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Union Carpenters Support Senator Sherrod Brown at RallyOctober 30, 2024 - 3:56 pm
It’s In Our Hands – 2024 EndorsementsOctober 25, 2024 - 1:26 pm
2025 CMRCC Scholarship Applications OpenOctober 3, 2024 - 1:33 pm
2024 Don Sherry Achievement Award AnnouncedJuly 22, 2024 - 1:57 pm
2024 Scholarship WinnersMay 29, 2024 - 10:29 am
Celebrating Ohio’s 2024 Apprenticeship GraduatesFebruary 20, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Exciting AnnouncementFebruary 19, 2024 - 10:46 am
Merrillville – Readying for an Influx of Work
/in News /by KameronTo help grow market share, business representatives have been pursuing multiple solar projects in the area. There are currently nine large scale solar farms slated for development in NW Indiana. Each project may vary from a one year to two years in duration and have the potential to generate extensive man-hours and long-term employment opportunities for members. The team is currently in negotiations with owners and developers on these projects and feels optimistic about future opportunities. The solar trend is projected to continue to expand, so members are encouraged to contact the Merrillville training center to inquire about solar training programs.
The NWI area has historically been a heavy industrial market with the majority of millwright man hours generated from the local steel mills and power generating stations. With a recent increase of construction projects in the light industrial market, the team has worked with contractors to find manpower. Recently, they’ve been successful in organizing a group of non-union light industrial workers to pursue this field.
Along with organizing this group comes the opportunity to work maintenance in eight new light industrial facilities, potentially generating several thousands of man hours for our membership. Considering the growth in the light industrial market in NW Indiana, we encourage our signatory contractors and membership to take advantage of the industrial maintenance training programs that are offered at our training centers.
Political Update
/in Indiana Activism, Kentucky Activism, News, Ohio Activism, Politics /by KameronIndiana
2021 has been another successful year for Indiana politics. The IKORCC managed to harvest a great relationship with the Indiana Association of Public-School Superintendents (IAPSS) and received an invitation to go on tour with them for all eight of their district meetings. During the tour, we were introduced to public school superintendents in all 92 counties. In addition, we were given the opportunity to talk about our Door Safety Inspection (DSI) Program and Career Connections.
One of our many focuses was on getting more “Responsible Bidder Language” added into front end bid specs with school corporations. During the 2021 year, we were able to obtain an additional two agreements with the Metropolitan School District of Boone Township and Concord Community Schools.
Other events worth mentioning that took place during the 2021 year are several successful meetings with political figures regarding laws being introduced to support ICRA training requirements being put in place if any work is being done in occupied health care facilities or schools that may have students present. Also, the City of Indianapolis has promised to make tax fraud and worker misclassification its number one priority for 2022. This commitment came directly from Mayor Joe Hogsett during a public speech that he gave to the city.
During the Delegates conference, Senator Fady Quadra (left) spoke to the membership and explained his level of respect for the Carpenters Union and other organized labor affiliates. He affirmed that he would carry the Carpenters ICRA legislation in 2022.
Due to line redistricting, a Senate seat for District 46 has come up for grabs. We have successfully sourced a candidate that is a card-carrying member of AFSCME whom we helped get elected to the Indianapolis City County Council, to go after this open seat. The candidate has confirmed they will make it known that this seat will be a union held seat if elected. This seat will be won during the primaries due to it being a largely held partisan district.
Kentucky
2021 was a busy political year in Kentucky. Even with the COVID-19 restrictions we’ve been able to build great relationships with local lawmakers and state legislators. Our goals in Kentucky are to address tax fraud and ensure we are in the best position to secure our work with the influx of new solar projects coming to the area.
With solar, it is our hope to introduce language similar to legislation that exists in other states that would protect our work and put our contractor base in the best position possible to secure solar work. Our solar committee, headed up Jeremy Welch and Wallace Turner, has done a tremendous job working with developers and owners to provide information to the political team. That info is vital in working with our lawmakers to sell our training and the importance of the upcoming work.
Tax fraud is a major problem in Kentucky. 1099 worker misclassification and the cash under the table business model used by non-signatory contractors has put our contractor base at huge disadvantage. Working with our Director of Organizing Kenneth Lyons and our political team, we’ve been taking local and state legislators to job site visits to show them the impact and loss of tax revenue that is currently going on.
Now that the November local elections are over, we will actively continue to educate local elected officials about our issues. We use our training facilities to conduct tours and plan to ramp up job site visits. Do not discount the importance you have in actively participating to successfully reach our goals.
If you are not registered to vote please do so. You can register online at vrsws.sos.ky.gov. Moving into 2022 there will be very important races all across Kentucky.
Ohio
2021 was a challenge, politically. Our approach in building relationships with lawmakers became more difficult as a result of the COVID-19 mandates throughout Ohio. Thankfully, we found creative ways to continue building relationships with our local and state lawmakers. We use our four self-funded Ohio training centers as our main selling point with politicians. We continue to take elected officials out for jobsite visits to showcase what we do and also highlight the bad jobsites where tax fraud is rampant due to the lack of legislation in Ohio.
As a result, we continue to build support from both sides of the aisle – Democrat and Republican. We have been successful in protecting our core issues such as Prevailing Wage, Right to Work, and Unemployment Compensation. We are now using our relationships to introduce language to address tax fraud. Our tax fraud bill will create a Tax Fraud Commission to study the impact that paying cash under the table and worker misclassification abuse is having, not only to us but every taxpayer within Ohio. We are aggressively lobbying on current issues to protect our work within all four refineries in the state.
Our motto has always been to Educate, Agitate, and Organize. These very same principles are used when working with any elected lawmaker. Our Ohio political team covers all corners of the state and we will keep every UBC member informed of legislation that may affect us.
With the 2022 election cycle upcoming we will be very busy working for current lawmakers we support and going through a vetting process for any open seats to ensure that the right lawmakers are elected. If you are not already registered to vote, please do so.
You can register online at ohiosos.gov. Remember that when a recommendation is made to support a candidate they are soundly in support of protecting your work, your career, and your ability to provide for your family.
Building a Solid Foundation – Indianapolis-Area Update
/in Local 1016, Local 301, News /by KameronIn 2022, a new criminal justice center will open its doors in Indianapolis thanks to the hard work of Central Indiana IKORCC members. Its focus will be on diverting people from jail and furnishing them with mental health services. It’s the largest construction project in Indiana in recent years.
The new campus is replacing the existing jail and courthouse in downtown Indianapolis that was built almost 60 years ago. The new campus consists of four main structures totaling more than 1.3 million square feet. On the 140-acre site there is a four-story 3,000 bed detention center, an eleven-story courthouse, an Assessment Intervention Center and a professional office building. In addition to the structures, two 1,000 space-parking garages will be constructed on the campus.
IKORCC members completed the foundation, concrete, bridge work, interior systems, case and millwork, scaffolding, welding and floor covering for the project. At its peak, almost 200 members worked on the project creating very significant manhours from Locals 301, 1076, 364, 1016 and 133. Nearly 20 signatory contractors secured work on the justice center.
In addition to building major projects, the Greenwood team has also heavily focused on building stronger relationships with school corporations. We now have responsible bidder ordinances with six central Indiana school corporations. In the coming years, these schools plan to do over $525 million in construction projects. In addition, these partnerships give us access to students and create a strong pipeline for our apprenticeship.
Health & Welfare Update
/in News /by KameronThe Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters has two Health & Welfare Funds, one for Indiana/Kentucky and another for Ohio. Both Funds are healthy with growing net reserves.
As of June 30th, 2021, the Ohio Plan’s net reserves are at seven months of reserves, up from five months last year. Net reserves are monies in the fund, which have no obligation against it and are used to pay our healthcare costs and fund expenses. The Indiana/Kentucky fund as of June 30, 2021 has 9.9 months of net reserves, up from 9.1 last year (a month of net reserves is equal to the average cost of healthcare expenses for one month). Both funds are operating well and expect continued growth of net reserves.
Effective September 1, 2021 the trustees of both funds were pleased to announce, that regardless of the amount of contributions received, all apprentices will be credited for all hours s/he attends school to receive training required by a training program affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The apprentice shall be credited with an amount equal to the actual number of hours the apprentice attends school per week.
The Indiana/Kentucky fund’s Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that effective September 1, 2021, it has reduced its bank threshold (point at which monthly contributions received above required premium are allocated to participant’s bank) from $200 to $150. The ability to do this is a direct result of improving net reserves.
The UBC continues to work to provide the best prescription drug program available in the marketplace. Currently, the IKORCC and Ohio Health plans participate in a pharmacy benefit program negotiated on a national basis with Express Scripts, known as Level Care Pharmacy Program. This program covers over 30 participating Carpenter Funds throughout the country. In early 2021, after many months of review, analysis and negotiation, a new five-year agreement was finalized covering mail order, retail, and specialty drugs. The program is projected to save over $362 million over these 5 years for the participating Carpenters Funds, with over $40 million in projected savings for the IKORCC and Ohio plans.
IKORCC Magazine
/in News, Special /by Lacey NixYou won’t want to miss all the great content inside our annual IKORCC magazine. Inside you’ll find a letter from EST Todd Pancake, updates from hubs across the council, important information on your pension and healthcare, infrastructure information, Sisters in the Brotherhood, training updates, recruitment efforts, and stories on the incredible impact IKORCC members have […]