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  • January 2020 Labor World Article

    Dear Sisters and Brothers,

    Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New-Year,

    Local #73’s Christmas Party was a great time for a great cause. Fun activities for the families including pictures with Santa while visiting with old friends and making new ones. Thanks to everyone who showed up to make the party such a great success from planning to set-up and take-down. Thanks Kay & Pete Daniels and Dawn & Kayla Blaylock for the bingo and the prizes, Ginger Gilbrech for running the “ornament making” workshop. And of course, a very special thank you to Herb Crockett again for making sure Santa Claus was able to stop by to spend some time with us and take a few pictures.

    Local 73’s membership and their families certainly stepped up again donating gifts, food and cash to help fellow Brothers and Sisters have a little brighter Holiday. One of the founding principles of the IBEW is “To assist each other in sickness and distress” and this principle was fulfilled this Holiday season. This spirit of caring and giving reflects the meaning of Brotherhood/Sisterhood and is how we need to treat each other the entire year. Don’t look at it as a hand out, but a hand up. We all need a little help from time to time and if anyone is going to help I would sure hope it would be our union brothers and sisters. Hope we all keep paying it forward when we can. We all have opportunities every day to lead by example and influence others in a positive way. If it’s mentoring an apprentice, a new-hire or just supporting another co-worker, how we treat each other matters. It creates a positive work environment and a representation of who we are as an organization.  Always strive to do your best, so you can inspire others to be their best.

    The next phase of our political action is getting underway this month with the start of legislative sessions in Washington and Idaho as we work with lawmakers to promote and protect our interests. Again, electrical workers will be under attack in Idaho with bills to eliminate electrical licensing and diminish apprentice training and safety. Please get involved like so many did last year to defend our interests against those who wish to reduce our value and diminish our work to a point where it will be performed by the most desperate workers with no other choice than to do whatever work is available. And this is exactly the situation our enemies in the Idaho legislature are trying to create. We all understand supply and demand and their desire to increase the supply of available electrical workers during a worker shortage, but what they’re trying to do is not how you fix that problem. Theirs’ is a race to the bottom that harms workers, business, consumers and the general public by taking the value out of our industry and making electrical work and installations less safe for everyone.  

    There are so many different opinions out there about unions, about the purpose and value of labor unions, of workers exercising their federal rights of joining together with a collective voice to affect their wages, hours and working conditions. There are business interests out there that see unions as an enemy of business, a force fighting against their success. And there are others who see us as a necessary and valuable partner in business, working with them to help ensure their success with a highly skilled and productive workforce. There are political interests who view unions as ultra-partisan opposition to their efforts, while others see us as the very constituents they vowed to represent and the vehicle necessary to achieve a better life for ordinary hard-working folks, a concerned and organized non-partisan group interested in workers’ rights working to create a better life for ALL. In the general public many see unions as something that was necessary decades ago, but are no longer needed. They see us as a narrow-minded greedy group of workers only concerned with our own benefit, harming business and protecting poor performers.  There are others though who see us as a path to a better life for all workers. They feel that the mere presence of labor unions puts pressure on all employers, even non-union employers to pay attention to the needs and wants of their employees, if for no other reason than just to try and keep their employees from wanting to unionize. All these differing views and opinions exist even throughout the labor movement with union members and in our own local union. For the IBEW, from the local unions all the way to the I.O. our mission and purpose are clearly spelled out in our founding principles from 1891. We all took an oath to uphold these principles and to further the purposes for which our union was instituted.  Our purpose is in what our founding members called our Declaration and our Objects and our value is in achieving these goals.

    Declaration of the IBEW

    Our cause is the cause of human justice, human rights, human security.

    We refuse, and will always refuse, to condone or tolerate dictatorship or oppression of any kind.

    We will find and expel from our midst any who might attempt to destroy, by subversion, all that we stand for.

    This Brotherhood will continue to oppose communism, Nazism or any other subversive "ism".

    We will support our God, our Nations, our Union.

    Objects of the IBEW

    • To organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada, including all those in public utilities and electrical manufacturing, into local unions,

    • To promote reasonable methods of work,

    • To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,

    • To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible),

    • To assist each other in sickness or distress,

    • To secure employment,

    • To reduce the hours of daily labor,

    • To secure adequate pay for our work,

    • To seek a higher and higher standard of living,

    • To seek security for the individual,

    • And by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.

      So, even with all the differing views and opinions of unions if we stay focused on our purpose, striving to achieve our goals and understanding the reasons for our efforts and actions the purpose and value of our union and all labor unions should be clear. “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

      IBEW 73 Committees continue to come together and pick up momentum. The RENEW Committee (Reach out and Engage Next-gen Electrical Workers) is meeting on the first Thursday’s of each month at 6:00PM at the Union Hall with good information, Solidarity and a few door-prizes.

      Other committees to deal with our essential functions necessary for our growth and success. Organizing, Brotherhood, Safety, Education, Political-Action, Community Involvement and RENEW are the committees we’re currently working on. If you’re interested in helping with the essential functions necessary to grow and improve our union and help make our communities a better place for everyone contact the union hall for dates and times of committee planning meetings and volunteer opportunities. We Need Your Help!

    The “Retiree’s Club” is having breakfast/lunch rotating between Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston each month. Call or stop by the Hall (509-326-2182) or call Herb Crockett (208) 651-0729 for more details. Coeur d’Alene is at 9:00am at Breakfast Nook, 1719 N. 4th St. Lewiston is at 11:30am at Effie’s Tavern, 1120 Main St. The next one in Spokane is Wednesday, January 8th at 11:30 at Golden Corral on north Division.

    Remember to update your registration (re-sign) on the out-of-work book every month and avoid falling off the book. The e-mail address to resign via e-mail is local73resign@ibew73.orgYou must update your registration (re-sign) via e-mail, fax, mail or in person each and every month to remain registered on the out-of-work books. You can (re-sign) any time during the month, but it’s best to do it at the beginning of the month to avoid any issues that may keep you from re-signing in time. 

    Monthly membership dues increased January 1, 2020: the International Per-Capita portion of dues for all members increases $1.00 effective January 1, 2020. Therefore the new Local #73 monthly membership dues totals for the following classifications are:

    Inside Wireman/Apprentice/CE-CW - $47.20

    Residential Wireman/Apprentice - $47.20

    Sound & Comm Techs/Installers/Apprentices - $44.20

    Material Handlers - $42.00

    Electrical Inspectors - $45.20

    Remember to check your dues receipt “Yellow Ticket” to make sure you stay current and don’t get surprised with a $30 reinstatement fee when over three months behind, or even worse be dropped from membership after falling six months behind. If you are delinquent beyond three months the only way to become current is to pay in full all back dues owed including the reinstatement fee. If you don’t become current within six months you are dropped from membership and must re-apply for membership as a new member and appear before the Executive Board to have your (re)-application considered.

    For the construction members who participate in the Inland Empire Electrical Workers Healthcare Trust and the John Hancock retirement plan there will be informational/educational meetings in Spokane Tuesday, February 25th beginning at 5:00PM and Wednesday, February 26th one-on one retirement planning meetings for members 50 and older with John Hancock rep. Be looking for your reminder postcard.   

     We are very sad to announce the passing of members over the past year: Bert Jones, Les Wolff, Richard Zintek, Jess Jameson and Paul Kopplin

    Check out Local 73’s website at www.ibew73.org and get registered to keep up on what’s going on in your local and the labor movement in general. Also make sure to “like” us on Facebook at IBEW Local 73 and download our smart-phone APP at the App-Store or Google-Play, IBEW 73

    Remember always WORK-SAFE and do what you can to help make your workplace better for you and your co-workers in the New Year. We’re all in this together and we need to work together to make it better. Electrocutions continue to be in the “Fatal Four” (top four causes of construction worker fatalities as reported by OSHA) And of these electrocutions the vast majority were electricians who are trained in safe work practices of identifying and eliminating the hazards. Please take the time to attend safety classes when available and look into safety rules online lni.wa.gov/safety, dbs.idaho.gov/safety_code or osha.gov. Remember if you’re uncomfortable or unsure with any task always take the time to ask your supervisor/foreman. The most important part of any job is getting back home to our family and friends at the end of the day. Learn more at https://www.osha.gov/workers/index.html

     Best wishes for the New Year,

     Ken Brown,

     BM/FS




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