2011 LABOR DAY CELEBRATION and BBQ COOK-OFF

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1 ISSUE NO. 165 NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2011 HOUSTON UNION MEETING The next Union meeting will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2011 beginning at 6:00 P.M. at 502 Link Road in Houston, Texas. Astros, Dynamos and Texans tickets raffle at this meeting. A full UA Convention report will be given by the delegates. *Please remember to turn cell phones off or on vibrate during Union meetings.* 2011 LABOR DAY CELEBRATION and BBQ COOK-OFF This year s Labor Day Weekend Celebration again is Open to the Public and benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Come out to the Pasadena Convention Center (Campbell Hall) located at 7902 Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena on Saturday, September 3th and Sunday, September 4th beginning at around 10:00 am each day. Events include the Texas Gulf Coast Barbeque Cookers Association BBQ Cook-Off Competition, entertainment, arts and crafts, a silent auction & free children s activities which include a petting zoo, water slide, moon walk and a rock climbing wall. Our Smokin 68 s BBQ team will be cooking throughout the weekend and invite our members, families and friends to come out and enjoy some of the food and fun. Local 68 will pay the entry fee for members desiring to participate in the cook-off. If you have questions or require more information call Wayne Lord at the Hall. Also on Labor Day Monday, your Community Improvement Chairman, Jeff LaBroski will be at the MDA Telethon held at KPRC s television studio. During the hour from 9:00 AM 10:00 AM, he will be making a donation of $10,000, on behalf of the members of Local 68. This will be a matching donation so please plan to call during that hour to make your pledge. APPRENTICE COMMITTEE Continuing Education Saturday, Aug. 20 (Houston)... 8:00 A.M. 3:00 P.M. Tues., Aug. 23 & Wed., Aug. 24 (Houston)... 5:30 P.M. 9:00 P.M. Saturday, Aug. 27 (Texas City)... 8:00 A.M. 3:00 P.M. Saturday, Sept. 17 (Houston & Beaumont)... 8:00 A.M. 3:00 P.M. Saturday, Sept. 17 (College Station)... 9:30 A.M. 4:30 P.M. Tues., Sept. 20 & Wed., Sept. 21 (Houston & Beaumont)... 5:30 P.M. 9:00 P.M. Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletter August 2011

2 AUGUST MEETING RAFFLE WINNERS Houston Astros baseball and Dynamo soccer tickets raffle winners at the August meeting were: Alfred Alarcon, Aaron Montesnieto, Jim Dixon, Denis Forbes, John Thomas, Erick Schoellman, Jason Brooks, Arthur Juarez, Melvin Miller, Sean Harrison, Charles Stanley, Cecil Lamb, Victor Miller, and Jose Hernandez. NEW INITIATES Local 68 welcomes our new members initiated in August. Apprentices Armando Acevedo, Matthew Barney, Michael Pfeifer, Eric Caudill, Christopher Early, Jason Flores, Joshua Goodman, Josh Jordan, Ramiro Mendoza, Melvin Miller, Jaime Moncivais, Erick Schoellman, Galen Vera, Ty Weiss, and Paul Yarbrough. Journeymen re-initiates are Russell Canter and Charles Tanner. Left: Fund Manager Matt Schoellman with son Erick after Erick's initiation Left: Brother Victor Miller with son Melvin after Melvin's initiation Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletter August 2011 Page 2

3 2011 Plumbers Local 68 Scholarship Awards On behalf of the membership of Plumbers Local 68, your Community Services Committee is pleased to announce they have awarded $37,000 in scholarships to the following 34 recipients for the upcoming school year. Since 2002 the members of Local 68 have made it possible to award $447,700 from our Community Services fund providing 392 college scholarships to our members and their dependents. In addition to the scholarship program, our Community Services contributions continue to assist the less fortunate, provide sponsorships for youth sports and other youth activities and provide funding to various charities. If you have a charity or organization dear to your heart contact Community Services Chairman Jeff LaBroski Nolan Bagley Brittney Barr Brandi Beard Samantha Benson Cody Bond Monica Brown Jamie Brown Anthony Carnell Alexandra Cramer Chelsea Furlow Sara Garcia Kory Gengo Krista Gengo Kyla Gengo Taylor Hart Brittany Herrera Ian Higgins Phaedra Jackson Andrew Kunkel Kayla Lewis Michael Medwedeff Robin Morris Jeffrey Neighbors Andrew Ortega Larry Pasket Jr. Meagan Pasket Joseph Penate Alyssa Poe Kristin Poe Brittany Seay Stephanie Seay Rachael Vargas Amanda Wakefield Ryan Zander Lee College Sam Houston State Texas A&M Alvin Community College Blinn College Sam Houston State UTMB School of Nursing Midwestern University Texas Christian University UTMB Houston Community College University of North Texas Liberty University Stephen F. Austin Texas State University Chadron State College Hobart Inst. of Welding Tech. University of Houston - Clear Lake Texas A&M Alvin Community College Blinn College University of Texas - San Antonio Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University Texas Tech University Texas State University Texas State University University of Houston - Downtown Blinn College University of Texas Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletter Page 3 August 2011

4 2011 Plumbers Local 68 Scholarship Awards Photo not available Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletter Page 4 August 2011

5 Our Collective Bargaining Agreements for both the Houston and Beaumont areas expire September 30, Your negotiating committee - Business Manager Calvin Speight, Financial Secretary-Treasurer Michael Cramer and Business Agents Wayne Lord Your Union Fidelity Federal Credit Union will hold the annual membership meeting and election (Board of Trustees) on Wednesday, September 14th beginning at 6:00 pm here at our Union hall. This is a good meeting to attend as your Credit Union staff will be in attendance to answer questions you may have. Local It is very important that you keep your Mailing Address, Phone Number, Address and Death Benefit Beneficiary information current at the Union Hall. Dues and other Union Hall correspondence should be sent to the Union Hall at P.O. Box CONTRACTS EXPIRATION CREDIT UNION ANNUAL MEETING UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION and Jeffrey LaBroski will begin separate talks with our contractors from both areas later this month. Watch for your newsletter, s and mailings in September for further information. 68 s Calvin Speight and Mike Cramer are up for reelection. Refreshments will be served and a raffle for prizes will be conducted at the end of the business session. All credit union members are eligible to attend, vote in the election and participate in the raffle. Medical insurance reimbursements and other personnel medical correspondence should be sent to the Fund Office at P.O. Box 8726 only and not the Union Hall. This enables your medical claims to be processed efficiently and provides privacy of your medical issues. AVOIDING REINSTATEMENTS Union dues are due and payable the first of each month and should be if possible. Although you have the option of waiting until owing three months before paying at least one month without penalty, many members are still going suspended and on the Reinstatement List. This occurs even after the reminder letters or s are sent at the beginning of the third month owing. When you wait until the third month, you take the chance that you will forget or for whatever reason your payment may not be received in time. If you are not one of our unfortunate members who are either unemployed or have another valid reason, your dues should be paid monthly, certainly before owing four months. Paying dues in advance when work is steady and jobs are available provides some monetary cushion if you do become unemployed sometime later. When you owe three months dues and send your payment in towards the end of the third month, you should always call us before the last day (while there is still time to help you) to verify your payment has been received. If you are placed on reinstatement, you owe a $50.00 fee and $39.28 (current rate) for death benefit premiums IN ADDITION to your dues. You will continue to be charged the monthly death benefit premium (currently $9.82) until your balance is paid in full. Several other options for paying your dues are as follows: * Sign up for the monthly automatic vacation saving dues deduction from the Credit Union, providing you plan to leave a sufficient amount in your account to pay your dues. * Call the Credit Union and request your account be drafted and they will send us a check. * Set up an automatic monthly dues draft from your bank and they will send us a check. Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletter Page 5 August 2011

6 HO USTON, TEXAS NEWSLETTER PLUMBERS LOCAL UNION #68 P.O. Box 8746 Houston, Texas TRADES COUNCIL 54 UNION LABEL CLIP HERE AND SAVE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS Union Hall (713) (800) Fund Office (713) (800) Training Center (713) (800) Credit Union (713) Website AND FINALLY... Sincerely and Fraternally, Calvin B. Speight... Business Manager Michael E. Cramer... Financial Secretary / Treasurer Wayne Lord... Business Agent Jeff LaBroski... Business Agent John Robinson... President / Dir. of Service & Repair Jim C. Cadden... Vice President / Organizer Jeff Warden... Organizer Matt Schoellman... Fund Administrator Robert L. Cross... Director of Training We have begun ing dues receipts and 90 day notices about your dues. Please call the hall and give us your address and/or verify the one we have on file for you. Also, if you haven t logged into the member section of our website at please do so and leave your address. To those 500+ members that have logged on and left addresses, we are able and have been sending important messages from the Union hall. One of the most important benefits of this is being informed of a members passing as we are notified. If you have any difficulty logging on please call Lynnesa at the Union hall. Additionally, you may the Union hall generically at [email protected] with questions, comments, change of address/phone numbers, etc. ALLIED PRINTING