NEWSLETTER 2007 BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT: AARON MURPHYDear Brothers & Sisters; It is that time again, as another year passes we can look back at a fairly good year for most of us. We had a busy year with negotiations in all sectors. We have successfully negotiated three year agreements for the ICI sector in the Structural and Rebar and more recently in the Residential sector. While we may not have gotten wage increases equivalent to some of the trades, we did get “fair” increases which keep our contractors competitive in the industry and helps us to control market share. We are still negotiating with the Overhead Door sector and hopefully will reach an agreement in the near future. We have started negotiations with our office staff as well and hopefully we can accommodate some of their wish list. Aside from negotiations we were still busy. Lots of new work is scheduled in all sectors, especially downtown. Our organizing is ongoing and has been very successful with new members and contractors coming on board. Our training programs are the best in the whole International. We are bringing in record numbers of apprentices in both rod and structural to ensure the future of our Local Union. And most important our employers are employing record numbers of apprentices in all sectors. Although some changes had to be made to the Ironworker pension and benefit plans, they are in excellent shape and hopefully the investment returns will improve and we can once again start declaring bonuses like we did in the 80’s and 90’s. On the political scene we were fortunate to defeat the Tories once again in Ontario and although the “Liberals” may not necessarily be everything we expect, they will at least work with labour to keep the balance of power in check. They have made considerable strides in restoring much of the legislation taken from us in the Harris-Eves era. As well, we are fortunate to have David Miller and some pro-union councillors at City Hall who have helped us to get an agreement with the City of Toronto for most of the repair, maintenance and new construction projects. Our finances are in excellent shape in both the Local and the Training Centre and we have an excellent team of Business Agents, Organizers and Training and Office Staff who work well to provide all the services our members expect and deserve. Unfortunately quite a few of our older members have passed away in the last year and with the festive season approaching our thoughts and our prayers are with their families and friends. They will be sadly missed, especially at our open house celebrations when they won’t be there to meet some of their old friends and relive their glorious past. Finally, from all of the Officers and Staff, from our families to yours, our warmest wish for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.
Sincerely, PRESIDENT’S REPORT: KEVIN BRYENTONGreetings Brothers & Sisters; I hope this newsletter finds you and your families well as we head into another winter season. Work in the east end has been bountiful over the last year with ongoing major projects in Oshawa, Peterborough and Belleville supplying labour opportunities for many of our members. There are many more projects coming up in this area - large and small, and the work picture looks great for a long time as the 401 expands east, the Camaro Line at GM gets off the ground and the Oshawa Court house starts gaining speed. Both of the two contending parties in the recent provincial election had promised HWY407 completion as part of their mandates and both also have listed new or refurbished nuclear capacity as a priority. These policies, in conjunction with the focus on infrastructure and the continuing robust construction cycle should keep Local 721 on a “building” path for many years to come. The Local Union currently has the most members since the late eighties and a record number of apprentices working. One of the issues that has occupied a lot of the Business Agents’ time and effort has been the corralling of delinquent employers. There were quite a few that fell behind on pension and benefit remittances over the last year. To date, all delinquencies have been dealt with at the labour board and the local union has secured assurances that they will be paid. The pension and benefit plan at this Local is second to none – please remember to check your remittances regularly online at www.ontarioironworkers.com and let us know if there are any discrepancies. Keep your pay stubs until you see the hours in your account and we will continue using whatever means necessary to ensure that you get the monies you are entitled to. The annual Open House for Members will take place on Friday, December 14th from 12PM to 5PM. This has been a tremendously successful event over the past five years and I look forward to seeing many of you on that day. As always, please attend this event responsibly and make any arrangements necessary to get home with your driver’s license intact. On behalf of the Executive Committee and my own little raising gang, I wish you all the best over the holidays. I hope you have the chance to relax and spend some quality time with your families and friends. Sincerely,
BUSINESS AGENT’S REPORT: DARREN J. MAHONEYDear Brothers & Sisters; Well another year has come and gone, and overall I would have to say it was a great year. Work was pretty abundant in the west end and continues to look good for next year. But with an abundance of work comes an abundance of problems. Late cheques, missing hours, missing pension and welfare payments, jurisdictional issues, and many others. Again, thanks goes out to all of our Stewards and Members out in the field who give us the heads-up on many issues, of which most of our time is spent following up on. We will continue to do everything in our power to make the Union bigger and stronger and ensure you get all that you deserve under our Collective Agreement. Although not perfect, our market share is the envy of most of the International. CLAC, an employer union of convenience, continues to be eating away at the market share of the other trades, but we are holding strong, because we are well trained and productive. You work hard for your money and it is noticed! As Chair of the Reinforcing Rodworker Pension and Welfare Plan, I am happy to report that we are fully funded and are in the top 5% of all pension plans. As well, our Benefit Plan continues to be one of the most efficient out there. While most union construction workers have seen large portions of their wage increases go to maintaining their benefits, we have only added 5 cents an hour to this plan since May 1, 2004. Not only have we maintained your benefit package, we have made many improvements via the surplus and all indications are that none of your rodworker raise coming on May 1, 2008 will be needed to maintain your benefits. As always, should you ever have any questions or concerns that I may be able to address, please do not hesitate to contact me. In closing, my family and I wish you and your family, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, prosperous and safe New Year. Fraternally yours, Home: (905) 665-0775Cell: (416) 884-6534 MIKE DIXDear Brothers & Sisters; Yet another year is winding down and there’s been much success within our organization. We played a major role in the Working Families campaign which targeted 10 ridings in the Provincial Election and were successful in each, electing the candidate that would work in our best interest in the labour movement. In the Northern Territory, things have been busy over this year and so many jobs have been completed on time and safely. I would like to thank all the Members of Local 721 for their communication and hard work over this past year. Upcoming in 2008, the Northern Territory has its’ fair share of work, with projects such as Honda’s Engine Plant and Paint Shop, the Wind Turbines in Shelburne, 2 billion dollars of infrastructure in Barrie and it sounds very promising for something substantial at Chrysler. I look forward to working together with this great team of Officers and Members, to obtain further market share for this Local and to continue strengthening our position within the construction industry. Any issues or concerns, please feel free to call. Fraternally yours, FRED MACPHERSONDear Brothers & Sisters: It was a good year to be an Ironworker. We have a number of large projects on the go. We are growing in membership and hours this year. Again, we have signed a number of companies including a general contractor, Torbridge Construction. On the down side, we are having to file grievances and chase contractors to get pension and benefit money. Keep an eye on your money! My family and I would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fraternally yours, LASH RAYDear Brothers & Sisters; I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you to all those members that have helped to get the word out that Local 721 is the best place to be if you work ‘hanging iron’, especially for the help with handbills and information lines. This is the best Local in the International and one of the most progressive in organizing. I’m proud to say that the Membership, the Officers and the Staff make organizing work! I’m looking forward to next year, and your continuing support with this work. And don’t forget to visit www.thejobshack.ca on the web. As we celebrate Christmas and the Holidays, please be careful out there, whether at work, home or traveling. And remember, don’t drink and drive. All the blessings of the season to each and everyone. Lashley Ray and Family LUIZ M. BARROSDear Brothers & Sisters; This past year has been exceptionally busy in the rod patch. The work continues and is all over our territory. For the year ahead, considering the numerous upcoming jobs for 2008, all signs point to another exceptional year. Even now, our Local is still experiencing a shortage of skilled Rodman. This is probably very evident to many of our members as many of you have been working a lot of overtime and the ever increasing number of apprentices on the jobsites. It is important that our Journeymen take the time to teach and help the new apprentices in the field so that they can succeed in the trade. It is also important that the Journeymen work safe and transfer this knowledge to our new apprentices. We all want to go home to our family and friends injury free and in the same condition we went to work. On that note, Local 721 has added another Rod School Training session this year to address the huge demand for Rodworkers. A recent Human Resource Planning Project sponsored by the Ontario Cast-in-Place Concrete Development Council (OCCDC) and funded by both the Government and our Industry has yielded some interesting information. Using demographic information collected from the Locals across Ontario, research conducted by the consultant determined that at the end of 2006, there were approximately 800 Rodworkers in Ontario Ironworker Locals, 22 percent of whom are apprentices. The average age of a Rodworker apprentice is 29.3, a Journeyperson is 44.8 years, and 19 percent of our Journeyperson are 55 years or older. If our members retire on the “85 factor”, the active membership will decrease by 27 percent over the next ten years. These numbers indicate the importance of attracting new members and apprentices and the active need for more training considering all the upcoming work. As 2008 approaches, work on the Reinforcing Ironworker Red Seal is almost completed and will go to peer review soon. The Red Seal will probably be ready late 2008. Again, things are going well and 2008 looks like a record year for work and new recruitment. I would like to end by wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday season filled with happiness, laughter and fun with your family and friends. My family and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fraternally yours,
Training Center report: This year was another banner year for training at Ironworkers Local 721 with classes running all year round for apprentices and Journeymen upgrading. We will be offering a few new courses this year including Foreman training, Total Station Training and Trade Calculations in addition to the 17 other courses available through the Training Center. Check the website for information and registration or phone Pam at the Local Union to get your name on the list for any course. This summer Local 721 hired Clint Knowlton as the new Apprentice Coordinator. Clint has been teaching the trade at our Training Center for the past three years and has done an outstanding job in that capacity. He will do an outstanding job in the capacity of Coordinator as well and we wish him all the best. I would like to thank all of the members, stewards, foremen, contractors, L.A.C. members and Officers who have participated in making the apprenticeship program of Ironworkers Local 721 the best in the nation, if not the International. It was a tremendous pleasure working with our apprentices as the Coordinator over the last seven years. I have a great amount of pride in what this program has come to be and thank every member who ever took the time to show an apprentice a trick or two, or just to play a trick on them. They are the future of this organization, and like our children, the early years are the most important in forming them into Journeypersons we can all be proud of. This year also marked the addition of Wayne MacDonald to our full time Ironworker apprentice teaching staff. Brother MacDonald has been safety training for the past 7 years and adds to a fantastic team of instructors including: Clint Knowlton Apprentice Coordinator/Instructor Robert Kirby Orientation/Foreman Training Many thanks for the dedication and effort they all put into the job of getting our new members tuned up on the proficiencies of the trade. It has shown dividends evidenced by the employers and their willingness to take on apprentices and keep them working. One of our employers was recognized this past May for their excellence in promoting Apprenticeship Training. Antamex, one of our curtainwall companies, was presented with the Minister’s Award of Excellence for Apprenticeship Training by the Honourable Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. Brother Elio Toffoli Accepted and related his over 30 year history with the Ironworkers and apprenticeship. Of Note: This award has been given out over the last five years and this is the first time it has gone to a construction trade contractor and also the first time it has gone to a UNION contractor. Congratulations to Antamex on a great history and for being the first in every category! Local 721 was also the first Ironworker Local in Canada to receive accreditation under the new Ironworker Apprenticeship Certification Program. The distinction was conferred to the local at the Annual Instructor Training Seminar in July. The Training Center was also the recipient of a Skills Training Infrastructure Grant where we purchased $135,000.00 worth of instruments compliments of the Ontario Government. This brings the total to over half a million in the last three years. The Training Center is a living place in terms of what it can offer to the members of Ironworkers Local 721. If you have any suggestions for any new courses please contact me at your convenience at kbryenton721@rogers.com Kevin Bryenton
APPRENTICESHIP REPORT: Dear Brothers & Sisters; With five months as Apprentice Coordinator and Instructor, I’m confident in predicting that by this time next year, I will be partially bald and completely grey. For the past eight years, the goal of the Local and the International was to have the apprentices make up 20% of the membership. With the initiation of 90 new apprentices in 2007, we have reached that goal, which is good news for our pension fund as well as Labour demands for 2008. In an effort to attract only the highest quality applicants, we now charge $50.00 to write the aptitude test which is still held on the first Friday of each month at 9:00 a.m. The Local 721 Training Centre and Apprenticeship Program is second to none and this was proven once again at the District Council Apprentice Competition held in Hamilton. Each of the 6 Ontario Locals sent their top two apprentices. Toronto was well represented with Mike Coady in 1st place and Ian Frost in 2nd place. Third place went to a student of our program from the Ottawa Local. Mike, Ian and the top 2 from next year’s competition will go on to represent Ontario at the International Apprentice Competition in Philadelphia next fall. It would be real nice to see Toronto sending all 4 competitors. So if you are working with a good apprentice, make sure they come to our Local competition on May 31, 2008. As a test of our apprentices welding proficiency, Welding Instructor Martin Minten took two apprentices to compete in the Skills Canada Welding Competition. Robert Reed and Nick Smid faced off against students of full time welding schools from across Ontario in a very technical, multi-process competition, including SMAW, FCAW, GMAW, GTAW, OAW, OAC & PAC. Robert Reed came home with a bronze medal and Nick Smid took 4th place. The outstanding apprentices for 2007 are Pat Barton and Mike Coady. Congratulations to all who graduated this year. I know you will represent us well as Journeyman Ironworkers. Remember success doesn’t lead to happiness, happiness leads to success. Wishing you both family time and overtime for the Christmas season. Sincerely,
TRUSTEE’S REPORT: Dear Brothers & Sisters; We are pleased to advise that the finances of Local 721 continue to be in sound financial shape. The net worth of Ironworkers Local 721 increased to $6,902,862, included in that amount is our Training Centre with a net worth of $1,973,989. The audits for both the Local and the Training Centre are dated June 30, 2007. In the opinion of our auditor, Mr. Al Resnick, “The financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Union and the Training Centre and the results of their operations for the year, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”. We would like to wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday season. Together we look forward to another successful year in 2008. Submitted by: LOCAL 721 GLEN KIMMETT SCHOLARSHIP This year their were five applicants for the scholarship, which awards a $5000.00 entrance scholarship for the person who exhibits the greatest proficiency in Leadership, Volunteer Activities, Athletics, Academics and a Written Essay. The committee was happy to receive five outstanding applications and Brother Glen Kimmett presented the award at the October membership meeting to Kim Koserski, daughter of Brother Ed Koserski. She will be heading to McMaster University with hopes to work in the field of Urban Planning. Congratulations Kim and good luck in your future endeavours! The form for the 2008 scholarship application will be posted on the website early in the New Year and will be due in June. Thanks again to Brother Glenn Kismet for his ongoing support and to the selection committee for their work in assessing the candidates. Kevin Breton Local 721: Impossible Champion! This year the premises of Local 721 were once again combed over by the Etobicoke Gardening gurus and after receiving a third place in 2004 and runner-up in 2005 – we were crowned as the Champion in the Etobicoke business sector for best Garden. Our surrounding flora is best described as “an oasis in a concrete jungle”. The award was presented to Brother John DaSilva by the Minister of the Environment in September of this year. Congratulations on all your hard work John! MACKINAW FESTIVALWe had a great turnout this year and I’d like to thank all those who participated. And for our members that would like to attend the Festival next year but have difficulties at the border, please contact me as I will be attempting to make arrangements in order for you to attend. Mike Dix BUILDING TRADES WORKERS’ SERVICESBuilding Trades Workers’ Services (BTWS) is a Unionized organization which represents Local 721’s injured members with their workers’ compensation claims. Local 721 members, who are having difficulties with their claims, are referred to their offices by the Business Manager or the Business Agents. Building Trades Workers’ Services represents many other construction Unions throughout Ontario. The services that Local 721’s members receive are provided by and paid for solely by Local 721. Building Trades Workers’ Services does not charge workers for their services, nor benefits financially from any compensation monies received by the workers they represent. BTWS deals with all issues that affect injured workers. DENOVO TREATMENT CENTREAs some of you may not be aware of, we are a sponsor of The Renovo Treatment Centre. Renovo provides assistance to members and their immediate families who have problems with alcohol or drugs. If you know someone who needs help, please contact us, and remember, all referrals are confidential. LABOUR DAYThe turnout for Labour Day was very good. The uniforms were great and our members showed great pride in marching that day. We were winners of the BEST TURNOUT award from the Central Ontario Building Trades. Thanks to all who attended, especially the award wining CFB Trenton Pipe Bank who led our members. We hope to see you at Queen and University, 10:00 a.m. next Labour Day, to do it again! Darren J. Mahoney HOCKEY TOURNAMENTHockey practices will begin in February for the Annual Building Trades Tournament. All members are welcome, regardless of playing ability. Check the website late January for practice times. Darren J. Mahoney (Organizer/Coach) GOLF TOURNAMENTFor the third year in a row, we held two golf tournaments at the Royal Ashburn Golf Club, one open shotgun scramble and one for members only. Both were a huge success. This golf course is second to none and we were treated like royalty on both occasions. The Jennifer Ashleigh Foundation was the recipient of our proceeds and were greatly appreciative of our support. Next year’s dates are already booked. The open tournament is to be held Thursday, June 19th, 2008 and the 721 Members Only Tournament is scheduled for Sunday, September 7th, 2008. I look forward to seeing you at Royal Ashburn! Darren J. Mahoney (Tournament Coordinator) CLOTHINGIt is great to see Ironworkers and Rodmen wearing merchandise embroidered or printed with various Union logos. All items are available at the Union Hall during normal office hours. Choose from hats, toques, T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, jackets, etc. Leather coats are now a stock item and can be picked up with your name embroidered a week after your order. Check them out on our website www.iw721.org ! Committees of Iron Workers Local 721: Executive Committee There are many Committees that do work behind the scenes between meetings in order to deal with many issues that come up from time to time and to organize events. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who serve on the committees for their dedication and for volunteering their time to make a difference. A special thanks goes out to our Executive Committee, who meet monthly to deal with many events and problems that come before this Local. They have taken on some fairly divisive issues over the past two years and always come away from the table with a well argued and fair resolution to the tasks set before them. A special thanks also goes out to Brother Darren Mahoney, who is the lead member of all of 721’s Sporting Committees and the Labour Day Committee. He puts in a lot of work to make sure that everyone has an excellent time representing the Local in all of its athletic endeavours and on Labour Day, and deserves the credit for making these events a success. Kevin Bryenton DISPATCH COMMITTEEPlease be advised that all members must obtain clearance from the Dispatcher before commencing employment with one of our signatory contractors. For those who obtain “a slip” and fail to show up, a $100.00 fine is now in effect. The dispatch committee has met twice this year and short of occasional slowdown in work, dispatch has had no problems and is running very smoothly.
Kevin Bryenton MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
Membership meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Dues must be paid up to one month before. MONTHLY DUES
For 2008, dues will remain at $34.00 per month for Journeymen and $33.50 for apprentices, since the International finally has not increased the per capita. IN MEMORIAM Local 721 would like to extend their condolences to the family and friends of the following members who have passed away in the year 2006/2007: Harry Biefer Michael Birmingham Sylvester Broders Giuseppe Circo Ralph Corbett John Doczi Bruno Frost Erwin Gallant Dewayne Harper William Maasland HOLIDAY HOURSOffice hours over the Christmas and New Years’ Holidays will be as follows: CLOSING STATEMENT
As the year 2007 comes to a close, we need to extend many thanks to those who keep this Organization running as smoothly as it does: Thank you for all your hard work and dedication over the past year and Happy Holidays to all the members of Local 721! QUESTIONS / COMMENTS
Have any comments about this newsletter? E-Mail: mahoney721@sympatico.ca
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