Party – 12/6/14 Steak Roast – 8/23/15 Lanthier’s

Golf Tournament – 9/13/15 - Normanside

District 545

Picnic/Clambake – 8/16/15 Spinning Wheel

District 832

Clam Bake – 8/16/15

11

Deceased Members 2014

Membership Meetings

UMEETING SCHEDULE

Local 158 has general

membership meetings

twice a year in January

and July. In addition, each

district holds quarterly dis-

trict meetings as well as in-

formational meetings. All

meeting dates will be up-

dated on the website.

Jan – 1/20/15

Shriner’s

Glenmont

8:00 p.m.

July – 7/28/15

Holiday Inn, Syracuse

8:00 p.m.

District 106

Meetings start 7:00 p.m.

Cyprus Shriners,

27 Hannay Lane

Glenmont, NY

Feb – Bing. – 2/24/15

Mar – 3/24/15

Apr – 4/28/15

May – Plattsburgh – 5/26/15

June – 6/23/15

LONGEVITY – dinner

District 545

Meetings start 8:00 p.m.

Holiday Inn

Syracuse, NY

Mar – 3/12/15

June – 6/11/15 - Pins

Updates meetings

3/19/15 - Utica

6/18/15 – Canton

DISTRICT 832 Meetings start 7:00 p.m.

Rick’s Prime Rib

Rochester, NY

Mar – 3/17/15 - Pins

June - 6/16/15

Southern Tier

Training Site (6:30 p.m.)

3/19/15 - Pins

As a reminder, our General Membership Meetings for Local 158 occur twice a year, in January and July. Next year, our January meeting will be held in GLENMONT and the July meeting will be in Syracuse. The meeting schedule and any updates are posted on the website: www.iuoe158.org. Remember Brothers and Sisters, this is your union. Your ability to at-

tend meetings and have a voice is one of the most valuable benefits of being an Operating Engineer. It is your chance to hear information about work, your funds and your livelihood firsthand and it gives you an oppor-tunity to ask questions and be an active participant in this organization. We encourage everyone to make their best efforts to attend as many meetings as possible to ensure the solidarity and future of our union!

District 106

Robert F. Allison

Paul Bailey

Donald Borgeest

Robert D. Brennan

Frederick H. Bump

James E. Carll, Jr.

Jeffrey T. Cook

Gerald A. Cummings

Dennis Davy

Frank DeLuke

Gordon A. Dimick

Donald D. Duryaa

Joseph Fabozzi

George E. Fennessy

Glenn E. Hapeman

Michael Hollywood

Mark Hughes

Donald Hunt

George Ihlenburg

Richard F. Kohlbach

Louis M. Kotasek

Thomas M. LaDue

Paul W. Pardy

Leo Ranalli

Raymond Schwartz

Vincent Sheldon

Forrest H. Stevens, Sr.

Hollis VanSteenburg

George Waldron

Lendol Youker

Paul Zedar

District 545

Frank Banner

Kenneth Barry

George Bennett

Duane Bunyea

Reginald Burleigh

Frank Cammuso

Raymond Carswell

Glenn Cartwright

Paul Cinqmars

Herschel Davis

William Enslow

John Fichera

Robert France

Kenneth Goodway

James Guyett

Barry Haggerty

Rodney Hogle

Paul Kennerknecht

Philip Lawrence

Stanley Lisowski

Milton Marchand

James Milliman

Herbert Newell

Robert Nightingale

Michael Regan

Grant Rosekrans

Chester Scerra

John Sincebaugh

Bernard Stephens

Roger Vollmer

Harold Ward

Thomas White

Robert Youngs

District 832

Richard Boyle

John Chapman

Leon Fox

Harold Francisco

Francis Gaylord

John Hotchkiss

Loren Jock

Arthur Jones

Kenneth Kryk Jr.

Alton Larmon

Ralph Lee

George Lutz

Emmett McMahon

Fred Micheli

Walter Mitchell, Sr.

Elmore Monagle

Richard Murphy

Fred Saracenti

Christopher Scott

Robert Silvernail

Charles Stengle

Judson Street

Lee Van Lare

12 THE UPSTATE NY ENGINEER

NOV 2014

Jess M. Webb Memorial Scholarship

Gregg Slezak, son of Gregg R. Slezak, is this year’s recipient from District 106. Gregg is attending Paul Smiths College, majoring in ecological forest management.

District 545’s winner is Halee Beebe, daughter of Gerald Beebe. Halee is attending SUNY Geneseo and majoring in education.

District 832’s winner is Makenzie Wright, daughter of Christopher Wright. She is attending Niagara County Community College with a major in Digi-tal/media arts and film studies.

Congratulations to all the winners!

The Scholarship is open to children of members in good standing in Local 158, Districts 106, 545 or 832 who plan to continue their education after graduating high school. The winner of the award may go to any accredited college. The application process will begin next March and further infor-mation will be posted on our website www.iuoe158.org. The 2014 Schol-arship is $2,500.00 for each district.

C O N T A C T U S :

District 106:

44 Hannay Lane Glenmont, NY 12077

By phone:

(518) 431-0600

By Fax:

(518) 431-0726

By email:

TUinfo@iuoe158.org UT

Visit us online:

TUwww.iuoe158.orgUT

Office Hours:

8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

District 545:

127 East Glen Ave. Syracuse, NY 13205 (315) 492-1752

District 832:

PO Box 93310 Rochester, NY 14692 (585) 272-9890

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.iuoe158.org