Keystone IndustrialCouncil to re p re s e n tmembers from 27 lodgesTHE PENNSYLVANIA K e y s t o n eIndustrial Council held its inauguralmeeting on December 7 at the RadissonHotel in Greentree, Pa. Twenty-sevenlodges representing Boilermaker mem-bers in Pennsylvania shops belong tothe new council.

International Vice President MichaelMurphy said the PennsylvaniaKeystone Industrial Council will helpdevelop unity among the Pennsylvanialocals as they work toward a commongoal. “As we enter a new millennium,the council will bring our shops recog-nition, active involvement, and partici-pation in International activities,”Murphy said. “Our brother and sisterlocals can now develop an inter-relatedcommunication as they face problemsand issues they may never haveencountered before. Through the coun-cil we can provide the necessary train-ing that will insure our members’voices are heard.”

Elected to serve on the council’s lead-ership committee were ChuckGoodman, Local 151 president, repre-senting the Western Region ofPennsylvania; Joe Wielgosz, Local 159president, representing the CentralRegion; Phil Evans, Local 2000 BM-ST,representing the Eastern Region; andMark Kelly, Local D592 president, rep-resenting the Cement Division. Electedto serve as council alternates were

Frank Lucrezi Jr., Local 397 vice presi-dent; and Steve Kosteloc, Local 906 sec-retary-treasurer. Deputy GeneralOrganizer Robert Heine Jr. will presideover committee meetings, handle cor-respondence, and act as secretary-treasurer for the council.

Heine reported that the enthusiasmfor this new council was evident at theinaugural meeting by all the lodgesrepresented. Affiliated lodges includeLocal 13 (Philadelphia); Local 87 (WestChester); Local 88 (Essington); LocalD92 (Bellefonte); Local 151 (Erie); Local154 (Pittsburgh); Local 159 (MountainTop); Local D173 (Wampum); Local196 (Sayre); Local D282 (Wind Gap);

Local 295 (York); Local 300(Philadelphia); Local 329(Philadelphia); Local 397 (EastStroudsburg); Local 398 (EastStroudsburg); Local D508 (Darlington);Local D592 (Pittsburgh); Local D596(Chester); Local 648 (Fullerton); Local659 (Warren); Local 677 (Kingston);Local 802 (Chester); Local 906(Donora); Local 1393 (Altoona); Local1506 (Catasauqua); Local 1592(Allentown); and Local 2000 (Chester).

These Pennsylvania members pro-duce and provide a wide variety ofproducts and services. “We are a verydiversified organization,” Heine said,

Members build ships forsearch and rescue IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, membersof Local 696, Marinette, Wis., havebuilt 19 ships for the U.S. Coast Guardand one barge for the U.S. Navy, total-ing over 33,000 tons of vessels.

At one time, the shipbuilding andmarine lodge was producing one 185-foot WLM buoy tender every eightweeks – a pace unheard of in the ship-building industry.

They recently received recognitionwhen a local newspaper published aletter written by a U.S. Coast Guardcommanding officer.

Lt. Edward A. Westfall wrote a letterof thanks to “the hardworking menand women of Marinette MarineCorp., especially to those of you whowear the blue hard hats.”

Lt. Westfall stated: “The strongestand everlasting tie we have with thisarea is the ship we ride in, and what aship she is! Your blood, sweat, andtears will safely carry us and our mem-ories thousands of miles to our homeand into the future.”

The ships built by Local 696 mem-bers play a vital role in search and res-cue missions, such as those conductedrecently for Flight 800 and theKennedy plane.

Local 696 President Dave McMahoncommends all the brothers and sisters

of Local 696 for their outstandingefforts to produce these quality ships.He said, “Not only should the commu-nity be proud of the job performed by696, but the whole country can beproud of these ships, which assure safepassage of all merchant vessels whilealso protecting and guarding the U.S.”

McMahon is proud to be part of theconstruction and operation of theseships. “We all hope to continue to playa major role in rebuilding the U.S.Coast Guard fleet so that the coast ofthe greatest country in the world willalways be protected and defended,”reported McMahon. ❑

R e p o rt e rthe Boilerm a k e r Vol. 39 No. 1Jan • Feb 2000

The Official Publication of the InternationalBrotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship

Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, andHelpers, AFL-CIO

Charles W. Jones, Editor-in-Chief

Political education . . . . .2

Mobile training . . . . . . . . . . 4Is there really a federal surplus ? . . . . . . . .6Taxes – Why corporationspay less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Local news – Getting the job done . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0The Stewards Page . . .11S e t t l e m e n t s . . . . . . . . . . 1 2In Memoriam . . . . . . . .1 5L e t t e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 6

IN THESE PAGES L-696 earns kudos from Coast Guard

Continued on page 3

An overview of U.S. Coast Guard vessels under construction by Local 696members at the Marinette Marine Corp. in Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania locals unite to form industrialcouncil to improve service to members

Elected to serve on the Pennsylvania Keystone Industrial Council leadershipcommittee, are, front row, l. to r., L-159 Pres. Joe Wielgosz, L-2000 BM-ST PhilEvans, IR Robert Heine Jr., and L-151 Pres. Chuck Goodman. Standing, l. to r., areL-906 ST Steve Kosteloc, L-397 VP Frank Lucrezi Jr., and D595 Pres. Mark Kelly.

Local registers highestp e rcentage of membersto vote of crafts in stateLOCAL 667 MEMBERS u n d e r s t a n dhow important political participation is.Thanks to 31-year member Raymond“B.B.” Smith, members of the Charleston,W. Va., local can attend an annual hands-on program on the structure of the feder-ated labor movement and how statecommittees on political education(COPE) make their endorsements.

Smith teaches the three-to-six hourcourse for the Affiliated ConstructionTrades Foundation with Steve Cook,director of West Virginia University’sInstitute for Labor Studies andResearch. They explore why and howunions participate in politics.

Using an AFL-CIO candidate ques-tionnaire, participants do a mock inter-view of a legislative candidate, thendecide whether to endorse him. In theprocess, they analyze voting records,assess the credibility of the candidate’sinterview, and grapple with the nuancesof the election and endorsement process.

Smith says, “Many Boilermakersenter the class with a very skepticalview of labor’s involvement in politics.They do not necessarily agree thatlabor should be politically active, nordo they understand or appreciate thecomplexities of the whole process. By

the end of the class, most not only havea much better understanding of howlabor is involved, but a greater appreci-ation of why we’re involved.”

This year’s class learned about voterregistration and participation rates ingeneral and primary elections. Thosewho were not registered to vote, couldregister at the class.

Eighty-four percent of theBoilermakers in West Virginia are reg-istered to vote. That’s the highest per-centage of any craft in the state, reportsSmith, who credits this success to theirefforts to keep their members politi-cally informed and active.

Classes are sponsored and paid forby the Affiliated Construction TradesFoundation. Anyone interested inreceiving more information (packetsare available) can contact Smith at 304-455-5500. ❑

the Boilermaker Reporter2 Jan • Feb 2000

L E A P I S S U E S

R e p o rt e rthe Boilerm a k e r The Boilermaker Reporter is the official publi-cation of the International Brotherhood ofBoilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths,Forgers, and Helpers, AFL-CIO. It is publishedbimonthly to disseminate information of useand interest to its members. Submissions frommembers, local lodges, and subordinate oraffiliated bodies are welcomed and encour-aged. This publication is mailed free ofcharge to active members and retiredmembers holding a Retired Members Card.Others may subscribe for the price of $10 forthree years. Standard Mail (A) postage paidat Kansas City, Kan., and additional mailingoffices. ISSN No. 1078-4101.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:

The Boilermaker Reporter753 State Avenue, Suite 565Kansas City, KS 66101(913) 371-2640; FAX (913) 281-8104w w w . b o i l e r m a k e r s . o r g

Printed in the USA

A prize-winning newspaper

Jan • Feb 2000 Vol. 39 • No. 1

Charles W. Jones, International President and Editor-in-Chief

Jerry Z. Willburn, Intl. Secretary-Treasurer

International Vice PresidentsLawrence McManamon, Great LakesMichael S. Murphy, N o r t h e a s tNewton B. Jones, Southeast George Rogers, Central Don Lacefield, Western States Richard Albright, Western CanadaAlexander MacDonald, Eastern CanadaJim Hickenbotham, A t - L a r g eOthal Smith Jr., A t - L a r g e

Editorial staffDonald Caswell, Managing EditorCarol Dillon, Asst. to the Managing Editor

Raymond “B.B.” Smith talks aboutlabor’s role in politics to a class of Local667 members in Charleston, W. Va.

L-667 members could register to vote while attending a political education class.

L-667 members get politicallyeducated, get re g i s t e red to vote

INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENTJim Hickenbotham attended the WorldCongress of the InternationalFederation of Chemical, Energy, Mine,and General Worker’s Unions (ICEM)in Durban, South Africa, on November3-5, 1999. Hickenbotham is a memberof the ICEM Executive Committee andchairs the ICEM’s Cement IndustrySector, which was consolidated into theGlass, Ceramic, Cement, andAssociated Industries Sector at thisyear’s ICEM Congress.

Founded in 1995, the ICEM repre-sents 20 million members from unionsin more than 90 countries, and is basedon six principles: commitment, solidar-ity, democracy, information, organiz-ing, and effectiveness.

During his trip, Hickenbothamjoined the conference delegates in ademonstration of global trade unionsolidarity. The group marched throughthe streets of Durban with union ban-

ners from all continents. Some 800trade unionists from all parts of theworld took part in the march, making apowerful display of the ICEM’s centralgoal – to unite and organize. ❑

IVP Hickenbotham representsIBB at ICEM World Congress

IVP Hickenbotham attends the ICEMWorld Congress in Durban, South Africa

Countdown to Election 2000Step 1: Register to Vo t e Step 2: Vote in the Primaries

Local lodgedelegates improvetheir leadership skillsTHE RAILROAD DIVISION held aconference November 19-20, 1999, inKansas City, Mo.

Twenty-four local lodge leaders fromrailroad lodges around the countrylearned about developments within therailroad industry, laws governing rail-road employees and employers, andbetter ways to take care of the businessof their lodges.

International President Charles W.Jones opened the meeting, remindingmembers of the important role railroadmembers have played in our unionthroughout the 20th century.International Sec.-Treas. Jerry Z.Willburn presented a summary of thefinancial situation of our Internationalunion and the Railroad Division.

The first guest speakers were J.Weldon Granger, Mike Vandaveer,and Bruce Halstead, from the law firmof Jones and Granger. They discussedthe Federal Employers’ Liability Actand gave participants insight into thebest ways to handle accidents and otherlegal claims arising from employment.Jones and Granger have becomeexperts in handling cases involving jobsite exposure to asbestos, whichremains one of the most commoncauses of work-related illness for rail-road members as well as our shipyardand construction members.

Technical Assistant to theInternational President Gene Lofley Jr.was on hand to explain some of thefiner points of completing the govern-ment reports required of local unions.Each year, it seems, the federal govern-ment adds more paperwork for locallodges. Lofley reminded the delegatesthat his office is available for assistancein completing them.

Bill Loweth, from Employee BenefitSystems, Inc., Neil McCulley, of

Provident Insurance, and Dan Miller,of United Health Care, discussed cur-rent issues involving healthcare and lifeinsurance for railroad members.

One of the most significant discus-sions of every Railroad Division confer-ence is always the Railroad Retirementpresentation, and this year was noexception. Jim Boehner, the labor mem-ber of the Railroad Retirement Board,went over recent and expected futuredevelopments for Railroad Retirement.He explained how the full retirementage will slowly increase over the nexttwo decades.

Full retirement age is the age atwhich you can receive a full Tier 1 ben-efit with no reduction for early retire-ment. If you have at least 30 years ofrailroad service, you may retire at age62 with no Tier 1 age reduction.

If you were born before January 2,1938, your full retirement age is 65. Forpeople born after that date, the fullretirement age increases by two monthseach year through 1943. All workersborn January 2, 1943, through January 1,

1955, have a full retirement age of 66.Then the retirement age increases bytwo months per year again. All personsborn after January 1, 1960, will have afull retirement age of 67.

This increase is the same as for SocialSecurity. A chart illustrating theincrease is provided on page ten of thisR e p o r t e r.

Railroad Division Director JoeStinger discussed recent negotiationsfor the national agreements. He dis-cussed how far apart the two sides are.Many employer demands are simplyunacceptable, because they threatenthe viability of the Railroad Retirementfund or other benefits railroad workers

currently enjoy. It remains to be seenwhat changes will actually occur overthe next few years.

The railroad conference ended withreports from InternationalRepresentatives Scott Enge, AlanScheer, and Steven Eames. Thesereports are one of the most enlighten-ing sections of the conference, becauselodge delegates can compare notesabout situations in their local areas.

The conference was a learning expe-rience for all who attended, and partici-pants went back to their lodges moreaware of problems facing the railroadindustry and more able to handle someof the responsibilities of leadership. ❑

“and this council represents the best ofthe best in our respective industries.”

The council’s goals are as follows: • Advancing the quality of educa-

tion for all members• Fostering the dignity and worth of

all members through collective action• Being a leader on educational and

professional issues• Being an advocate for improve-

ment and equity in compensation• Defending the rights of union

e m p l o y e e s• Providing members with quality

s e r v i c e .Heine credits International President

Charles W. Jones and IVP Murphy forlaying the ground work for the coun-cil’s development. He also thanksAssistants to the InternationalPresident Victor Maggio and AndeAbbott, along with InternationalRepresentatives Carey Allen, SteveBeal, Rocco DeRollo, Steve Jewell, andMichael Shaffer for their role in makingthe inaugural meeting such a success.He sends a special thanks to the mem-bers of the Buckeye IndustrialCouncil’s leadership committee fortheir support at the inaugural meeting– Jeff Beitel of Local 1073 (Cleveland,Ohio), Terry Heiser of Local 1191(Canton, Ohio), and Vernon Persons ofLocal 908 (Wadsworth, Ohio). ❑

3 Jan • Feb 2000the Boilermaker Reporter

N E W S M A K E R S

Railroad division holds conference in Kansas City

ABOVE: Joe Stinger, Railroad Divisiondirector and admin. asst. to the Intl.pres., addresses the RailroadConference.

T O P RIGHT: Local lodge leaders listento speakers.

RIGHT: International Representativesfor the Railroad Division (l. to r.) ScottEnge, Alan Scheer, and Steven Eamesgive reports.

Continued from page 1

Keystone IndustrialCouncil forms inP e n n s y l v a n i a

RAILROAD RETIREMENTbeneficiaries saw anincrease in their monthlychecks the first of this year.Like Social Security,Railroad Retirement annu-ities rise each year based onrises in the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI). This year, Tier Ibenefits increased 2.4 per-cent. Tier II benefitsincreased 0.8 percent.

The Railroad Retirementtax rate on earningsremained the same. Tier Itaxes take 6.2 percent out ofthe first $76,200 of eachemployee’s paycheck.Employer’s pay the samep e r c e n t a g e .

Tier II taxes of 4.9 percentwill also be deducted fromthe first $56,700 a railroademployee earns. Employerspay 16.1 percent of theemployee’s first $56,700.

These are the same taxrates as last year. However,

the maximum amounttaxed rose, based on the CPI.

The amount annuitantscan earn from nonrailroademployment without affect-ing benefits also rises. Forthose under age 65, theexempt earnings amountrises to $10,080 in 2000 from$9,600 in 1999. For benefici-aries ages 65 through 69, theexempt earnings amountrises to $17,000 in 2000 from$15,500 in 1999. These earn-ings limitations do notapply to any annuitants age70 or older, starting with themonth in which they are 70.

For those under age 65,the earnings deduction is $1in benefits for every $2 ofearnings over the exemptamount. For those ages 65through 69, the deduction is$1 for every $3 of earningsover the exempt amount.No railroad retirementannuity is payable for any

month in which an annui-tant (retired employee,spouse, or survivor) worksfor a railroad employer orrailroad union. W o r k e r scovered under the Railroad

Retirement Act are taxed athigher rates than those onSocial Security, but pensionbenefits are also higher, asthe chart on this page illus-trates. ❑

$0

$500

$1000

$1500

$2000

$2500

$3000

$3500

$4000

Social Security

Railroad

R a i l road Retirement tax rate stays same in 2000, benefits rise

A v e r a g eB e n e f i t s

A v e r a g eS p o u s eB e n e f i t s

A v e r a g eD i s a b i l i t yB e n e f i t s

A v e r a g eS u r v i v o rB e n e f i t s

M a x i m u mB e n e f i t s

Railroad Retirement benefitsexceed Social Security benefits

Local 4 to use mobilewelding center toprepare new membersfor job opportunitiesTHE INTERNATIONAL B r o t h e r h o o dhas just completed building its 11thtraining trailer. Instructors from theBoilermakers National ApprenticeshipProgram (BNAP) lined a 42-foot trailerwith a fireproof concrete siding. Theythen added a metal floor, and built asmall classroom and six weldingbooths. The trailer’s equipmentincludes a burning table, one-half of aboiler for tube-rolling, and a tubepanel. The trailer is destined for theNavajo Reservation in Arizona, wheremembers of Local 4 (headquartered in

Page, Ariz.), will use the equipment toimprove their welding, burning, andtube-rolling skills. ❑

4 Jan • Feb 2000E D U C A T I O N & T R A I N I N G

the Boilermaker Reporter

BNAP training instructors, l. to r., DaveCrawford, Carl Oliver, John Standish,and Louie Lombardi transformed a 42-foot trailer into a mobile weldingtraining center.

L. to r., Intl. Pres. Charles W. Jones, Intl. Sec.-Treas. Jerry Willburn, and BNAP traininginstructor Louie Lombardi view the newest welding training trailer.

The half-boiler and tube panel pictured above will be securely mounted insidethis 42-foot training trailer before transportation to Local 4, where members of thePage, Ariz., local will use this equipment to improve their welding, burning, andtube-rolling skills.

Local M114 sponsors stewardtraining seminar in Aurora, Ill.

MEMBERS OF LOCALM114, Aurora,Ill., attended a one-day steward’s train-ing seminar on October 5.

Intl. Rep. Howard Cole conductedthe program for local officers, commit-tee persons, and stewards. Uponrequest, Cole administered the“Obligation of New Members” fromthe Brotherhood’s Ritual, reportingthat the M114 members really appreci-

ated this “moment in time.” Pictured,front row, l. to r., are Sidney Balfour,Andy Contreas, Carla Butler (chiefsteward), and Pat Joy; second row, l. tor., Bill Coleman, Randy Lloyd, and Sec.-Treas. Anna Garcia; third row, l. to r.,Madeline Kinard, Dorothy Visor, andPres. Jose Galindo; and back row, l. tor., Reno Gonzales, Martha Oaxaca, andGilbert Velasquez. ❑

Eleven re p resent Boilerm a k e r sat Metal Trades Convention

ELEVEN MEMBERS of theBoilermakers union participated in theAFL-CIO’s Metal Trades Convention,where delegates unanimouslyendorsed Al Gore for president of theUnited States.

Other significant convention actionincluded the passing of a number ofresolutions promoting shipbuilding inthe United States, and the strengthen-ing of worker’s rights.

Representing the Boilermakers at theLas Vegas convention, were, front row,l. to r., Linda Young of Local 90, Pearl

Harbor, Hawaii; Intl. Sec.-Treas. JerryWillburn; Intl. Pres. Charles W. Jones;Intl. Vice Pres. Othal Smith Jr.; and Intl.Rep. Tom Kendall. Back row, l. to r.,Shipbuilding and Marine DivisionDirector Ande Abbott; Ted Thomas ofLocal 72, Portland, Ore.; Intl. Rep. DaveBunch; Tim Carr of Local 104, Seattle,Wash.; Phil Evans of Local 2000,Chester, Pa.; and Frank George of Local531, Amarillo, Texas. Kendall is alsopresident of the Pacific Coast MetalTrades Council.

Photo by Kenefick Communications. ❑

IBB completes its 11thmobile training trailer

Boilermaker scholarships totaling $50,000 willbe awarded in 2000 – apply before March 31ARE YOU READY for college? A Boilermaker scholarship might get you off to a good start.

Boilermaker scholarships are open to high school seniors who will be entering theirfirst year of a two- or four-year academic program at a degree-granting, accredited col-lege or university within one year of their high school graduation and are dependents ofBoilermaker members in good standing (includes son, daughter, legally adopted child ordependent of active, retired, disabled, or deceased members).

Scholarship awards are based upon academic record, extra-curricular and outside schoolactivities, career goals, and performance on a typed essay. Candidates must submit an officialapplication (typed and postmarked between January 1 and March 31), proof of relationship to aBoilermaker member, SAT and/or ACT test scores (for U.S. citizens only), a high school tran-script, and a 300-500 word typed-essay on a specific theme. The essay theme for 2000 appli-cants is “What impact has right to-work legislation had on the economic well-being of workers

in the states and provinces where it has already been imple-mented, and what is the real motive of national right-to work

and merit shop organizations?”Applications for the 2000 awards

became available December 15, 1999. Contactyour local lodge for more information and anapplication form.

Some local lodges also have their ownscholarship programs. Scholarships are

also available through some state and regionallabor councils. For information on their scholarships,

contact these organizations directly.

Boilermaker How to Apply For a

Scholarship

Future of U.S. shipbuilding industry isat risk – along with national security

AS WE ENTERthe 21st century, pundits aroundthe country are comparing the 1900s with whatwe can expect in the 2000s. In most areas, thenext century looks promising, but when it

comes to shipbuilding and our merchant marine,recent events suggest we are merely repeating mis-takes from the past.

In the early 20th century, the U.S. was just begin-ning to show the economic power that would allowour nation to build the largest economy in the world.But even in those early years, many American politi-cians failed to see the importance of maintaining astrong merchant marine.

The cartoon at right, taken from the March 1904Boilermaker Journal, illustrates that in 1904, ship own-ers were already beginning to register their ships inforeign countries. It appeared in response to newsthat two passenger ships built in Philadelphia hadchanged from American to Belgian registry.

Today, it is difficult to find a passenger vessel regis-tered in the U.S. Cruise liners register in Libya,Panama, or wherever they can get the lowest tax rates.A big difference between 1904 and today, though, isthat it is even rarer to find a passenger ship – or anycommercial ship of significant size – built in the U.S.

As our nation grew in importance, the shipbuildingindustry grew, along with our merchant marine. Thesize and success of our shipbuilders and merchantmarine was largely responsible for our success inWorld War II.

U.S. ships were the backbone of thearsenal of democracy that won the war

SINCE THE END of World War II, our shipbuildingindustry and merchant marine have both slowlydeclined. In 1980, that decline became rapid.

During World War II, America’s shipyardsemployed 1.2 million people, not counting the mil-lions of people employed throughout the shipbuild-ing supplier base. By 1998, employment had fallen to60,800 in new ship construction in the United States.

Since 1980, the American shipbuilding industry hasbeen shrinking dramatically. In 1981, there were 22shipyards holding ship construction contracts for thegovernment, commercial customers, or both. By 1999,the number of active new construction shipyardsbuilding large oceangoing vessels had fallen to six.

This phenomenal drop was primarily caused byPresident Ronald Reagan, who unilaterally did awaywith shipbuilding subsidies in 1981. He hoped othernations would voluntarily suspend their subsidies aswell, opening the market to “pure” capitalism.

Those other countries, though, were too smart forthat. Several of them – most notably Germany, Japan,Korea, Denmark, and China – immediately increasedtheir subsidies. The result was that companies want-ing new ships built or old ships repaired took theirbusiness to the countries offering the lowest prices.

These countries understood what the U.S. still hasnot learned: shipbuilding uses so much labor andmateriel that it stimulates the economy. Countriesthat expanded their shipbuilding industries throughsubsidies are enjoying healthy, growing economies.

Our merchant marine is disappearing

THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINEhas shrunk evenmore drastically than shipbuilding. During the 1950s,U.S.-flagged ships carried 40 percent of all cargoentering or exiting U.S. ports. Today, while the U.S. isthe world’s largest importer and exporter, U.S.-flagged ships carry less than ten percent of that cargo.

Writing in Sea History (Summer 1997), David A.O’Neil, president of Seaworthy Systems Inc. and theSociety of Naval Architects and Engineers, points outthe threat our declining merchant marine is to ournational security: “A superpower without a viablemerchant fleet is hardly capable of projecting thepower required to prevent many ‘police actions,’ letalone carry them out when required.”

In World War II, the U.S. had over 200,000 mer-chant marines and hundreds of ships who providedsupport for our troops overseas. During the PersianGulf conflict in 1990, the U.S. had to rely on the mer-chant marines of our allies to ship munitions andequipment to the Persian Gulf. It remains to be seenwhat our country will do if a larger conflict breaks outin the near future.

An agreement between Ingalls and AmericanClassic Voyages Co. last year to build three large pas-senger ships – the first to be built in a U.S. shipyard in40 years – is a hopeful sign. But one contract for threepassenger ships is hardly enough to turn the industryaround. It is a first step, but to regain our position asworld leader in shipbuilding, we need to build everytype of oceangoing ship.

The U.S. Navy needs more ships

IN THE ABSENCE of commercial shipbuilding, theU.S Navy has become the main customer for newships as well as ship repairs and updating. But eventhat market is slipping away.

In recent years, the Navy has begun repairing anincreasing number of ships overseas. In addition, theyare not purchasing new ships at the same level as theyhave in the past.

Although the U.S. continues to send Americantroops to foreign countries, the U.S. Navy is procuringfewer ships now than at any time since 1932, at theheight of the Great Depression. The current U.S. fleetis the smallest it has been since 1917, the year beforethe U.S. entered World War I.

In January 1999, Admiral Jay L. Johnson, chief ofNaval Operations, distributed a report in which heemphasized the need to build more ships. In hisreport, he notes that in the decade following the fall ofthe Berlin Wall, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps havebeen called upon to respond to crises and combatmore than 75 times – three times the Cold War opera-tions tempo.

He points to the fact that our fleet is shrinking.Military ships have a life expectancy of 35 years. Overthe past 35 years, the Navy would have had to pur-chase an average of 8.6 new ships per year to keep the

fleet at the same level. However, the Navy has beenfalling far below that number for several years. In theten-year period ending with 2003, the U.S. Navy willhave purchased only 57 new ships, 29 short of thenumber needed for simple replacement.

Our submarine fleet is particularly at risk. Duringthe 14 years beginning in 1990, the U.S. Navy plans tobuy seven new submarines, 20 to 23 submarines shortof the replacement rate needed.

Meanwhile, Congress continues to reduce thebudget for the Department of Defense. One of theirfavorite ways to reduce the budget is to cut back onpurchase of new equipment.

Congressional support for the U.S. shipbuildingindustry – and for our merchant marine – is spotty atbest. Each year the Boilermakers and other unionshave to force back attempts to repeal the Jones Act,which requires that cargo being shipped from oneU.S. port to another must be carried on a U.S.-flaggedship. In the name of cost-efficiency, members ofCongress have attempted to do away with this provi-sion and allow ships of any nation to ply our coastalwaters, rivers, and lakes.

In 1999, John McCain introduced S. 1500, the mostrecent attempt to do away with the protections of theJones Act. This bill opens the door to all kinds ofabuses. Ships are bound by the laws of the nation towhich they are registered, not the port where theycall. A foreign-flagged ship carrying cargo fromBoston to New York, or from New Orleans to St.Louis, would not be bound by U.S. labor laws, such asminimum wage and worker’s compensation, eventhough it would be operating entirely within thewaters of the U.S. – and even within our borders, inmany cases. We must stop this bill.

And if we hope to revive our failing shipbuildingindustry, we need to educate a lot of politicians. ❑

5 Jan • Feb 2000S H I P B U I L D I N G

the Boilermaker Reporter

Will the U.S. build ships this century?

the Boilermaker Reporter6 Jan • Feb 2000

N A T I O N A L N E W S

Politicians say yes – butothers are skepticalLEADING ECONOMISTS INWashington ponder the federal sur-plus every day. Predictions of $3 tril-lion in surpluses over the next tenyears has led to tax cut proposals,including the one being promised bypresidential hopeful George W. Bush.

But we hear promises from politi-cians all the time. The promise of abudget surplus after so many years ofdeficits raises questions.

Will there really be a surplus? Howbig will it be? If there is one, where isthe money coming from? What portioncomes from the regular budget, andwhat portion is really coming from theSocial Security fund? And how muchis really available for a tax cut?

We found some interesting answersto these questions in a report preparedby the American Association ofRetired Persons, based on a study bythe Congressional Budget Office.

First of all, the only reason the gov-ernment is showing an annual sur-plus now is because of the SocialSecurity trust fund. Last year, the gov-ernment reported its first overall sur-plus since 1969. It totaled $69 billion,but only because the $99 billion sur-plus in the Social Security fund wasused to offset the government’s oper-ating budget deficit of -$30 billion.

Social Security funds are strictly forSocial Security beneficiaries. The gov-ernment lumps this fund’s receipts intoits “unified budget” in order to get atotal picture of the government’sfinances. The Social Security fundneeds to continue to build up its sur-plus to pay benefits when the baby-boom generation starts to retire. At thattime, withdrawals from the trust fundwill increase dramatically, but thenumber of workers paying into thefund will decline.

All this talk about a tax cut now isbased on surpluses that can only beused for Social Security beneficiaries.

But there is the prospect of anothersurplus – one that doesn’t involve theSocial Security funds. Projections showone might occur, beginning as early asthis year. The question is, just how real-istic are those projections?

Two trillion dollars of the projectedsurplus over the next ten years isexpected to come from Social Security,but another $1 trillion in surplus dollarsis expected to be generated by ourstrong economy.

Many experts, however, think this $1trillion surplus will never materializebecause of spending limitations andneeds that Congress just can’t avoid.They say the only way to meet thespending limits is to cut back on pro-grams. And there is always the possibil-ity of unexpected budget additions,such as the Kosovo emergency and nat-ural disasters such as Hurricane Floyd.

When all of this is considered, theanticipated surplus shrivels into one-tenth of its projected size. That is betterthan a deficit, but it is not enough to payfor a massive tax cut. ❑

A re we really ever going to seea federal budget surplus ?

The surplus dollar may be smaller than you think

Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Keeping up with inflation

-$595 B i l l i o n

Allowing for natural disasters and other emergencies

Paying added interest on the national debt

Extra cost of running Social Security

Remaining surplus

-$80 B i l l i o n

-$178 B i l l i o n

-$112 B i l l i o n

-$31 B i l l i o n

Government projections say the non-Social Security surplus may rise over the next decadeto a ten-year total of $1 trillion, which this dollar bill represents. But when a few reasonableassumptions are made, as shown, the surplus dollar shrinks to more like a dime.

Economists say deficit isgetting dangerously highTHE U.S. TRADEdeficit jumped to arecord $25.94 billion in October. At thecurrent pace, our trade deficit in 1999will balloon to more than $265 billion,from last year’s $164 billion. Thatwould be an increase of more than 61percent in a year – a pace that will dev-astate the U.S. economy if it continues.

The trade deficit is the dollar amountby which our imports exceeded ourexports. A trade deficit of $25.94 billionmeans that in October, the U.S.imported nearly $26 billion more thanwe exported.

A growing deficit can have disas-trous effects. Exports bring money intothe country; imports send money out.Running a trade deficit of $265 billionmeans that we have to borrow $265 bil-lion from foreign investors.

If our gap keeps growing, foreigninvestors may begin to lose confidencein the U.S. economy and the U.S. dollarand demand a higher premium fordoing business here. That would trans-late into higher U.S. interest rates.

On October 28, Federal ReserveChairman Alan Greenspan recognizedthis threat when he issued the follow-ing warning: “A continuing widening

of the deficit could eventually raisefinancing difficulties.” Obviously, such“financing difficulties” would hardlyhelp our stock market.

As our trade deficit grows, the influ-ence of foreign investors on our econ-omy also grows. According to the U.S.Treasury, the buildup of foreign hold-ings of U.S. securities during the pastfive years has been the most rapid sincestatistics have been kept or estimated.Foreigners already own over 40 percentof all marketable U.S. Treasury securi-ties. Their holdings of U.S. agency, cor-porate, and municipal debt is $1trillion. Their ownership of U.S. equi-ties exceeds $1 trillion.

Consumers drive trade deficit

THE DRIVING FORCEbehind thegrowth of imports is the Americanshopper. Popular megastores such asWal-Mart sell imported goods almostexclusively. American shoppers, look-ing for bargains, buy clothing fromChina, electronics from Korea, andshoes from Singapore.

This fall, shoppers have boughtrecord amounts of imports, and thetrend continued into the holiday buy-ing season. In October, imports rose toan unprecedented $107.86 billion,while exports slipped to $81.92 billion.

The trade deficit was nearly $2 billionlarger than Wall Street had predictedonly a month earlier.

Imports from China rose to a record$8.22 billion in October, pushing thedeficit to $7.15 billion. Shipments fromJapan rose to $12.17 billion, boostingthe deficit to a record $7.18 billion – thelargest deficit with any country onrecord. Imports from Mexico rose to arecord $10 billion.

Experts say such strong growth inthe trade deficit cannot last. DeanBaker, economist and the co-director ofthe Center for Economics and PolicyResearch (CEPR), points out that alarge foreign debt lowers future livingstandards, because the United Stateswill have to export more goods in orderto keep its current account in balance.

If the foreign debt continues to growat its present rate as a percentage of thegross domestic product (GDP), in tenyears it will equal 60 percent of theGDP, or about $5.5 trillion.

In the 1980s, when the trade deficitwas much smaller both in real dollarsand as a percentage of the GDP, thegovernment began enacting “freet r a d e ” policies in an attempt to openforeign borders so we could exportmore goods. As these policies haveexpanded, our exports have, in fact,risen, but not as fast as our imports. ❑

U.S. trade deficit soars to re c o rd

Per Capita tax goes up65 cents a monthEFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2000, t h eBoilermakers per capita tax increased byfour percent ($0.65 when rounded to thenearest five cents), for a total monthly percapita tax payment of $16.40.

The monthly per capita tax payment isadjusted each January 1 to keep up withinflation, in accordance with conventionaction taken in 1973. The increase isbased on the percentage increase inaverage hourly earnings in manufactur-ing as issued by the Bureau of LaborStatistics (BLS) for the 12-month period,July to July. According to the BLS, fromJuly 1998 to July 1999, these earningsincreased four percent – from $13.38 to$13.92, compared to a 2.4 percentincrease in 1998.

The per capita tax finances all activi-ties of the International. As provided forin the International constitution, 15 per-cent goes to the defense fund to pay forweekly strike benefits; 3.5 percent goesto the publication fund for all costs asso-ciated with this paper; 3.5 percent goesto the convention fund; and 78 percentgoes for everything else, including meet-ings and conferences, service to locallodges, education and training of locallodge officers and stewards, organizing,collective bargaining research, legalexpenses, and all other activitiesrequired of an organization that servesnearly 90,000 members.

College grant honorsB o i l e rmaker IVPSTUDENTS AT ROCKY Mountain Collegeare eligible for a $500 grant in aid, thanksto Mary Ruth Stender and EvelynSanders. They established the JohnStender Memorial Scholarship to honortheir husband and brother, respectively.John Stender was a Boilermaker IVPwho was elected a Washington statesenator and later became the first direc-tor of OSHA.

Students may contact the RockyMountain College, 1511 Poly Drive,Billings MT 59102, or call 1-800-877-6259.

Watch mail for SocialSecurity statement IN OCTOBER, the Social SecurityAdministration began mailing annualearnings and benefit estimate state-ments to the 125 million workers age 25and older who are not already receivingmonthly Social Security benefits.

Keep an eye out for this four-page pub-lication, called the “Social SecurityStatement.” It can help you plan yourfinancial future.

The statement provides estimates ofthe Social Security retirement, disability,and survivors benefits you and your fam-ily could be eligible to receive now and inthe future. The statement also providesyou with an easy way to determinewhether your earnings (or self-employ-ment income) are accurately posted onyour Social Security record.

It is important that your earnings arecorrectly reported and recorded. Theamount of your future benefits is basedon your earnings record. Inaccuraterecords may keep you from receiving allthe benefits you are entitled to. The state-ment includes instructions on how youcan correct any errors in your record.

You can expect to receive your annualstatement three months before yourbirthday. For more information aboutSocial Security benefits, call or visit alocal Social Security office; call this toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213; or visit thisweb site, w w w . s s a . g o v. ❑

Union-made kitchen &household items

IS YOUR HOME a union-supportingh o u s e h o l d ? Most union memberswould say yes. But often we forget

that one of the best ways to supportother union members is to buy the prod-ucts they make. Just about everythingyou need can be bought from a unionmanufacturer. Many household appli-ances are even made by Boilermakers.The b o l d f a c e items on this list are madeby members of our union.

The rest of the list was compiled fromthe AFL-CIO’s Union Label & ServiceTrades Department’s database, and con-tains products made by members of thefollowing unions: The American FlintGlass Workers (AFGWU), the UnitedAuto Workers (UAW), the ElectricalWorkers (IBEW), the Electronic Workers(IUE), the United Food & CommercialWorkers (UFCW), the Glass, Molders,Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers(GMP), the Machinists (IAM), the Paper,Allied-Industrial, Chemical & EnergyWorkers (PACE), the Steelworkers(USWA), and the Teamsters (IBT).

Dishes and glasses

Anchor (tumblers, stemware); AnchorHocking (glassware); Corelle (crystalglassware); Indiana Glass (tumblers,pressed dinnerware); Lancaster,Fostoria (blown tumblers, pressed din-nerware); Hall (China tableware andkitchenware); Homer Laughlin (Chinatableware and kitchenware); Lenox(China tableware and kitchenware);Mayer China, Shenago China (table-ware and kitchenware)

Major Appliances

Comstock Castle Stove(commercial gas rangesby members of Local S3,Quincy, Ill.); P r e m i e r ,Eagle, Magic Chef,H e r i t a g e (gas and elec-tric ranges by membersof Local S4, Belleville,Ill.); T h e r m a d o r ( c o o ktops, built-in ovens,trash compactors, anddishwashers by mem-

bers of Local S54, Maywood, Calif.);Vulcan Hart (commercial gas ranges,deep fryers by members of Local S50,Baltimore, Md.); W h i r l p o o l ( K i t c h e nAide built-in designer wall unit refrigera-tor/freezers by members of Local S272,Lavergne, Tenn.); Wolf Range ( c o m m e r-cial gas ranges by members of Local S106,Compton, Calif.)

Small Appliances

Heat & Control Co. (commercial cook-ing equipment by members of Local 6,Oakland, Calif.); Wagner Mfg. ( c o o k-ware by members of Local M108,Sidney, Ohio); Rival, Simer, Pollenex,Blonaire, Patton, Crock-Pot, WhiteMountain (waffle makers, toasters, canopeners, slow cookers, blenders, andmixers); Nutone (blenders); Westbend,Chip Factory, Brew N’Serve (breadmachines, woks, skillets, popcorn pop-pers, coffee percolators, urns, slowcookers); Mr. Coffee (percolators);Melitta (percolators); The Green Line,Hamilton Beach, Proctor-Silex (coffeemakers, fans, other electric house-wares); Cecil Ware (coffee urns, cap-puccino dispensers)

C o o k w a re, Ovenware

All-Clad, Anchor, Calphalon, CorelleWare, Corning, Ekco Oven Secret, GeneralHousewares, Mirro, Levson, Leyse,Presto, Regal Ware, Toroware, Wearever

C u t l e r y

Camillus, Carvel Hall, Lancaster, Utica& Walco

Storage Containers

Akron-Mils, Li’l Helpers, Rubbermaid,Tamor, Tupperware

M i s c e l l a n e o u s

Chicago Faucet (kitchen, bath, andcommercial faucets by members ofLocal M6, Chicago, Ill.); DCI of Utah(food tanks by members of Local 182,Salt Lake City, Utah); HAVCO ( f o o dcatering to steel plants by members ofLocal D494, Burlington, Ontario,Canada); J a c k e s - E v a n s (stove pipe,barbecue utensils by members of Local

S185, Belleville, Ill.); Kraft Food ( s a l a ddressings by members of Local 480,Jacksonville, Ill.); Olympic Food ( p r e-pared foods by members of Local M24,Kokomo, Ind.); St. Charles Mfg .(kitchen cabinets by members of Local1600, St. Charles, Ill.); Nutone (securitysystems); Royal Brass (faucets bymembers of Local M3, Cleveland,

Ohio); Mini Churro Warmers,Nestaway (dish drainers, oven racks);Alabaster (plastic housewares);Carson, Old English Sea (pewter gift-ware); Spartus (kitchen wall clocks);Nesco, Supreme, Open CountryCampware, Empire (electrical house-wares); Nutone (ventilation fans); All-American (aluminum housewares). ❑

She serves as delegateon mission, takes one-year job for DNC in 2000BRIDGET MARTIN, Boilermakers’assistant to the director of legislation,was selected by the American Councilof Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) toserve as a delegate on a U.S. mission toRomania. Martin joined a bipartisandelegation of seven leaders fromaround the United States for a two-week trip, Nov. 19 to Dec. 3, 1999.

While in Romania, shemet with gov-ernment and business leaders. Martinsaid the trip awakened in her “a newsense of pride in our democratic form ofgovernment and a commitment tomake sure the freedom we all enjoy ispreserved for generations to come.”

She spoke of the many contrasts inRomania, including “the geographicaland historical intersection of Easternand Western cultures; the prominenceof political parties in a recently estab-lished democracy; and the richness ofthe country’s culture and history.”

The trip was funded by a grant fromthe U.S. Dept. of State. The ACYPL pro-motes awareness and understanding ofthe opportunities and challenges whichface all nations. ACYPL exchanges pro-vide common ground upon whichemerging political leaders can foster last-ing relationships. Former participantshave risen to positions of political promi-nence, including service as members ofCongress, governors, cabinet secretaries,and prime ministers.

Martin was selected from a field of1,000 elected and appointed officialsbetween the ages of 25 and 41. Workingwith Legislative Director Ande Abbott,

Martin has lobbied members of the U.S.Congress, helped produce educationalmaterials on legislative issues, andcoordinated the annual conference ofthe Boilermakers’ Legislative-Education Action Program (LEAP). Sheis working toward a master’s degree ingovernment at Johns HopkinsUniversity in Washington, D.C.

Prior to the trip, she attended brief-ings on political and economic issuesfacing Romania, as well as key issues inU.S. relations. These briefings includedmeetings with officials at the StateDepartment, the U.S. InformationAgency, and former ACYPL delegates.

Following her trip to Romania, Martinbegan a one-year sabbatical from herBoilermaker position to work for theDemocratic National Committee(DNC) as assistant to the chairman forlabor affairs. She will serve as a politicalliaison with organized labor, and willcoordinate the labor component of theDemocratic convention.

Clarissa Middleton, who worked forCongressman John Lewis (D-GA), hastemporarily assumed Martin’s duties inthe Boilermakers’ legislative office. ❑

THE INTL. EXECUTIVE C O U N C I Lvoted Don Lacefield into the office ofInternational vice president for theWestern States at a meeting in PalmSprings, Calif., January 12. Lacefieldwas nominated by Intl. PresidentCharles W. Jones to take the positionvacated by Jack Sloan’s retirement.

Lacefield began his Boilermakercareer as an apprentice in Local Lodge101, Denver, in 1963. In 1967, hebecame the first apprentice to graduatein the Missouri Valley agreement’sapprentice program.

In 1970, he was appointed assistantbusiness manager and dispatcher forLodge 101, and was elected to be thelodge’s business manager-secretarytreasurer in 1972. After serving twoterms as business manager, Lacefieldwas appointed to the International staffin November 1975, as a representativefor the Construction Department andthe National Tank Maintenance depart-ment (now National Transient Division).

Lacefield began working exclu-sively for the Construction Divisionwhen it was created in 1977. While anInternational representative for theRocky Mountain states and PacificCoast, Lacefield handled numerous

special assignments as a hearing offi-cer. In 1996, Intl. President Jonesappointed him assistant to theInternational president.

Since July 1, 1999, Lacefield has beenhandling the work of the WesternStates IVP office in preparation forSloan’s disability retirement. ❑

Make your house a100% union house

the Boilermaker Reporter7 Jan • Feb 2000

S O L I D A R I T Y

M a rtin visits Romania for ACYPL

Bridget Martin meets with Prof. Dr. EmilConstantinescu, president of Romania.

Don Lacefield electedIVP for We s t e rn States

Don Lacefield is the new Internationalvice president for the Western States.

HOW WOULD YOU L I K E to loweryour income tax bill by five percentthis year? That is the amount the

total corporate tax rate has declinedsince 1995.

During that time, business has beengreat. Corporate profits rose nearlynine percent last year alone. Yet the U.S.government collected $4 billion less incorporate income tax revenue – areduction of 2.5 percent.

For the rest of us – workers and smallbusinesses – higher income meanshigher taxes. But for huge, multina-tional corporations, the rules are differ-ent. Corporations can take advantage oftax breaks for a variety of ordinary busi-ness activities – mergers and acquisi-tions, research and development, andbusiness meals and entertainment.

In addition, Congress has loaded thetax code with corporate-friendly loop-holes like accelerated depreciation andtax breaks for foreign investments.

These tax breaks amount to hiddensubsidies for corporations and the rich.When the government allows a corpo-ration to forego paying a million dollarsin taxes because of a tax break, the neteffect for both the government and thecorporation is the same as if the govern-ment simply wrote them a check. Thegovernment has a million dollars less inits treasury than it would without thetax break, and the corporation has amillion dollars more.

Congress refers to this type of sub-sidy as a “tax expenditure.” For the cor-poration, it works as well as a directpayment. For Congress, however, itworks even better.

With the public distrustful of govern-ment waste, Congress must justify anynew spending. In addition, they mustprove each year that their program isworking to keep it in the budget.

But tax expenditures show up as taxcuts, something voters like to see. Inaddition, once put into place, taxexpenditures do not have to bereviewed by Congress each year. Theycontinue until someone proposes a billto remove them. Oversight for theexpenditure moves from Congress tothe IRS, and the IRS is only concernedwith whether the law is being followed,not whether the subsidy is having theeffect it was intended to have.

The advantage tax entitlements enjoyover direct spending programs is illus-trated in the budget just approved byCongress. That budget includes reduc-tions in nearly every area of domesticdiscretionary spending as a share of theeconomy over the next decade. Taxsubsidies, though, will continue togrow over the same period.

Here are some of the most prevalentforms of tax subsidies.

Transfer pricing

TWO-THIRDS OFforeign-based cor-porations are doing hundreds of bil-lions of dollars of business in the U.S.without paying a penny of Americanincome taxes according to a study bythe General Accounting Office. Thesecorporations take advantage of a tacticcalled “transfer pricing.”

By manipulating the prices theycharge themselves for goods and serv-ices they move among related parts oftheir business, they are able to make itappear that profits earned in the U.S.come from countries with lower taxes.

For example, in its 1987 annual reportto its stockholders, IBM said that a thirdof its worldwide profits were earned by

its U.S. operations. But on its federal taxreturn, IBM treated so much of its tax-deductible research and developmentexpenses as U.S.-related that it reportedalmost no U.S. earnings – despite $25billion in U.S. sales that year. As aresult, IBM’s federal income taxes for1987 were virtually wiped out.

The Christian Science Monitorreports that some foreign-based firmsclaimed their U.S. operations in 1998bought toothbrushes for $171 each andpantyhose for $38 a pair. They sold mis-sile and rocket launchers for $13 eachand radial tires for $5 apiece. Estimatesfor how much such imaginative trans-fer-pricing will cost the U.S. Treasuryrun as high as $30 billion.

Accelerated depre c i a t i o n

BETWEEN 1992 AND1994, AmericanHome Products earned $4.2 billion inprofits. At the standard corporateincome tax rate of 35 percent, theyshould have paid $1.47 billion in taxes.But by exercising tax breaks, mainlyaccelerated depreciation, they paidonly about $665 million, to make theiractual tax rate 15.6 percent. In 1995,Eastman Kodak paid an effective fed-eral tax rate of only 17.3 percent, mainlybecause of accelerated depreciation.

And General Motors actually got taxrefunds of almost $1.4 billion dollars in1995 and 1996, despite reported U.S.profits of $5.2 billion, in large part dueto depreciation tax breaks generated byits leasing activities.

Accelerated depreciation allows busi-nesses to write off their purchases ofmachinery, equipment, and buildingsfor tax purposes faster than the assetsactually wear out. In 1997, Congressenacted laws that made it possible tocombine debt-financing and accelerateddepreciation to produce “negative” taxrates. The government actually pays cor-porations to purchase new equipment.

The Research andExperimentation Tax Cre d i t

IN 1981, CONGRESSenacted a taxcredit for research and experimentationto encourage business research thatwould otherwise not be undertakenbecause other investment opportuni-ties would be more profitable.

This credit supplements the alreadyextremely favorable tax treatment ofresearch and development invest-ments, which can be deducted immedi-ately, rather than over time likeinvestments in tangible assets.

One has to wonder why Congressthinks it is appropriate to interfere withmarketplace decisions in this way.Useful business research is undeniablya good thing. But so are many otherbusiness activities. Research is alsohighly profitable, especially in our tech-nology-dominated world. There is noreason why Congress should try toencourage such investments at theexpense of other investments whenthey are not otherwise profitable.

Business meals andentertainment subsidies

UNDER CURRENT LAW, spendingon meals that bear a “reasonable andproximate relationship to a trade orbusiness” and are “conducive to a busi-ness discussion” are both 50 percentdeductible and excluded from theincome of the recipients.

There’s no requirement that businessactually be discussed, either before,during, or after the meal. Likewise,entertainment outlays – for golf,hockey tickets, etc. – are 50 percentdeductible if the taxpayer has morethan a general expectation of deriving aspecific business benefit from the activ-ity, or if the entertainment is directlypreceded or followed by a substantialand bona fide business discussion.Such a discussion does not have tooccur on the same day as the entertain-ment, nor does it have to last as long.

If one were to make a list of govern-ment spending priorities, a subsidy for

the Boilermaker Reporter8 Jan • Feb 2000

T A X E S

Tax breaks for corporationsare welfare for the wealthy

Richest 20 percent gettwo-thirds of tax cuts

HIS FATHER SAID, “Read my lips;no new taxes” when he was run-ning for president. Now George

W. Bush is saying he’ll actually reducetaxes for working families.

The first Bush couldn’t keep hispromise. Will his son do any better?

Not according to an analysis of theplan by the Institute on Taxation andEconomic Policy (ITEP). In a pressrelease, Bush said his plan would“benefit all Americans, but reserve thegreatest percentage reduction for thelowest income families.”

The ITEP analysis shows that in factthe plan would give the lowest 20 per-cent of wage earners a 5.9 percent reduc-tion in their federal taxes, for an averagesavings of less than $4 per month. Thebest-off one-percent of taxpayers wouldsee a reduction of 15.7 percent, for anaverage tax cut of over $50,000.

No matter how you slice it – by percent-ages or by total money saved – George W.Bush’s tax plan favors the wealthy donorswho have contributed so much money tohis presidential campaign.

Bush’s misleading claims about thetax cuts come from focussing entirelyon the federal income tax. The lowesttax bracket would drop from 15 to 10percent. Because not all income istaxed, that would cut taxes for thepoorest taxpayers about $43 a year.Most of the tax breaks in Bush’s plan,however, give an edge to people whoare already doing well.

Here is a breakdown of who gainsfrom the other proposals in his plan.

Double the child tax credit andraise income limit to $200,000. B i g g e s twinners: People earning between$100,000 and $200,000.

Eliminate estate tax. W i n n e r s:People who inherit estates worthmore than $1 million. Everyone else isu n a f f e c t e d .

Raise from $500 to $5,000 the amount aperson can put in tax-free “educationsavings accounts .” Winners: Peoplewealthy enough to pay $5,000 a yeartoward schooling for their children.

Eliminate the “earnings limit” forSocial Security. W i n n e r s : S o c i a lSecurity beneficiaries between 65 and69 with other sources of income.

Another provision of the tax planwould make permanent the research anddevelopment tax credit for businesses.This provision gives businesses taxbreaks for doing what they would bedoing anyway in order to stay in business.

The Bush tax plan also relies on eco-nomic assumptions somewhat rosierthan those made by the Congressional

Budget Office, which estimated anafter-inflation growth rate of 2.3 per-cent over the next decade. The Bushplan projects a 2.7 percent growth rate.

Critics say Bush’s package is just asflawed as the tax plan passed byCongress last year and vetoed byPresident Clinton. They warn thatBush’s plan will needlessly jeopardizethe future of Social Security andMedicare simply to provide tax cutsfor wealthy Americans.

“In terms of who benefits the most,George W. Bush’s tax plan looks remark-ably like the $800 billion tax cut planpassed by Congress last summer andvetoed by President Clinton,” saidRobert S. McIntyre, director of Citizensfor Tax Justice. “The biggest difference isthat the Bush plan is even more irrespon-sible, since it would cost twice as much.”

Who Benefits from George W. Bush’s Tax Plan(Annual effects at 1999 income levels)

Income Income Average Average % of Group Range Income Tax Cut Total

Lowest 20% less than $13,300 $ 8,400 $ – 43 0.6% Second 20% $13,300 – 23,800 18,300 – 203 3.0% Middle 20% $23,800 – 38,200 30,300 – 501 7.4% Fourth 20% $38,200 – 62,800 49,100 – 1,043 15.4% Next 15% $62,800 – 124,000 83,600 – 1,906 21.1% Next 4% $124,000 – 301,000 173,000 – 5,337 15.7% Top 1% $301,000 or more 837,000 – 50,166 36.9% ALL $48,700 $ – 1,348 100.0%

Bottom 60% $38,200 and below $19,000 $ – 249 11.0% Top 10% $89,000 and above 204,000 – 8,362 61.6%

SOURCE: Citizens for Tax Justice, based on the Institute on Taxation and Economic PolicyTax Model. This analysis does not include Bush’s proposal to increase the annual contribu-tion limit for Education Savings Accounts.

G e o rge W. Bush’s tax plan benefitshis wealthy campaign donors

Continued on page 9

the Boilermaker Reporter9 Jan • Feb 2000

E C O N O M I C I S S U E S

business men and women’s eating,drinking, and entertainment wouldseem to be very near, if not at, the bot-tom of the list. So how can we possiblyjustify higher taxes on the general pub-lic or reductions in important govern-ment services to fund such a peculiarentitlement program?

How tax subsidies hurt you

YOU MAY BELIEVE these tax breaksfor corporations don’t affect you, butthey do. The Citizens for Tax Justiceestimates that over the seven-yearperiod from 1994 to 2001, businessmeals and entertainment write-offsalone cost the U.S. Treasury $44 billion.

“Budgeting is about making choices,”explains Citizens for Tax JusticeExecutive Director Robert McIntyre in areport on corporate welfare. “IfCongress decides to spend $44 billion tosubsidize fancy dinners and playofftickets for business executives, that’s$44 billion that is unavailable to pay forschool lunches or foodstamps. If $95 bil-lion is budgeted to help multinationalcorporations avoid taxes, that’s $95 bil-lion that can’t be used to improve edu-cation or improve law enforcement.”

In some cases, business subsidies canbe so large that they cause large eco-nomic shifts. That was the case from1981 to 1986 in the real estate industry,where lavish tax subsidies caused ahuge wave of excess office constructionaround the country. In a 1991 letter, theTreasury Department called this grossoverbuilding “one of the primarycauses of the savings and loan crisis.”

Why corporations pay less

TO THOSE FAMILIAR with howWashington works, it should come asno surprise that corporations get enor-mous tax breaks. They get them the oldfashioned way: they buy them.

In the 1997-98 campaign cycle,wealthy individuals and corporationsdonated more than $175 million in softmoney to political parties in addition tothe hundreds of millions of dollars thatcorporate PACs and wealthy individu-als donated directly to candidates.

George W. Bush has already collectedover $67 million for his presidential cam-paign from corporation executives andother wealthy backers. Wealthy execu-tives of the Microsoft Corporation, nowbeing sued by the Justice Department formonopolistic restraint of trade, areamong Bush’s top donors.

But corporations don’t just donatemoney and hope candidates will sup-port their positions. They also spendhundreds of millions on lobbyists eachyear. The Federal Election Commissionreports that corporations spent over$620 million on lobbyists in 1998 alone.

In Washington on $10 Million a Day ,investigative reporter Ken Silversteinestimates there are as many as 80,000lobbyists working in Washington onany given work day – that’s about 150lobbyists for every member ofCongress. Many corporations regu-larly spend more than a million dollarsa year on lobbyists.

And it pays off. For example, in 1996,Boeing paid 70 lobbyists a total of $5.2million. No doubt those lobbyists wereinstrumental in helping Boeing getsuch a great tax deal that year. For 1995,Boeing not only did not pay any fed-eral taxes, they got a $33 million rebatefrom the U.S. Treasury, making theireffective tax rate an astonishing minusnine percent.

Apparently, lobbying pays excellentdividends. ❑

Corporate tax bre a k s

Continued from page 8

ACCORDING TO AN article in Business & Health, some 43 mil-lion working-age adults have no health insurance or endure sig-nificant gaps in coverage, yet most of them work full-time or aremarried to someone with a full-time job.

A new Commonwealth Fund survey shows that workersmaking less than $35,000 a year are more likely not to havehealth care than better-paid workers. And the fund’s 1 9 9 9National Survey of Workers’ Health Insurance shows thatAmericans earning less than $20,000 are almost five timesmore likely to be in fair or poor health than those with incomesabove $35,000.

Simply said – the less you earn, the more likely it is that you’llget sick and stay sick.

This survey establishes a positive correlation between lowwages and ill health. When workers don’t have the money (dueto low wages) or health insurance (most low-wage jobs do notoffer benefits), the result is fair or poor health.

One-fifth of American workers do not get insurance from theiremployer, either because it isn’t offered, or because they haven’tbeen on the job long enough. Income level plays a key role inwhether or not insurance is an option, with workers making lessthan $20,000 a year most likely not to have health care coverage.

Adding to the dilemma of poverty – poor diet and anunhealthy environment – is the low-wage earner’s inability toafford healthcare. People who do not receive regular medicalcheckups and care when needed soon fall prey to chronic illness.

This trend leaves its worst mark on children. One-fifth of thenation’s children live in poverty, making them more likely togrow up without proper medical attention. Illnesses that couldbe cured and medical conditions that should be monitored gountreated, causing poor children to carry their health problemsinto adult life.

Allowing childhood illnesses to become lifelong health prob-lems is hardly a cost-effective way to manage health care, yetpresidential candidates continue to tell the public that our nationcannot afford a national health care plan.

George W. Bush, Pat Buchanan, and John McCain all stronglyoppose any kind of national health care that guarantees every-one access to medical care. Bush and McCain believe in using taxbreaks to encourage expansion of the current system.

Vice President Al Gore speaks of reducing drug prices andpassing the “patient bill of rights,” a law that would make it eas-ier for patients to deal with their HMOs. He does not address theproblem of people with no access to medical care of any kind.Alone among the candidates, Bill Bradley has proposed a verymodest health care plan, very similar to what George Bush pro-posed in 1992. It addresses the need to expand coverage, but triesto stay within the current system. ❑

Source: Commonwealth study

Not eligible for plan

No plan offered

Study says low wages mean noinsurance and poor health

Health insurance isn’t an option

Lower wages = poorer health

P e rcentage of workers with nohealth coverage

P e rcentage in fair orpoor health

9 %

$ 6 0 , 0 0 0or more

$ 3 5 , 0 0 0 -5 9 , 9 9 9

I n c o m e

I n c o m e

$ 2 0 , 0 0 0 -3 4 , 9 9 9

Less than$ 2 0 , 0 0 0

Less than$ 2 0 , 0 0 0

$20,000 -3 4 , 9 9 9

$35,000 -or more

1 4 %

2 0 %

4 2 %

3 %6 %

7 %

2 5 %

1 3 %

7 % 7 %

1 7 %

7 %

1 7 %

3 4 %

DESPITE WIDESPREAD FEARS o fY2K problems and a brief hysteriaregarding holiday terrorism, last year’sChristmas shopping season was noth-ing short of sensational for U.S. retail-ers. As early as two weeks beforeChristmas, retail analyst SteveKernkraut said, “There is every likeli-hood that December will be a greatmonth and will go do down in therecord books as one of the bestChristmases ever.”

Sales were expected to top $180 bil-lion, a six percent gain over 1998.“We’re seeing a tremendous amount ofincrease in traffic over last year,” saysEileen Lee, who manages an Old Navyclothing store.

The booming U.S. economy was nodoubt one reason sales went so well.Shopper Sharon Webber said trips tothe mall have “been fun this yearbecause everyone seems happier.” Andhappy shoppers spend money, drivingretail sales off the charts.

Meanwhile, it’s been the best oftimes, period, on Wall Street this year,CBS News Correspondent AnthonyMason reported. The Nasdaq hit new

highs, and those who work in the secu-rities industry – from top money man-agers to lowly office staff – are lickingtheir chops over the $11 billion inbonuses Wall Street handed out, up 25percent over last year. Top executivestook home as much as $7 million each.

Lower level employees on WallStreet cashed in, too. Junior level tech-nical people and back office supportpeople were reported to have gottenbonuses of anywhere from $60,000 toseveral hundred thousand dollars,according to Gary Goldstein, CEOHeadway Corporate Resources.

O rdinary workers didn’t getinvited to the party

ALL THIS MONEY c h a n g i n g hands insuch a short time belies the truth of theU.S. economy. The average worker –the middle-class family person with anordinary job, whether blue-collar,white-collar, or no-collar – is not muchbetter off than last year.

The average wage went up just overthree percent; inflation went up justover two percent. So the average per-

son saw only a very small gain during1999 – so small that many of them prob-ably didn’t even notice it.

And 1999 was not a good year at allfor the hundreds of thousands of peo-ple laid off. Corporate layoffs exceeded630,450 by November 1999, on theirway toward a new record high.

Even as retailers cheered their recordsales, they laid off 61,684 workers,nearly three times as many as in 1998.

Those computer companies thatwere creating the booming stock mar-ket laid off nearly 60,000, and financialservices, considered another boomindustry for 1999 and the foreseeablefuture, laid off more than 56,000.

All this record job-cutting comes at atime when the country is enjoying oneof the lowest unemployment rates ofthe past 50 years. Mergers and acquisi-tions are part of the problem – but onlya small part. Analysts report that onlyone in nine layoffs is due to mergers.

In another bit of bad news, theOctober trade deficit jumped to arecord $25.94 billion, caused partly bysoaring deficits with Japan and China.Economists agree that the U.S. cannotafford to continue such a high tradedeficit, yet the White House recentlycompleted another deal opening theway for more imports from China. ❑

Stock prices are skyrocketing, profits are up, yetm o re workers than ever are getting the boot

Source: Commonwealth study

The economy couldn’t be better,yet corporate layoffs are soaring

the Boilermaker Reporter1 0 Jan • Feb 2000

L O C A L N E W S

T h ree Local 647members make ‘finalfour’ in selection pro c e s sJUDE M. REILLY, a 15-year member ofLocal 647, Minneapolis, Minn., hasbeen hired as safety director for theNorth Dakota Building TradesDepartment.

In this newly-created position, Reillywill oversee OSHA, risk management,and any other related safety training forall trades in the state of North Dakota.

Of the ten applicants for this newposition, three of the four finalists inter-

viewed were members of Local 647.Also considered were Local 647 mem-bers Randy Thompson and Tom Will.

“This shows just how muchBoilermakers stand out in the construc-tion industry,” said Local 647 ABMTerry Curl. “I want to thank all threeLocal 647 members for their intrust inthis position. With Jude’s background,I know he will do an excellent job.”

Reilly began his new duties inSeptember. His position is beingfunded by a grant awarded by thestate through the workman’s compen-sation office. ❑

L - 6 4 7 ’s Jude Reilly is new safetyd i rector for North Dakota

B o i l e rmakers dowhatever it takesto get the job doneTHE U.S. ARMYis not the only groupto do more before 9:00 a.m. than mostpeople do all day, according to MarvysBoswell, chairman of trustees for Local199, Jacksonville, Fla.

He sent this photo of Tony Walker(also of Local 199) wrestling an alliga-tor at the Purdom Power Plant inFlorida as proof.

The nearly five-foot gator showedup at 7 a.m. one Monday morning fol-lowing a weekend of heavy rain, butthe job did not call for his particularskills. Walker and fellow Local 199Boilermaker Jimmy Jameson escortedthe reptile off the property.

Superintendent Steve Cantrellquickly took this photograph beforethe gator was released into the St.Marks River, pointed upstreamtoward the state’s capital building just20 miles away in Tallahassee. ❑

Local lodges announce pin re c i p i e n t sLocal One (Chicago, Ill.)p resents membership pinsJOHN J. SKERMONT, business man-ager and secretary-treasurer of LocalOne, Chicago, Ill., has presented mem-bership pins for continuous years ofservice to the following Local Onem e m b e r s :

50 year pins – John Brady

45 year pins – Richard Bartos, WilliamS e g i e t

35 year pins – John Benz

30 year pins – Charles Caffrey Jr., GaryCollins, Daniel Durkovic, HumbertoGonzalez, Michael Grana, James Hess,Frank Latuszek, Jerry Litherland,Michael Roos

25 year pins – Gary Ames, DanielBastick, Richard Carlson, Roy DiNovo,Robert Eisenhammer, Ernest Gossett,Charles Hayes, Theodore Heda, BarryJeleniewski, James Kirby, RobertKnowles, Alvin Lewis, WilliamMorrin, Lawrence Nolan, Emil PriesolJr., and Fred Pomis

Local 28 (Newark, NJ)p resents membership pinsRAYMOND C. DEVANEY, businessmanager and secretary-treasurer ofLocal 28, Newark, N.J., has presentedmembership pins for continuous yearsof service to the following Local 28m e m b e r s :

55 year pins – Louis Lodico, HarveyS t a u c h

50 year pins – Donald Munroe,William Potter, Peter Richardson Jr.,

40 year pins – James Ciriello, JosephM c N a l l y

35 year pins – Anthony DeGulis Jr.,George Franklin Jr., Daniel Gallagher,

John Gibson, Walter Jagielski, James J.O’Donnell, Howard Shaffer III

30 year pins – Winford Brereton,Francis R. Burns, William Duffy,Robert Flynn, Robert Pierce, James J.Rielly, William Stevens, MichaelWasko, Edgar Youngling

25 year pins – Howard Anderson,Robert P. Boddingham, Roger Bott,Peter Centuolo, James J. Clifford,John Doherty, William Fersch,Thomas Kayla, Stephen Lawskowski,Charles Pero, William Robinson,Robert Sweiderk

20 year pins – Anthony Amormino,John Christopher, Ronald Connors Jr.,Robert Crosby, Thomas Cushing,Jaime DaCunha, Robert Falck, John D.Gomez, Craig Hagendoorn, BrianHall, Joseph Haney, Daniel KearneyJr., Craig MacDonald, James McLean,Michael P. O’Donnell, JohnO’Halloran, William Potter, MichaelRaymond, Charles Riegg, MichaelScanlon, Richard Sheldrake,Raymond Sheridan, ScottVanWagner, Brian Verge

15 year pins – Daniel Aumack, DonaldCallahan, Lewis L. DePietro Jr., PhilipJ. Duffy, Robert McCarthy

Local 374 (Hammond, Ind.)p resents membership pinsCHARLES H. VANOVER, businessmanager and secretary-treasurer ofLocal 374, Hammond, Ind., has pre-sented membership pins for continu-ous years of service to the followingLocal 374 members:

60 year pin – Charles Livengood

40 year pins – Frank G. Dudek, DarwinHarrison, and Richard C. Livengood. ❑

Daughter of Local 29member kills mooseon first hunting tripRANDI FOURNIER, 13-year olddaughter of Mel Fournier, a 27-yearmember of Local 29, Boston, will neverforget her first hunting trip with herfather this last October.

She shot a 510-pound bull moose. Randi, pictured here with her father

and the moose, is also an avid hockeyplayer, currently enjoying her eighthseason of play. ❑

L-40 re t i ree Stanley Combs is workingas a fundraiser for WWII memorial

Wants all Boilermakers tohelp support monument STANLEY D. COMBS joined theBoilermakers union in 1950, and hasbeen a member of Local 40,Elizabethtown, Ky., since 1960. He is aveteran, having served in both WorldWar II and the Korean War, and isrecipient of the Purple Heart, CombatInfantry Badge, and the Silver Star.

Since his retirement in 1989, Combshas kept himself busy, but his mostrecent project is one of his most fulfilling.He is helping to raise funds for a WorldWar II Memorial.

“Fifty-four years after the ending ofWorld War II, our Congress has

authorized the building of a memorialdedicated to the veterans of this war,”wrote Combs. “Let us be mindful thatafter 405,399 deaths and the woundingof 670,846 veterans, freedom still ringsin this nation!”

Combs’ fundraising efforts so farhave included addressing groups andsubmitting articles for publication inhis local newspaper. A nationwidefundraising campaign has raised $60million of the proposed monument’sprice of $100 million. Combs wants allBoilermakers to join him in raisingfunds for this monument. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to theWorld War II Memorial, P O Box 96766,Washington, DC 20090-6766. For moreinformation, call 1-800-639-4WW2. ❑

1983 law raises ageby steps to 67 in 2027IF YOU’RE COUNTING on SocialSecurity or a Railroad Pension forretirement income, you may need towork past 65. A 1983 law goes intoeffect this year for those people born in1938 and later.

If you turn 62 years of age in the year2000, and choose to collect SocialSecurity’s early-retirement benefit, thebenefit amount will be slightly lessthan in the past. If you were born in1938, and decide to wait to retire untilyou are eligible for full Social Securityretirement benefits, you will have towork two months longer – until youare 65 years and two months old.

And that’s not all. Under the 1983law, the traditional retirement age of65 will rise in increments to the age of67 by the year 2027.

The increase is necessary becausepeople are living significantly longernow. Since the Social Security pro-gram began paying monthly benefitsin 1940, the average life expectancy formen reaching age 65 has increasedfrom 77 years to 81; the life expectancyfor women who reach 65 hasincreased from 78 to age 84.

Full retirement age is the earliest ageat which a retiree can receive full bene-fits, with no reduction for early retire-ment. The full retirement age forSocial Security employee benefitsincreases from 65 to 66 and then from66 to 67 at the rate of two months peryear over two separate six-year peri-ods, beginning this year. The increasein the retirement age begins with indi-

viduals born in 1938, whose retire-ment age will be 65 and two months.The age increases in two-month incre-ments for workers born between 1939and 1943 until the retirement agereaches 66. It remains there for allworkers born through 1954.

For those born after 1954, the retire-ment age begins to increase again intwo-month increments until it reachesage 67 for those born in 1960 or later. Inthe chart below, locate the year of yourbirth to determine how old you mustbe to retire with full benefits under theSocial Security program. This samechart applies to participants of theRailroad Retirement program, withthe exception of participants with 30years or more of service who can stillretire at full benefits at age 62.

Participants in the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trustcan retire with full benefits from theBoilermaker pension at the age of 59with 30 years of service.

Social Security re g u l a rre t i rement age goes up

Age Needed to Qualify for Full Social Security Retirement Benefits

Birth Year Required Age1937 or earlier 65 years1 9 3 8 65 and 2 months1 9 3 9 65 and 4 months1 9 4 0 65 and 6 months1 9 4 1 65 and 8 months1 9 4 2 65 and 10 months1943 thru 1954 66 years1 9 5 5 66 and 2 months1 9 5 6 66 and 4 months1 9 5 7 66 and 6 months1 9 5 8 66 and 8 months1 9 5 9 66 and 10 months1960 or later 67 years

Figuring out what thecontract actually says isnot always easy

SOMETIMES STEWARDS f e e lthat they need a law degree to dotheir jobs correctly. That’s

because the key to success in mostgrievances lies in being able to interpretwhat the contract says.

And that can sometimes be verydifficult.

You don’t need to be a lawyer,though, to interpret your collective bar-gaining agreement. You just need tolearn some of the methods lawyers andarbitrators use to interpret the contractand how it applies to the grievance youare handling.

First, you’ll want to see if this subjecthas come up in other grievances and, ifso, how the matter was handled in thepast. Generally, the resolution of a priorgrievance on the same matter will deter-mine how you’ll resolve this grievance.

If the issue hasn’t been addressedbefore, you need to determinewhether it is mentioned in the con-tract, either directly or by reference toanother document. If so, your job ofinterpreting begins.

Does the contract mentionthe issue specifically?

IF THE CONTRACTnever mentionsthe issue of your grievance at all, thenyou obviously have to find some othersupport for the grievance. If the issue ismentioned, read that section of the con-tract carefully to see if the issue isspecifically mentioned and the lan-guage is clear and unambiguous.

For example, look at this language:“Section 1: Management shall con-

tinue to make reasonable provisions forthe safety and health of employees.”

This language mentions the com-pany’s responsibility for safety andhealth, but leaves a lot of room for inter-pretation. You might not say it isunclear, but it certainly leaves a lot ofroom for different interpretations. Keywords in this language are “continue tomake” and “reasonable provisions.”

Let’s say that the company decides tostop supplying the work gloves it hassupplied in the past. Obviously, theyare not “continuing” to make provi-sions, so that specific word may supporta grievance. On the other hand, youwould probably not be able to use thissection to force the company to begindistributing safety equipment that theyhave not distributed in the past.

This section also contains a danger-ous hedge word: “reasonable.”Supplying safety goggles might seemlike a “reasonable” provision to you,but the company may be able to suc-cessfully argue that it is unreasonableto expect them to provide such per-sonal items.

Let’s add another section to thatcontract.

“Section 2: Wearing apparel to prop-erly protect employees from injuryshall be provided by management inaccordance with practices now prevail-ing or as such practices may beimproved from time to time.”

The language here is much more spe-cific. When one part of a contract is gen-eral or vague and another is specific,the more specific part applies. Workgloves would definitely fall under“wearing apparel;” safety gogglesmight not.

The phrase “in accordance with prac-tices now prevailing” is more specificthan “continue to make,” while thephrase “or as such practices may beimproved” allows the company tochange the policy by improving it. If pro-viding the safety goggles was the “pre-vailing” practice when the contract wassigned, the company can only changethat policy by doing something better.

Of course, we don’t always agree onhow a practice “may be improved.” Ifthe company can save money by offer-ing cheaper gloves, they’ll call that animprovement because it improves theirbottom line. What happens if yourmembers don’t like the new gloves? Doyou have a grievance? How would youargue your case?

Another point to remember is thatwhen the contract mentions one item,but fails to mention another similaritem, the contract is usually interpretedto mean that the unmentioned itemswere intended to be excluded. In theexample above, the language mentions“wearing apparel.” Would you inter-pret that to mean work boots? Whatabout safety glasses?

Is the language clear andu n a m b i g u o u s ?

DETERMINING WHETHER the con-tract clearly states what was intendedcan be very frustrating. In a dispute,each side is inclined to make a clausemean what they want it to mean. Whenthe company interprets a clause to meanone thing and you think it means some-thing else, you need to make an effort tolook at the language objectively.

Try to read the clause the way somestranger who knows nothing about thecase and has no interest in it would readthe language. Essentially, that’s whathappens when the arbitrator comes in.The arbitrator has nothing to gain orlose, so he or she can be objective.

Look at this language: “Shift workerswill be given 20 minutes from their reg-

ular shift for eating lunch, at the con-venience of the management.” It seemspretty clear. But would it apply to peo-ple who work only days?

Ambiguous language is the type ofunclear language that can be under-stood two different ways and bothreadings are reasonable. For example,“Employees must report any absencefor illness or injury prior to the begin-ning of their shift” is ambiguous. Thecompany would no doubt say it meansyou need to call in every day you willbe out, but it is reasonable to read it asmeaning you could call in once for amultiple day absence.

An arbitrator will consider severalfactors when interpreting languagethat is unclear or ambiguous.

1. What was the intent of the partieswhen they negotiated? Courts haveconsistently ruled that what the partiesbelieved they were agreeing to over-rules a strict reading of the actual lan-guage. If you intend to use this factor tointerpret the language, you’ll need tolook back at the bargaining commit-tee’s notes, initial demands, how thelanguage differs from previous con-tracts, and other documents relating towhat people were thinking while at thenegotiating table.

2. Does one interpretation deprive aworker of other contract rights? T h earbitrator will disregard any interpre-tation of the contract that would break alaw or violate a worker’s civil rights.

3. Has either party permitted a cer-tain interpretation over a period oftime without protest or appeal? T h i scriterion can work for both the com-pany and the worker. If you let thecompany get away with using theirinterpretation of the language for sev-eral years before anyone files a griev-ance, don’t expect the arbitrator to takeyour side.

4. What has been the company’s pastpractice in similar situations? What isnormal practice in the industry?

5. Would one interpretation bringharsh or nonsensical results?Arbitrators opt for resolutions theybelieve will bring just and reasonableresults. For example, if the contractreads, “workers must call in sick everyday of an absence for illness or injury,”it would be harsh and unreasonable toexpect a person in a coma to call in sickevery day.

6. If two interpretations of the lan-guage seem equally reasonable, thearbitrator will probably not assess ap e n a l t y . ❑

Key points to grievance handling

the Boilermaker Reporter1 1 Jan • Feb 2000

S T E W A R D S

Do you know a star steward ?WE’D LIKE TO include their name in our S t a rS t e w a r d s column. Just drop us a line with thename of the steward, the local, the company,and a few words about why you think thissteward is so special. Send a photo if youhave one. We’d like the world to see what agood steward looks like.

Send info to this address:Star StewardsThe Boilermaker ReporterBoilermakers International753 State Ave, Suite 570Kansas City KS 66101

Grievance Handling

How to interpret contract language Key words andphrases in contracts

MANY WORDS AND phrases thatfrequently appear in contracts cancause problems for people when theyfirst begin interpreting contract lan-guage. You may use these terms indifferent ways in your everyday life,but they have very specific meaningswhen they appear in a contract.

• M a y – Implies permission, but notobligation. Something can be done ifthe party wants to do it, but they arenot required to do so. For example,“The company may provide a holi-day turkey in December.” If youdon’t get one, you have no grievance.

• S h o u l d – Expresses moral obliga-tion, but not legal obligation. “Thecompany should provide a holidayturkey in December.” Again, don’tcount on getting one.

• S h a l l – Denotes compulsion. Theparty is obligated to act. “The com-pany shall provide each employeea holiday turkey in December.”This one you can take home andcook. If you don’t get it, you’ve gota grievance.

• W i l l – Simply denotes the future.Does not imply compulsion. Thisverb confuses a lot of people. If youwant to make sure the company doessomething, use “shall” or “must,”not “will.”

• Must – Implies necessity or com-pulsion. Stronger than shall.“Employees must call in prior to anabsence for illness or injury.” Ifyou’re going to stay out sick, you areobligated to call in first.

• When (or if) appropriate – Allowsfull discretion to management.“When appropriate, the companymay reassign employees to jobs in asimilar pay class.” In this case, thecompany decides where you work.Though you may argue overwhether the pay is truly “similar,”the company can reassign you when-ever they feel it is appropriate.

• When (or if) practical – Slightlymore compelling than “when appro-priate.” The union can argue whethersomething is practical. “When practi-cal, employees may take their breaksoutside so they can smoke.” In thisexample, there is a great deal of roomfor arguing either way.

• When (or if) practicable – Meanswhen “workable.” Managementdecides what is workable, so thedecision still belongs to them, butthere may be room for discussion.

• When (or if) possible – Very com-pelling. The only argument for inac-tion is that it is not possible to do so –a very difficult case to support.“When possible, the company willnotify employees 14 days prior toany layoff.” Could the companyargue it was impossible for them tosee the layoff coming?

• N o r m a l l y – Allows managementto decide when a situation is otherthan normal. Arguments challengingwhat is “normal” require a great dealof documentation with evidenceover a long period of time.

• To the maximum extent practical–Management decides whether anaction is practical, so they determinethe limit here.

• To the maximum extent possible–How much is possible? A lot! You’dbetter hope this phrase is part of asentence obligating the company todo something – and not you.

ListenWhat facts can the aggrieved employee supply?

Grievance?Does it meet the criteria for a grievance?

CheckWhat facts need checking?

PresentHow is the best way to present the case?

WriteWhat should be included in the written grievance?

the Boilermaker Reporter1 2 Jan • Feb 2000

S E T T L E M E N T S

M10–Milwaukee, WIIN T L. RE P. HO W A R D CO L Ereports contract ratification,effective November 1, 1999to October 31, 2002, for 96members of Local M10,Milwaukee, Wis., who makea variety of metal polishingproducts for S K Williams.

M13 – St. Louis, MOPA T R I C I A TH O M A S, bus. mgr.of Local M13, St. Louis, Mo.,reports contract ratificationeffective November 29,1999 to November 28, 2002,for five Local M13 memberswho work at the D i a m o n dPlating Co.

S20 – Louisville, KYDA V I D CH E S H I R E, sec.-treas.and rec. sec. of Local S20,Louisville, Ky., reportscontract ratification,effective December 8, 1998to December 8, 2002, for 88Local S20 members whomake gas heatingequipment under the“Cozy” furnace brand namefor Louisville Tin & Stove.

L-29 – Boston, MALA W R E N C E H. MA CAD A M S, BM-ST for Local 29, Boston,Mass., reports contractratification, effectiveNovember 1, 1999 to October31, 2002, for 20 Local 29members who performspecialty welding at H o d g eEngineering and Fabrication.

L-83–Kansas City, MORO G E R ER I C K S O N, BM-ST forLocal 83, Kansas City, Mo.,reports contract ratificationeffective November 24, 1999to October 31, 2003, for 97Local 83 members whomanufacture boilers andappurtenances at theNebraska Boiler Co., andeffective November 1, 1999to October 31, 2000, for 23shop and field repair Local 83members who performcustom fabrication of steel,aluminum, and stainlesssteel for ASME codevessels, and service processand heating boilers forShamrod Metal Fabricators.

L-101 – Denver, COHE N R Y MCCO Y, BM-ST forLocal 101, Denver, Colo.,reports contract ratification,effective June 1, 1999 toOctober 20, 2002, for 26members of Local 101 whoproduce rubber lining for theArdco Corporation.

L-104 – Seattle, WABM-ST TI M CA R R and VPChuck Hughes, of Local 104,Seattle, Wash., report acontract extension toAugust 31, 2000, for Local104 members at A & WF a b r i c a t i o n; contractratification effective October18, 1999 to October 3, 2004,for 30 Local 104 memberswho produce stainless andcopper pipe and fittings forthe Alaskan Copper Works

Stainless Products Division;recognition and contractratification effectiveNovember 8, 1999 to October31, 2002, for three new Local104 members who work inthe fabrication shop atApplied MechanicalT e c h n o l o g y; and contractratification effective August1, 1999 to July 31, 2002, for500 Local 104 members whowork at Todd Shipyard.

L-483 – Alton, ILME M B E R SO F Local 483, Alton,Ill., have agreed to extend allterms and conditions of thecurrent contract with R o n e yMachine Works, Inc. t oFebruary 1, 2001.

L - 6 1 3 – Wilmington, NCIN T L. RE P. ST E V E N BE A L r e p o r t scontract ratification,effective November 1, 1999to October 31, 2003, for 14members of Local 613,Wilmington, N.C., whorecycle metal at S o u t h e r nMetals Recycling, Inc.

L-647 – MinneapolisPA U LPE N D E R G A S T, BM-ST forLocal 647, Minneapolis,Minn., reports contractratification, effective July 19,1999 to July 18, 2002, for 31Local 647 members who buildand repair tanks, and performheat exchanger work, duckfabrication, boiler tubebending, and plate roll andbending at the M o o r h e a dMachine & Boiler Co.

L-679 – ChattanoogaIN T L. RE P. MI K E WI L S O Nreports contract ratification,effective Sept. 1, 1999 toAug. 31, 2002, for 41members of Local 679,Chattanooga, Tenn., whoproduce boilers and tanksfor the Chattanooga Boilerand Tank Company.

L-1600 – St. Charles, ILIN T L. RE P. HO W A R D CO L Ereports contract ratification,effective November 14, 1999to November 15, 2002, for 20members of Local 1600, St.Charles, Ill., who produceforgings for C & F Forge, andeffective November 21, 1999to November 20, 2002, for 62Local 1600 members whomake explosive powder,paint pigment, packaging,Hershey candy wrapper,and labels for Barq’s beer atToyal America, Inc.

L-1626 – ChampaignIN T L. RE P. JA M E S PR E S S L E Yreports contract ratification,effective October 30, 1999 toSeptember 22, 2003, for 43members of Local 1626,Champaign, Ill., who performfabrication work at theClifford Jacobs Forging Co.

L-1667 – Marion, OHIN T L. RE P. RO N LY O N reports aone-year contractextension for members ofLocal 1667, Marion, Ohio, atthe Dana Corporation.

THROUGH THE n e g o t i a t i o nprocess, members of Local1600, St. Charles, Ill., haveended a one-week lockoutat Toyal America, earningback holiday pay, retroac-tive insurance coverage,and increases in both their

wage and benefit packagesin a new three-year agree-ment. The company alsoresponded to the members’demands by dropping theirrequest for random drugtesting, reports Intl. Rep.Howard Cole.

New contract summariesA brief listing of recent agreements signed and ratified by Boilermaker local lodges

Prepared by the Researchand Collective BargainingDepartment of theInternational Brotherhood ofB o i l e r m a k e r s

THIS ANALYSIS of the 19agreements outlined above isbased on information providedin the Contract Summary andTransmittal Report forms, andcovers approximately 2,043e m p l o y e e s .

Wage Increases

F I F T E E N facilities received payincreases in 1999, averaging$0.53 per hour or four percent.

Fifteen facilities will receivepay increases in 2000,averaging $0.46 per hour or3.07 percent.

Fifteen facilities will receivepay increases in 2001,averaging $0.46 per hour orthree percent.

Five facilities will receivepay increases in 2002,averaging $0.38 per hour or3.25 percent.

One facility will receive payincreases in 2003, not enoughto calculate an average.

P e n s i o n

E I G H T E E N f a c i l i t i e sparticipate in some type ofpension program.

There are nine facilitieswhich participate in theB o i l e r m a k e r - B l a c k s m i t h

National Pension Trust. Theircontributions range from $0.70to $2.18 per hour.

Average cents per hourcontributions are $1.20 for thefirst year, $1.24 the secondyear, and $1.28 in the third year.

Those reporting apercentage contribution rangefrom two percent to sevenpercent of gross income.

Seven facilities offer a401(k) plan; four also havecompany-sponsored plans;one has a profit sharing plan.

Shift Differential

E I G H T E E N a g r e e m e n t sprovide for a second shiftpremium, of which 15 report acents-per-hour premium thatranges from $0.37 to $1.00. Theaverage is $0.37 per hour. Oneagreement provides apremium for employees whowork a 12-hour shift.

Seventeen agreementsprovide for a third-shift pre-mium, of which 14 provide acents-per-hour premiumthat ranges from $0.12 to$1.00. The average is $0.41per hour.

The remaining agreementspay on a percentage basis.These range from four toeight percent on the secondshift and 4.5 to eight percenton the third shift.

Sickness & A c c i d e n t

SIXTEEN agreements provideweekly sickness and accidentindemnity. Of these, 12 pay aset dollar amount rangingfrom $135 to $445 per week.Average rates are: first year –$231; second year – $232; thirdyear – $238.

The remaining agreementsprovide a percentage of theemployee’s earnings.

The length of time off rangesfrom 13 to 52 weeks. The mostcommon is 26 weeks found inten agreements.

Life Insurance/AD&D

S I X T E E N agreements providelife insurance. In 13 of theagreements, there is a setdollar amount ranging from$5,000 to $50,000. The averagebenefit for the first year is$15,615.

The remaining agreementsuse the annual wage as thebenefit or multiply wages by2080 hours, for the benefita m o u n t .

Thirteen agreementsprovide Accidental Deathand Dismemberment(AD&D) insurance.

All of the agreements havea set dollar amount rangingfrom $5,000 to $50,000. Theaverage is $18,154.

V a c a t i o n

E I G H T E E N a g r e e m e n t sprovide a one-week vacation.Eighteen agreements providea two-week vacation.Seventeen agreementsprovide a three-weekv a c a t i o n . S e v e n t e e nagreements provide a four-week vacation. Fiveagreements provide a five-week vacation and twoagreements provide a six-week vacation.

Of the above agreements,three receive vacation paybased on a percentage.

Paid Holidays

ALL OF THE a g r e e m e n t sprovide for paid holidays. T h enumber of paid holidaysranges from eight to 13. Theaverage is eight.

Other Provisions

S E V E N T E E N a g r e e m e n t sprovide funeral leave. Paid leavefor jury duty is found in 14agreements. Union leavelanguage is found in eightagreements. Eight agreementsprovide all or partialreimbursement for the purchaseof safety shoes. T w oagreements provide aseverance payment package,and one agreement providespaid leave for those persons whospend two weeks at m i l i t a r ye n c a m p m e n teach year.

A summary analysis of these contract settlements

You don’t get what you deserve . . .. . . you get what you negotiate

UNION LEADERS, like these pictured here, work longhours to negotiate the best benefits they can forBoilermaker m e m b e r s .

Local M10 committee members, l. to r., Betty Farris,Juanita Austin, and Dorothy Mays, negotiated athree-year agreement for 96 Local M10 membersin Milwaukee, Wis., at S.K. Williams. Austin alsoserves as the local’s vice president.

Negotiating a contract between Local 1600 andToyal America, Inc., are, seated l. to r., L-1600 VPMario Porras, Pers. Mgr. Nancy Williams, and CFOJohn Wheeler; standing, l. to r., L-1600 TrusteesGreg Villagomez and Tom Fatagante, plant mgr.Michael Moore, and co. attny. Matthew Schiff.Photo by Intl. Rep. Howard Cole.

Contract settlement ends one-week lockout

L-2000 members win appealSixty-two members at two Boilerm a k e rshops share $45,766 back-pay awardTHANKS TO THEefforts of their union offi-cers, 62 members ofLocal 2000, Chester, Pa.,are sharing a monetaryaward of $45,766.

Local 2000 BusinessManager and Secretary-Treasurer Phillipp J.Evans reports that thelocal filed an appeal withthe U.S. Department ofLabor on March 6, 1998,when they did not agreewith the company’sinterpretation of theService Contract Act.

According to Evans,Metro Machine ofPennsylvania thoughtthe Service Contract Actwas identical to theDavis Bacon Act, whichcombines benefits andwages to form a mini-mum wage and benefitpackage. The ServiceContract Act, however,provides for a minimum

wage and also a mini-mum benefit package,each stand alone and arenot added together.

“I filed an appealwhen I discovered thatMetro Machine was pay-ing our shipfitters a ratewhich was too low,” saidEvans. The award com-pensates membersworking under the ship-fitter classification atMetro’s shop at the for-mer Sun Ship Shipyardin Chester, Pa., and attheir industrial productsdivision at the formerErie Marine Shipyard inErie, Pa.

It took awhile for thedecision to be made (theappeal was filed 18months before the awardchecks were distributedto the members), butEvans says, “We at Local2000 are very pleasedwith the outcome.” ❑

L-1600 overcomes lockout

REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURIES ( R S I s )and back injuries are disabling andexpensive. Each year, RSIs force morethan 600,000 workers to lose time fromtheir jobs, making these injuries thenation’s biggest job safety problem.They account for one-third of all seri-ous injuries and cost billions of dollars. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)account for 34 percent of all lost work-days, and one third of all money spenton worker’s compensation. CarpalTunnel Syndrome results in more lostworkdays than any other workplaceinjury. Women suffer 70 percent of lostworkdays due to Carpal Tunnel and 62percent of all lost workdays due to ten-donitis (because of the jobs they typi-cally perform, not their physiologies).

Avoiding back injuries

MOST BACK INJURIES result fromattempting to lift heavy loads.According to an article by Cindy Burt,MS, OTR, your body is not designed tolift heavy weights. The way you carrya heavy object can subject your backto pressures two to ten times theobject’s actual weight. The pressureis increased more as you hold theload away from the body.

Safe lifting is a function of both theamount of weight being lifted andthe lifting technique. Here are sometips to help you lift safely:

• Always test the weight of unfamiliarloads before lifting. If a load is too heavyor awkward, have a co-worker help, oruse equipment such as a cart or dolly.• Know where you are going beforeyou lift a load. Pre-plan your lift. • Keep your legs shoulder width apartfor good balance. • Take a deep breath and tighten yourstomach muscles. Conditioned stom-ach muscles can serve the same pur-pose as back straps to protect yourback when lifting. • Bend at your knees and hips, notyour waist. Try to keep the naturalcurves in your back when bendingand lifting. • Lift using your leg muscles to reducethe load on your back. • Lift smoothly; don’t jerk as you lift.Sudden movement and weight shiftscan injure your back. • Keep your back in alignment, withyour ears, shoulders, and hips linedup. Your nose and your toes shouldbe facing the load when lifting.• Hold the load close to your body atwaist height to reduce the force onyour back. •Turn with your feet, not your backto avoid twisting when lifting.

A stretching and strengthening pro-gram can also help you reduce yourrisk of back injury.

Avoiding repetitive traumad i s o rd e r s

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROMEaccounts for more lost workdays thanany other workplace injury. There areseveral forces at work that cometogether to result in a repetitive traumadisorder. Your work environment, yourjob, your equipment, and how you useyour body are all important compo-

nents. Increased awareness of yourposture and work habits are necessaryto enable you to work safely and avoidthe problems associated with repeti-tive trauma disorders.

What is carpal tunnel?

AT THE BASE of the palm is a tightcanal or tunnel through which ten-dons and the Median nerve have topass to get into the hand. This narrowpassage between the forearm andhand is called the carpal tunnel.

The carpal tunnel is normally quitesnug and there is just barely enoughroom in it for the tendons and onenerve. If anything takes up extra roomin the canal, things become too tightand the nerve in the canal becomesconstricted or “pinched.” This pinch-ing causes numbness and tingling inthe area of the hand that the nervegoes to, resulting in the “carpal tun-nel syndrome.”

Repetitive use of the hand andwrist can cause tendons to swell,resulting in carpal tunnel. Fracturesaround the wrist and hand can alsocause carpal tunnel symptoms.

The carpal tunnel also changes insize, depending on the position of thewrist. When the wrist and hand arestraight in line, the carpal tunnel is atits widest size. When the hand is bentup or bent down at the wrist, the tun-nel becomes slightly smaller. There ismore room for the nerve when thewrist is kept straight. Keeping thewrist bent up or down puts morepressure on the nerve and brings outthe numbness and tingling.

Symptoms include pain, tingling ornumbness in the thumb, index, mid-dle, and half the ring finger. Thesefrequently wake you up at night orappear in activities such as driving ortyping. If symptoms persist longenough the thumb muscles that per-mit you to pinch deteriorate and t h eability to pinch can be lost.

If the pressure on the nerve isrelieved early enough, the symptomsrapidly disappear. If they are ignoredtoo long, the continued pressure on thenerve can cause irreversible damage.

Workers with hand-intensive jobsshould do a five-minute exercisewarm-up before starting work, just asrunners stretch before a run to pre-vent injury. At the start of each shiftand after each break, workers should:

1. Extend and stretch both wristsand fingers acutely as if they are in ahand-stand position. Hold for a countof five.

2. Straighten both wrists and relaxfingers.

3. Make a tight fist with both hands.Then bend both wrists down whilekeeping the fist. Hold for a count of five.

4.Straighten both wrists and relaxfingers, for a count of five.

Repeat exercise ten times, thenhang arms loosely at side and shakethem for a couple of seconds. Totalexercise time: five to ten minutes.

DON’T TAKE UNNECESSARY RISKS.A L W A Y S PLAY IT SAFE.

AND WHEN YOU ARE AT WORK,MAKE IT SAFE!

MAKE IT SAFEE rgonomics – Stop the Pain!

the Boilermaker Reporter1 3 Jan • Feb 2000

S A F E T Y

P rotect against infection by wearingcotton treated with chlorineYES, YOU CAN protect against infec-tion simply by wearing cotton. Cottonthat has been treated with chlorine, thatis, which will kill germs in minutes with-out irritating the skin or releasing chem-icals that could harm the environment.

Developed by the HaloSourceCompany of Seattle from research doneat the University of California at Davis,

the antibacterial fabric will be used forsportswear, hotel bedding, handker-chiefs, and household linens, and willbe available in stores early this year.

The fabric can be recharged by rins-ing in dilute bleach. And since bacteriacause odor, this fabric could mean theend of smelly socks! (Source: AARP.) ❑

Eating blueberries could impro v ebalance, coordination, and memoryAN EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED a tthe U.S. Agriculture DepartmentHuman Nutrition Research Center onAging at Tufts University in Bostonreveals that eating blueberries couldimprove balance, coordination, andshort-term memory.

According to a report in the Sept. 15Journal of Neuroscience, rats whose agewould be equivalent to that of humans65 to 75 years of age, were fed blueberryextract equal to a daily half-cup of blue-berries. After eight weeks, the rats couldrun faster, and walk longer on a narrowrod, thus demonstrating improved

motor skills. They could go throughmazes quickly and find an underwaterplatform in murky water, indicatingimproved short-term memory.

Scientists believe that antioxidantshelp slow the aging process by destroy-ing the free radicals produced by humanmetabolic activity. Blueberries have thestrongest antioxidant source of 40 fruitsand vegetables tested at the Tufts neuro-science lab; however, more scientificstudy needs to be done to determinewhether blueberries help humans theway they do rats. (Source: AARP.) ❑

OSHA proposes standardErgonomics standard ispositive step, but needsto cover all workersON NOV. 22, 1999, the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration(OSHA) proposed a rule requiringemployers to implement ergonomicsprograms for hazardous jobs, a majorstep forward in the fight to end crip-pling workplace injuries.

If approved, the regulation would bethe most significant worker safety andhealth law of the past ten years, reflect-ing the tireless efforts of union memberswho faced down a well-financed cam-paign by major corporations to blockergonomics regulation. Corporate alliesin Congress tried unsuccessfully tothwart workers’ efforts by seeking toweaken existing safety protections, cur-tail safety inspections, and even pro-hibit the rule’s development.

In the next few months, activists planto submit written testimony and attendpublic hearings in support of theergonomics standard.

“Despite an unrelenting and mean-spirited campaign by Big Businessgroups and anti-worker members ofCongress to block these important pro-tections, the public will finally have achance to be heard,” said AFL-CIOPresident John Sweeney. The rule in itsfinal form should be expanded to coverworkers in the construction, agricul-ture, and maritime industries, andrequire employers to fix hazardous jobsbefore workers are injured, he said.

More than six million workers havesuffered serious injuries fromergonomic hazards in the nine yearssince the Bush administration pledgedto develop an ergonomics standard.Meanwhile, the broad support of thesafety and health professional commu-nity for a rule and recent state regula-tory actions in California andWashington to reduce employee expo-sure to workplace hazards indicate thatsuch injuries are preventable.

OSHA’s publication of its proposedergonomics program in the FederalRegister Nov. 23, 1999, followed eightyears of intense resistance by someemployer groups and their allies inCongress. This action represents the

first step in the process of developing afinal rule to control workplace hazardswhich cause Musculoskeletal Disorders(MSDs). Written comments to OSHAon the proposed standard must be post-marked by Feb. 1, 2000. To submitwritten comments, call 202-693-2350for requirements, or visit OSHA’swebsite for rules of submission at:(w w w . o s h a - s l c . g o v / e r g o n o m i c s - s t a n d a r d / i n d e x . h t m l) .

Following the comment period, pub-lic hearings are scheduled inWashington, D.C., for four weeksbeginning Feb. 22; Portland, Ore. (twoweeks, beginning Mar. 21); andChicago (two weeks, beginning Apr.11), with a final rule expected by theend of 2000. A Notice of Intention toAppear at one of the public hearingsmust be submitted to OSHA and post-marked by Jan. 24, 2000.

After comments and hearings,Congress can still block the standards,which don’t apply to construction andsome other industries. Some employershave launched a campaign to preventOSHA from taking action to protectworkers against ergonomic hazardsthat cause these injuries. They also aremoving to change state laws to make itdifficult, or impossible, for injuredworkers to collect workers’ compensa-tion for RSIs and back injuries. Theseemployers have formed the NationalCoalition on Ergonomics, an industryfront group, to argue that there is noscientific basis for an ergonomics stan-dard and to question whether RSIs arerelated to workplace conditions. Thecoalition’s real strategy is to block astandard for as long as possible.

The proposed standard is a positivestep forward to protect workers, but therule needs to be expanded so all work-ers are covered, and strengthened torequire employers to control hazardousjobs before injuries and illnesses occur.The proposed standard is written inplain language focused on six basic ele-ments of an ergonomics program:Management Leadership andEmployee Participation, HazardInformation and Reporting, Job HazardAnalysis and Control, Training, MSDManagement, and Program Evaluation.For a summary, see the OSHA web siteor the AFL-CIO web site:www.aflcio.org/safety/ergostd_sum.htm. ❑

the Boilermaker Reporter1 4 Jan • Feb 2000

C O N S U M E R N E W S

UNION PLUSCREDIT CARDA credit card isa v a i l a b l e .For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 5 2 2 - 4 0 0 0

LEGAL SERVICEF ree and discountedlegal services. Includesa free consultation (upto 30 minutes).For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 9 4 2 5

LIFE INSURANCETe rm insurance isavailable for mem-bers; spouses andc h i l d ren may bei n c l u d e d .For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 8 9 9 - 2 7 8 2

DENTAL &VISIONO ffers pre d e t e rm i n e ddiscount fees for dentaland vision services andp ro c e d u re s .For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 2 5 7 - 8 3 5 2

M O RTGAGE & REALE S TAT EBuying, selling,refinancing madee a s i e r, more aff o rd a b l e .Special savings on re a lestate agent serv i c e s .For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 8 4 8 - 6 4 6 6

A C C I D E N TI N S U R A N C EWorkplace accidentaldeath insurance isa v a i l a b l e .For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 8 9 9 - 2 7 8 2

UNION FA M I LY$ AV E R SSavings on every d a yconsumer pro d u c t sand services –including Budget &Avis car rentals, DisneyWorld hotel stays,hearing aids, and more .

For information call: 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 9 4 2 5

For more information on thesemembers-only benefits, call

1-800-452-9425BOILERMAKERS UNION

PRIVILEGE BENEFITS

*Includes retired members. Parents andchildren of members and retired memberswith retired member cards are eligible forthe mortgage program and union family

savers directly; they are eligible for otherprograms through the Boilermaker member. Program restrictions may apply to membersoutside the continental United States. Phone1-800-452-9425 for clarification of eligibility

and more information on how you can apply.

The money-saving pro g r a m slisted below are available onlyto Boilermaker members and

their immediate families.*

Members Only

WHEN BARBARA MICKELBERRYdropped her credit card and ID cardafter renting a video, she didn’t notice itwas missing until she got a phone callfrom a local jewelry store. The clerk hadtaken a credit application that he wassuspicious about, so he looked hername up in the phone book.

Her number in the phone book didnot match the applicant’s. His phonecall confirmed his suspicions. The 20-something female in his store was not80-year-old Barbara Mickleberry. Hewithheld the card and called the police.

It was lucky for Barbara that the clerkhad good instincts. The jewelry com-pany’s main office had alreadyapproved a credit line of $5,000.

Barbara came very close to becominga victim of one of the newest and fastestgrowing forms of crime: identity theft.

Identity thieves do not steal from youdirectly. They pretend to be you, getcredit cards in your name, and run upbills that can ruin your credit.

Identity theft claims more than500,000 victims a year. In most cases, thethieves steal your Social SecurityNumber (SSN) first. With that, theyhave access to all your financial andcredit records.

Thieves can get your SSN by stealingyour wallet, taking mail from your box,going through trash for discardedreceipts and bills, or conning you intogiving it to them over the phone. A thiefcan buy batches of SSNs from accom-plices working for companies that haveaccess to them, and they’ve even beensold over the Internet at $20 each.

Once a thief has your SSN, he or shecan apply for a credit card in your name.Months later, when a debt collection

agency is hired to collect the payment,they track you down. You don’t have topay the debt, but you must clean upyour credit record, which means tryingto get a police report and copy of thefraudulent contract, then using them toclear the fraud from your credit report.

That isn’t easy to do. And a badcredit record is not the worst of it.Some victims have been denied jobs,had their drivers’ licenses suspended,or even been jailed for offenses com-mitted by an identity thief.

You can minimize your risk of iden-tity theft in many ways:

• Never carry your SSN in your walletor have it printed on checks.• Guard your SSN closely, giving it outonly to official authorities or businessesyou trust. • Shred documents so all numbers areu n r e c o g n i z a b l e .• Demand that credit bureaus stop sell-ing your credit information. Call thecredit bureau’s special toll-free line:(888) 567-8688.• Don’t post personal information onthe Internet – for example, on genealog-ical or college reunion sites.• Check your credit report annually. • Check bank and credit statementsitem by item.

If you should become a victim ofidentity theft, here are some ways toprotect yourself from further harm:

• Get a copy of the fraudulent contractor application.• Contact the credit bureaus that holdyour credit report and ask them to logthe theft and remove the bad accountsfrom your report.• Have a “fraud alert” put on yourcredit report.

• Keep meticulous dated records ofyour attempts to clean the record.• Never agree to pay any portion of thedebt just to get debt collectors off yourback. (Once you begin paying, the debtis your responsibility. The balance canstay on your record and creditors caneven collect from your estate.) ❑

Where to go for help• To report identity theft and get help onhow to restore your credit, contact theFederal Trade Commission, ConsumerResponse Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave.,NW, Washington, DC 20580, or call, tollfree, 1-877-382-4357. For online informa-tion, contact w w w . c o n s u m e r . g o v / i d t h e f t.• To report ID theft, get your credit record(free for fraud victims). To have it cor-rected, contact a l l of the following:

1. Trans Union, Fraud VictimAssistance Dept., P O Box 6790, Fullerton,CA 92834; 1-800-680-7289.

2. Equifax, P O Box 740241, Atlanta, GA30374-0241, 1-800-525-6285.

3. Experian, P O Box 1017, Allen, TX75013, 1-800-301-7195.• For law enforcement help, contact theU.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S.Secret Service, or the police (telephonenumbers are on the front page of yourlocal phone book).• For consumer-oriented information, con-tact the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse,1717 Kettner Ave., Suite 105, San Diego,CA 92101 (w w w . p r i v a c y r i g h t s . o r g) .• For a step-by-step guide on how to regaincredit, see “From Victim to Victor” (PorpoisePress, 1998), written by victim and attorney,Mari J. Frank; w w w . i d e n t i t y t h e f t . o r g.• AARP information is also online atw w w . a a r p . o r g / c o n f a c t s / m o n e y / i d e n t i t y . h t m l.

M o rtgage benefits for union-members only Boilermaker membershave purchased homesworth over $12 millionusing this programTHANKS TO UNION M e m b e rMortgage and Real Estate, buying orselling a home has never been easier ormore affordable for union membersand their immediate families. Andthanks to several recent mortgage ben-efits enhancements, this popular pro-gram now serves members ofparticipating unions even better.

Key program features include a $350credit toward closing costs, which typi-cally covers the credit check and homeappraisal. (This savings benefit isapplied only in instances where themember closes a program loan anduses the program’s real estate benefit topurchase the home.) Regional pricingflexibility is also available to betterserve members in competitive realestate markets. And Federal HousingAdministration (FHA) loans, Veteran’sAdministration (VA) loans, and local

bond programs are now available tomembers in most states.

In addition, the program featurescompetitive rates, low down payments,and the convenience of either handlingthe entire mortgage process over thephone or in person (in areas where themortgage lender has branch offices).

The program’s real estate benefit,which is available by calling the sametoll-free number, offers home sellers one-half of one percentage point off the com-mission* paid to the real estate broker.(That’s an average savings of $500 on a$100,000 home.)

“Union Member Mortgage and RealEstate can add up to real savings formembers who use all parts of the pro-gram,” said Union Privilege PresidentCharles McDonald. “If you add the mort-gage benefits plus the typical $500 sav-ings on the real estate commission, youend up saving $850 or more when youboth buy and sell through the program.Plus, you have the convenience of han-dling the entire process over the phone.”

Savings and convenience aren’t theonly benefits Union Member Mortgageand Real Estate has to offer. The pro-

gram also includes several union-members-only features such as assis-tance fund benefits for members whoare laid off or disabled.

Of particular help to members justentering the housing market are theprogram’s first-time buyers features.These options allow qualified appli-cants (including members, their par-ents, and their sons and daughters) toput as little as three percent downwhen buying a home. (The typicaldown payment required by manylenders is a minimum of five percent.)

“With the first-time buyers benefits,members who previously were shutout of the housing market may now beeligible for the loan they need to pur-chase a home,” said McDonald. “UnionMember Mortgage and Real Estatehelps make the American dream ofowning a home a reality.”

Mortgage loans are made throughChase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. Theunion has no involvement in loandecisions. ❑* The discount on the real estate commis -sion is not available in Alaska, Kansas,Missouri, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

Thieves get rich quick by stealing your identity

N T L Black, AllisonN T L Boatwright, R.C.N T L Caston, Jimmy R.N T L Francis, EdwardN T L Kline, Bradley G.N T L Melton, JohnnyN T L O’Neal, John1 Carey, Raymond1 Carpenter, Daniel1 Corder, Raymond1 Funk, Richard H.1 Shimkus, Chas.6 Aranzeas, George6 Wade, William N.7 Buckley, William7 Vogt, Mathew L.1 0 White, Oran B.1 3 Gorgol, John1 3 Packer, Robert1 3 Quinn, John F.

1 3 Tasso, Anthony1 4 Foster, Richard2 1 Gibbons, William2 6 Youmans, Herman3 0 Ledbetter, Ray3 0 Morris, Cecil3 7 Davi, Vincent3 7 Deprotio, Elio3 7 Molinario, Frank4 5 Faircloth, Wilbert6 0 Crawford, Loren6 0 Druien, Michael6 9 Felkins, Oscar7 2 Clouse, Robert L.7 2 Johnson, Ernest 7 2 Kervin, Edward F.7 2 Whitman, Harold7 3 Caissie, Ulysse7 3 Chisholm, Harold7 3 Coulet Jr., Joseph7 3 Doiron, Marin

7 4 Breaux, Clifton M.7 4 Franklin, Leonard7 4 Schumaker, DonD 7 5 Cummings, Max7 9 Deaton, Frank7 9 Holland, Herbert8 3 Ehlers, Carl8 5 Thorington, Roy8 7 Abbott, Ernest8 7 Showell, Robert9 2 DeShon, Caswell9 2 Krischenowski, W.9 2 Willie, Russell1 0 1 Powell, Daniel1 0 3 Laible, Everett1 0 4 Dilts, Henry1 0 4 Hall, Charles1 0 4 Klemola, John W.1 0 5 Bovard, Ralph1 0 5 Chark, Harry1 4 6 Enjeneski, Wilfred

1 4 6 Lacey, William P.1 4 8 McCart, Halsey1 5 4 Boerner, Alfred1 5 9 Fronczek, Andrew1 7 5 Wyman, Glen A.2 0 3 Flaherty, Joseph2 9 0 Allen, Caby3 1 7 Parks, Bruce B.3 6 3 Bain, Jackie3 7 4 Butler, James3 7 4 Delcorio, Frank3 7 4 Lee, Kenneth D.3 7 4 Moody, Roy T.3 7 4 Pobereyko, Peter3 7 4 Skrbina, Joseph J.D 3 7 5 Boroff, RobertD 3 7 5 Crawford, AlbertD 3 7 5 Donley, PaulD 3 7 5 Friend, RobertD 3 7 5 Sprow, Ernest3 9 7 Walters, Arthur4 0 8 Trammell, Howard4 5 3 Armstrong, Carl4 5 3 Calbaugh, Thomas

4 5 4 Connor, Donald4 5 4 Frazier Jr., Harry4 5 5 Mask, Moody4 5 5 Slea, Ford4 6 7 Labo, John4 8 3 Dickerson, Jesse4 8 3 Rapp, Byford F.D 5 0 0 Kowalski, Eugene5 0 2 Gonzales, Tomas5 0 2 Sears, Loren5 3 0 House, Harvey5 3 1 Folks, Joe5 7 7 Morton, Griff5 8 2 Boone, Joseph5 8 2 Cooper, Morris5 8 7 Howard, Alvorn5 9 2 Ellis, Roy5 9 2 Knox, Alvin6 1 4 Faioli, Carmino6 4 0 Malmstein, Alfred6 4 7 Bistodeau, Vernon6 5 6 Ambotis, Anthony6 5 6 Bean, Johnny6 5 6 Davis, Billy

6 5 6 Fortner, Kenneth6 5 6 Gann, Wayne6 5 6 Hickey, Louie6 7 9 Johnson, William6 9 3 Dawkins, Rollin7 4 4 Finney, Charles7 4 4 Marso, Michael7 4 4 Meredith, Robert7 4 4 Scott, Dean7 4 4 Wilbur, Clair7 4 4 Wisnijai, Louis7 4 7 Petrilla, Joseph8 0 1 Bendorf, Herman9 0 8 McCaman, Dan1 0 8 6 Lincavage, A.1 0 8 6 Peterka, Charles1 5 0 9 Kampa, Lawrence1 5 0 9 Laske, John E.1 5 0 9 Ydunate, Joe1 5 7 0 Duquette, Olivia1 6 2 6 Black, John1 6 2 6 Blakeley, Harvey1 6 6 4 Dvorak, Charles1 9 3 4 Salb, C. N.

WITH DEEP SORROW the International Brotherhood records the death of these members as reportedto the Intl. sec.-treas.’s office and extends its heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families.

L O D G E & N A M E

the Boilermaker Reporter1 5 Jan • Feb 2000

I N M E M O R I A M

N T L Bateman, Carle E. $ 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Baughman, Merle B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Bordelon Sr., Laurence 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Calderon, Ramon 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Caston, Jimmy R. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Havill, John W. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Howell, Lloyd D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Kissane, Daniel J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Montgomery, James C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L O’Neal, John E. 3 , 3 6 9 . 3 3N T L Parker, Clarence J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Poland, Robert L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Sawdo, Roger J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Spinnenweber, Gerald 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Sutton, Roland R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Townsend, Russell O. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0N T L Williams, Bransford 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Bryant, Gordon J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Koch, Joseph R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Ohligschlager, Alvin 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Rodenberg, Robert 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 Stepulin, John P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Davis, Duane O. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Drost, Bernard E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Forney, Culberson 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Fulgado, Severo M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Garrison, Charles H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Giamboni, William L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Johnson, Willie 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Martinez, Joe C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 McClain, Charles W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Montoya, Benito 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Muldrow, Lawrence F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Murphy, Hoy P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Rhodes, Otis 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Thompson, John S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 Wallis, Floyd B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 Park, Robert H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 Templeton, Robert T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 Yavicoli, Harry 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Gilmer, James L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Holzworth, Adolph 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 3 Meluskey, Benny J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Highsmith, Edgar 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Jordan, Robert L. 2 , 1 2 9 . 3 62 6 Marzec, Zigmund B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Peacock, Felton 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Ponsell, George B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 Youmans, Herman H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Allen, George W. 3 8 7 . 5 02 7 Raley, Lonnie H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Roan, William R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 7 Sanker, Charles W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Guinaugh, Patrick 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Moos, Milton 8 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Pierce, Robert E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 8 Raab, Edward A. 5 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 9 Giorgio, Carmen 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 9 McAteer, John 2 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 0 Morris, Cecil C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 Bankston, Thomas A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 Mouille, Franklin M. 3 , 8 1 8 . 1 94 0 Adelman, Clifton S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 0 Heilman, Timothy F. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

4 0 Waggoner, Mark A. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 Pierce, Samuel D. 1 3 1 . 2 57 2 Bell, LeRoy H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Campbell, Edward M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Hedrick, David P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Hopper, W. M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Johnson, Jack W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Koivisto, Anselmi 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Lewis, Ronald H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Malinowski, Andrew P. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 McCollum Jr., Cecil 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Muir, Robert H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Stewart, William D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 2 Whitman, Harold M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 Taylor, John C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Becker, Joseph A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Ehlers, Carl G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Erickson, William M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Grant, Windeal T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Gray, Larry T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Lewis, William J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 3 Peevey, Hubert D. 2 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 5 Cornett Sr., Matthew 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 5 Foster, Russell J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 7 Abbott, Ernest D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Balliet, Lorn L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Coggeshall, Henry J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Hill, Luther C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Holquin, Antonio R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 King, Wayne L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Ohls, Richard E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Underhill, Evart James 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 09 2 Wilson, Ford 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 1 Marquez, Augustine A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Chilcote, Robert A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Elsemore, Gerald S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 George, John M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Johnson, Gunnar E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Killmer, Edward D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Kinerk, David B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Lambert, George W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Mills, Victor 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Pitman, Clarence L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Schaler, Rodney A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Sego, Ernest F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Stroncek, August E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Timmerman, Edward J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 4 Whillock, John A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Hutchison, Basil T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 5 Peck Jr., James A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 0

1 0 5 Presley, Ernest H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 6 Miller, Samuel T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 7 Lewellyn, John R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 7 Shubert, Francis T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 7 Swetlik, Leonard E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 2 White, James B. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 7 Felien, Richard Elmer 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 7 Hunt, Glenn F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Ballantine, Richard C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Castriota, Louis J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Felitsky Sr., Robert W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Henry, James C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Johnson, Edward J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 4 Krill, David A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 9 Usher Sr., Richard H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 9 Zink Jr., Joseph John 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 7 7 LeCloux, Robert J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 8 2 Walden, George L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 9 7 Giminiana, Robert N. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 4 2 James, Earl L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 6 3 Spears, Edward O. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 0 0 Mack, Cecil 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 0 0 McLean, Arthur J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 1 6 Jackson, Henry 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 03 1 6 Reidy, Jeremiah 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 5 8 Holmes, Jeff 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 6 3 Bain, Jackie W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 6 3 Martin, Thomas O. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Gray, Franklin V. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Kurosker, William J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 McIntyre, Wayne 1 , 5 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Parks, John 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Pobereyko, Peter 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 03 7 4 Williams, Van W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Blanton, Zoya A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Chastain, Kenneth M. 1 , 7 9 3 . 6 34 3 3 Kelley Jr., Stephen A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Muckleroy, William B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Post, Earl N. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Scaffe, William L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 3 3 Wilder, Elmer L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 4 Coble Jr., William R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 4 Vaughn, Jerald T. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 5 5 Allen, Larry S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 04 6 9 Miller, Broaddus S. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 0 0 Benedetti, Charles N. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 1 3 Cariker, Henry C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 1 8 Price, Raymond L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 4 9 Aweeka, George A. 6 0 0 . 0 0

5 4 9 Phillips, Sam 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 6 8 Miller, Allan G. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 2 Rish, James D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 2 Temple, Robert 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 3 Davis, Herbert H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 3 Holdbrooks, James B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 3 Smith, Elmo R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 7 Holder, Francis C. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 8 7 Morgan, John E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 05 9 2 Bryan, Allen 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 2 7 Gamett Sr., Harold R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 2 7 Stressman, James L. 6 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 3 6 MacQuarrie, Robert R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 3 6 Riddle, Clarence F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Lemler Jr., Earl H. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Lowell, Kenneth E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Martindale, Marvin W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Moore, Edwin M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Richards, Dan 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 4 7 Watson, Wendell L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 5 1 Shipalauski, John D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 6 7 Fyffe, Roy E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 6 7 Goff, Oran D. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 06 9 6 Denowski, Anthony E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 0 0 Murphy, James R. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Burnham, Leonard 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Lowery, James W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Ryglewicz, Stanley M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 4 4 Van Valien, William H 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 07 5 2 McDonagh, Gerald F. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Buchan, Charles W. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Lanholm, Carl 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 McKee, William James 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 2 Walters, Paul E. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 08 0 7 Tanner, Rudolph M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 0 8 6 Benamon, Virgil L. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 1 6 2 Jordan, Rodney D. 7 2 7 . 4 91 1 6 2 Sobolik, Walter M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 2 3 4 Ortiz, Luz M. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 2 4 7 Cooper, Isaac 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Eaton, Patrick J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Fleischman, Joseph B. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Grocholski, Harry J. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Kitzman, Gordon K. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 5 0 9 Liska, Charles A. 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 3 7 Day, William 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 7 0 McDonald, Ray 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 01 6 7 0 Roth, Chaim 3 , 0 0 0 . 0 02 0 0 0 Davis, Thomas 1 , 4 6 3 . 0 0

M o v i n g ? Tell us where . . .N a m e

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C i t y

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Local Lodge No. Register No.(Also please notify the secretary of your local lodge.)

Mail form to:Publications Department

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Kansas City, KS 66101

(Allow five weeks for change of address.)

THE DEATH BENEFIT PLAN under the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust haspaid the beneficiaries of the following deceased members who were covered by the plansince the last issue of our publication.

IF YOU HAVE NOT yet been furnished this information, contact your local lodge, secure the beneficiaryforms, complete the required information and forward to the Administrative Office of the Pension Fund,754 Minnesota Avenue, Suite 522, Kansas City, KS 66101, at the earliest possible date. NOTE: Theseadditional death benefits can only be derived for members who worked under a collective bargainingagreement with an employer contributing to the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust.

L O D G E , N A M E & B E N E F I T

D E A T H B E N E F I T S

THE NATIONALAeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA)had it pretty rough last fall. In

September they lost the Mars ClimateOrbiter, a satellite that was supposed tostudy the atmosphere of Mars. Then inDecember, they lost its mate, the MarsPolar Lander, which was supposed toland near the south pole of Mars andstudy the polar surface.

NASA’s goal for these shots was todetermine whether there has ever beenenough water on the surface of Mars tosupport life. Together, these failedlaunches cost a total of $356.5 million.

Although scientists, like most people,can usually learn something from theirmistakes, they would have learned agreat deal more had these missionsbeen successful. For practical purposes,that $356.5 million was wasted money.

To Congress, a few hundred milliondollars may not seem like a lot ofmoney. It is only a small fraction ofNASA’s total budget of more than $13billion for the year.

But it is a lot of money to the rest ofus, and I have to question the wisdomof the way that money is being spent. Ifsuccessful, those probes would havegiven us a few more clues as to howmuch water may have been on the sur-face of Mars several thousand or mil-lions of years ago.

How much is that information worth?The Climate Orbiter and Polar

Lander are only two of several mis-sions NASA has planned for Mars.Mars probes began with the MarsPathfinder and Global Surveyor in1996. More missions are planned for2001, 2003, and 2005.

I think that money could be betterspent closer to where we live.Spending billions of dollars each yearon space travel – the privilege of ahandful of people – seems like anunnecessary luxury when the averagecitizen has difficulty getting to workand doing business because our roads,railroads, waterways, and skywaysdesperately need improvement.

In this century, air travel will grow ata phenomenal rate. It has alreadybecome the dominant mode of busi-ness transportation. According to theFAA, U.S. airlines now handle morethan 600 million passengers a year. By2015, that number is expected to topone billion.

Anyone who flies regularly knowsthat airports are clogged, resulting inmissed flights and other delays. As airtravel grows, we can expect that toworsen, unless we build more airportsand expand those now in use. Andwithout improvements to the air trafficmanagement systems, we can expectmore airplane accidents.

On Dec. 6, 1999, William Carleyreported in The Wall Street Journal t h a tair traffic controllers have been con-cealing near collisions because they

fear punishment for operational errors.Our nation has an exemplary air safetyrecord over the last few decades, but ifcontrollers are able to conceal closecalls that record may not remain exem-plary for long.

With thousands of airplanes in the airat any given time, air traffic manage-ment can be a difficult business. InMarch 1999, John O’Brien, director ofthe engineering and air safety depart-ment of the Air Line Pilots Association(ALPA), testified before Congressregarding the need to modernize ourAir Traffic Control (ATC) system. Afteroutlining all that needs to be done, hestated, “ALPA believes that ATC mod-ernizations will flounder unless

Congress provides a reliable fundingstream that allows development ofhardware, software, procedures, andtraining programs.”

How has Congress responded? Thetotal budget for the FAA is about half ofNASA’s budget, and most of thosefunds go to maintain current opera-tions. Apparently, Congress believesthat modernizing ATC equipment isnot as important as studying the sur-face of Mars.

As a nation, I think we’d be better offif those rocket scientists at NASA wereput to work modernizing our air trafficcontrol system.

Air travel is not the only area oftransportation being shortchanged byCongress. Our railroads have beenneglected for decades. It is ironic that

the U.S., which pioneered the devel-opment of rail travel, should nowhave a passenger rail service inferiorto the systems found in countries aspoor as Portugal.

I doubt I have to tell anyone howbadly our roads need work. Traffic onthe interstate highway system hasreached dangerous levels. Nearly one-third of our bridges are so badly inneed of repair they are consideredunsafe by most engineers. Four-laneand two-lane feeder highways areclogged and in poor condition.

In order to balance the budget,Congress keeps cutting spending. Asdollars get tighter, we need to askwhich is more important – looking forwater on Mars or keeping our econ-omy strong.

If we find water on Mars, only ahandful of Americans will ever evenknow about it. But if we allow ourtransportation infrastructure to fallapart, our economy will crumble rightbehind it.

When it comes to budget priorities,let’s keep our goals down to earth. ❑

the Boilermaker Reporter1 6 Jan • Feb 2000

C O M M E N T A R Y

We need to make our governmentspend our tax money more wisely

Charles W. JonesInternational President

L - 1 5 4 ’s Michel: Help the re t i re e sREGARDING RETIREESgoing backto work up to 1,000 hours a year: If youwant to help retirees, why not find away to help them pay for their healthinsurance. This surely would helpthem more than having them go backon the job site, where they could jeop-ardize their health even more. I dounderstand that some may elect to goback to work, but they must be in goodhealth. What about those in poorhealth? What can be done for them?

RO N A L D F. MI C H E L, L-154 retireeLibrary, Pa.

L - 6 4 7 ’s Larson on drug policyTHE MOST BOARDof Trustees haveput in place a National Random DrugTesting Program. In our Local 647jurisdiction, a Boilermaker may haveto drive several hours to find some-one collecting urine. The contractorswill give us two hours pay if we testoff the clock. That does not add up.

RO B E R T M. LA R S O N,Local 647Minneapolis, Minn.

L - 1 5 4 ’s Baldwin on benefits,m e c h a n i c sALL BOILERMAKERS SHOULDhave full pension, including all bene-fits paid by the fund. The fund hasgrown enormously by our hard work,and we should benefit more from it.

Also in the Nov-Dec paper, MartinHolland of L-454 wrote about a pushfor apprentices to become certified

welders – that there is very little train-ing for mechanics. A lot of the blamemust fall on the contractors who call forcertified welders. Most of the time theyend up using the welders as mechanics.All Boilermakers do not weld. Wheredoes this leave our mechanics? Being aBoilermaker means being mechanics aswell as welders. We need both to workour trade.

RO B E R T BA L D W I N SR., L-154New Florence, Pa.

L - 1 4 6 ’s Gott on union prideI HAVE BEEN a boilermaker welderin Canada for 18 years, and a mem-ber of Local 146. Is the Internationalaware of the choke-hold on us asunion members?

We’ve been faced with rollbacksdue to cuts in travel time, overtimehours, travel allowances, and so on.

There’s a section in our contracts thatstates a no-strike, no-wobble, and no-lockout rule. I was under the impres-sion that our duty according to theCOMET and salting courses I took wasto constantly strive for better. The no-strike, no-wobble, no-lockout rulealienates our credence to do so.

I propose that we make one agree-ment. Double-time for any overtime.Obliterate the no-strike, no-wobblepolicy, and do away with free-zones.There is an urgent need for change inthis union where Canada is con-cerned, or we will be falling deeperinto regression and fear for our jobs.

RO B B GO T T, Local 146Edmonton, Alberta

Grisco: NAFTA kills U.S. jobsLAST YEAR OUR trade deficit withMexico was $21.8 billion! The NAFTATrade Assistance Agency in theDepartment of Commerce estimated ajob loss of 640,000 workers due to ashift in products to Mexico. [H]ead-lines should read: “NAFTA eliminates640,000 U.S. jobs.”

The big auto companies promisedthat NAFTA would open up theMexican market to buy American cars.Here are the latest numbers. Last year,Mexico exported 990,000 cars andtrucks into the U.S. [but] imported only41,000 vehicles from the U.S. Since thepassage of NAFTA, we import morecars and trucks from Mexico than fromGermany, South Korea, Sweden, andthe United Kingdom combined.

Think about that the next time youare asked to contribute your hard-earned money to a NAFTA supporter.

GE R A L D GR I S C O, L-1 retireeChicago, Ill.

Got something to say?SE N D A L E T T E RT OT H EE D I T O R :

The Boilermaker Reporter753 State Ave. Suite 570Kansas City KS 66101FAX: (913) 281-8104E-mail: caswell@boilermakers.orgor cdillon@boilermakers.org

C o m m e n t a rywins awardAT THEIR BIANNUAL convention inOctober 1999, the International LaborCommunications Association (ILCA)awarded International President CharlesW. Jones a third-place prize in the opin-ion category for his commentary, “Is allthis political activity worthwhile?,” pub-lished in the Mar-Apr 1998 issue of t h eBoilermaker Reporter.

The creators of Blue’s Bunch also wona third-place award in the cartoon cate-gory for their cartoon that appeared inthe same issue. ❑

How much should wespend to find out

whether Mars has water?

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

CALL32nd Annual

L E A P C o n f e re n c eM a rch 20-24

Washington, D.C.ALL LODGES AREreminded toprepare for the 32nd annual LEAPConference, scheduled for March20-24, 2000, at the Holiday Inn onthe Hill in Washington, D.C.

Each year local lodge LEAP dele-gates meet in Washington, D.C.,discuss political issues facing ourmembers and our union, hear fromlegislators, and – most important ofall – go to Capitol Hill to carry theBoilermaker message directly toour elected senators and represen-t a t i v e s .

This year the conference is espe-cially important because of thepresidential elections. All lodgesare encouraged to participate.

Hotel reservations must be madeno later than February 20th in orderto receive the special Boilermakerroom rate. All delegates shouldmake appointments to see theirelected representatives prior tocoming to Washington.

For more information, contactLegislative Director Ande Abbottat 703-560-1493.