Local 2411:
- Coker is wrapping up the sawmill job in Live Oak and has a few other jobs going on.
- W.W. Gay continues with its usual pop-up emergency jobs, along with a few scheduled outages this month.
- Atlas Industrial Contractors is now finished with the scheduled outage at Anheuser-Busch can plant and has downsized in manpower to continue swapping body makers.
- APM and Siemens continue in Gainesville with their scheduled outages.
- Cogburn Bros. has picked up a few jobs at Chemours mine and is working a few guys as supplemental help. They are pursuing more millwright work in Jacksonville and are starting to venture into the GA3 area.
- Milton J Wood has an outage at Georgia-Pacific Palatka this month.
Local 1263:
- Local 1263 has two members working maintenance at Piedmont Natural Gas in Huntersville, North Carolina.
- HF Teichmann will be moving and installing machinery at the NSG automotive glass facility in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The job is scheduled for 3.5 months of 6/10s and began with mobilization on March 3; installation work commenced March 10.
- RCC and TurbinePROs are at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 construction project.
- There are several nuclear outages in Georgia and North Carolina. Contact David Bonds at dbonds@ssmrc4070.org if you are available.
- O'Connor is conducting outages at Plant Jack McDonough. Two units are scheduled for this spring, and two units are scheduled for fall.
- IPC Lydon is continuing to fingerprint and background check for the Atlanta airport project.
Local 1000:
- We have been working power-generation jobs with SGS, APM, and TOPS Field Services.
- We're always looking for experienced compressor millwrights for full-time maintenance with UPS at the Limetree Bay refinery in St. Croix.
- Western Industrial is working on a FedEx project at Miami Airport.
- We're still working on the Miami Transit project with Sissco Hoist.
- We are working in Orlando Airport with Commercial Contracting Corporation.
- We're also working at Miami and Ft. Lauderdale airports with Jordim.
- We are working in the phosphate industry with Central Maintenance, Gulf Coast Industrial, and Preferred Maintenance. There is ongoing need for millwrights with phosphate mine cards.
- A&B maintenance work at Gopher Recycling is ongoing.
- We're working with Airco Power at Teco Polk Power Station.
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2021 is looking to be busy, and prosperous times are ahead of us. This outage season is going well. Much of the industry's work that was postponed during the COVID pandemic has come back to reality.
Millwrights are in high demand. If you are available, please reach out to your business agent and put yourself on the out-of-work list. If you are traveling outside of your home local jurisdiction for work, check in with the local that has jurisdiction where you are procuring work. Please take advantage of all opportunities to enhance your skill sets (for example: forklift, welding, aerial lift, rigging) through the training department.
As always, let's do things right the first time, on time, every time while being safe, professional, and productive!
Local 1192:
- In Huntsville, Alabama, the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing project is well underway. Please make sure to have your OSHA 10, forklift, and aerial-lift certifications. Riggers and welders will be in high demand as well.
- Duncan Machinery Movers is starting a project at the Toyota engine plant.
- C.R Meyer is looking to start a project in Counce, Tennessee, in April.
- Mammoet is gearing up for a project at the Destin Airport in April.
- McAbee Construction and Siemens will be needing millwrights at Plant Ratcliffe for a four- to six-week project in April.
Congratulations to Local 1192 on the purchase of their new office building! (See story in Local News section below.)
Local 1554:
- General Motors has pushed its outage back, with a new date to be determined. Please reach out to Steve Williams at 615-874-8591 for details.
- Cary Specialized Services is kicking off a project at Blue City Brewery in Memphis, Tennessee.
- APM is kicking off a project with TVA's Plant Allen.
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O'Connor is gearing up for an outage at TVA's Lagoon Creek location.
- GUBMK Constructors is kicking off an outage at Gallatin's combined cycle plant.
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The Western Region has picked up to full speed. We have turbine work across all four states, and emergency outages resulting from severe weather have brought in traveling millwrights from other parts of the SSMRC and the country. Several turbine outages are starting this month, along with planned outages in the petrochemical industry. Work is well underway at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Proton Therapy Project in Houston, and we are looking at expanding crews at Tesla in Austin toward the end of this month. If you aren’t working, be sure you are on the available list and keep in contact with your business agent. |
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Member Spotlight:
Working mainly in the power-gen industry,
Local 216 member Travis Harkey balances
family, career, and hobbies.
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Travis Harkey of Atkins, Arkansas, has been doing mechanical work since he was 14, but he didn’t find out what a millwright was until he was 27. He joined Millwright Local 216 in December of 2016 and became a journeyman in the summer of 2019.
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Happy International Women's Day, Women in Construction Week, and Women's History Month |
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In recognition of International Women's Day, Women's History Month, and Women in Construction Week, we would like to thank all the sisters of the Southern States Millwright Regional Council for their contributions to our union and the industries in which they work.
If you don't already, consider following the UBC Sisters in the Brotherhood on Facebook. Learn more about the Sisters in the Brotherhood program here. The SSMRC is working to start a Sisters in the Brotherhood committee. If you are interested in joining this effort, please email our communications director, Olivia McMurrey, at omcmurrey@ssmrc4070.org. |
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Local 216 swears in new members |
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Millwright Local 216 recently initiated new members. Welcome aboard to: (from right) Tabatha Voisin, Marcus Dorsey, William Reid, and Blaine Myers. |
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Congratulations to the following members, who advanced to journeyman status between Jan. 16 and Feb. 15, 2021. |
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Local 216:
Al Bryant
Local 1192:
Trey McCullough
Local 1554:
Cheyenne Tomblin
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Local 2232:
Bobby Burrows
Carmody, Robert
Dobbins, Dustin
Goodson, Ryan
Keenan, Colton
Merka, Anthony
Patton, Dakota
Ramirez III, Pablo
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The SSMRC mourns the loss of the following members, who passed away between Jan. 16 and Feb. 15, 2021. |
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Local 1263
Hugh D. Long
Timothy Stevens
Local 1000:
Herman W Grantham
Local 2232:
Doyle Welsh
Ronald Reed
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SSMRC appoints Thomas Brown to lead Local 1421 in north Texas |
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The SSMRC has selected Thomas Brown as business agent for Local 1421, which covers north Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Brown has been a member of Local 1421 since 2003, when he started as a first-period apprentice, working through the apprenticeship program and graduating in 2006. He has extensive experience in the auto industry as well as in the fossil, wind, and nuclear-power sectors. Brown began working in his new position March 1. "Having an open line of communication is a priority to me, and I’d like everyone to let me know where I can best assist you," Brown said. "I look forward to growing Local 1421 and helping you be successful on your projects." |
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Rickey Moore tapped to lead the Mid-South Training Program |
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Rickey Moore has been named executive director of the Mid-South Carpenters Regional Council Training Trust Fund. He will oversee seven training facilities and several millwright and carpenter instructors. Moore worked for more than three decades as a union carpenter and began his teaching career 21 years ago. In his new role, one of his first major projects will be supervising construction of a new training facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Moore replaces Greg Williams, who recently retired. Read more about Moore here. |
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Local 1192 moving to newly purchased building |
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Millwright Local 1192, which covers Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle, has purchased a 6,080-square-foot office building to accommodate rapid growth. The building, pictured above, is located at 624 28th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35206.
Local 1192 has occupied its current building, a 4,000-square-foot facility at 201 Oporto Madrid Blvd. North, Birmingham, AL 35206, since 1973. Staff will begin transitioning to the new building in April.
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Local 1554 fighting bill that would enshrine right-to-work law in Tennessee Constitution |
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Local 1554 is partnering with other building and construction trades and the AFL-CIO to combat a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly that would add Tennessee’s right-to-work law to the state constitution, making it more difficult to repeal and possibly hampering federal efforts to weaken right-to-work laws.
Falsely named right-to-work (RTW) laws, which are in place in 27 states, allow workers to opt out of supporting unions while unions remain legally bound to represent them. This robs locals of the resources they need to bargain well, enforce contracts, build solidarity, and survive labor disputes. The results:
- Right-to-work laws in any state reduce workers' ability to join together in negotiating wages, benefits, and a safe workplace.
- Anyone in Tennessee without a union contract can be fired without cause -- no due process and no questions asked.
- The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
- In states with RTW legislation, workers earn 3% lower wages, on average, than their peers in other states.
- Workers in RTW states also are less likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement plans. And they are more likely to die in workplace incidents.
Learn more about Tennessee's right-to-work law and right-to-work laws in general here.
If you live in Tennessee, your representative needs to hear from you today. It only takes a few minutes. After clicking the "Contact Your Legislator" button below, fill out the form on the right to send an email to your legislator. The page also contains a phone number you can call to contact your legislator.
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Construction begins on $5 million millwright training center in Arkansas |
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Ground was broken March 8 for a $5 million, 35,000-square-foot millwright and carpenter training center in Russellville, Arkansas.
The Southern States Millwright Regional Council stays ahead of rapidly changing technological advancements by investing in training facilities such as the new Arkansas center.
The center will replace a 10,000-square-foot facility. Additional space the new facility will provide is needed to accommodate a growing number of millwright trainees. The 4-acre site for the center is in a highly visible location close to Interstate 40. The SSMRC provided a $300,000 grant to help purchase this property, is donating approximately $300,000 worth of new, state-of-the-art training equipment, and is providing $2 million for construction.
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SSMRC helps apprentices attend training in Houston |
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The SSMRC recently paid off a $1.3 million mortgage on the Houston training center in exchange for the center setting up a travel fund for apprentices living more than 75 miles from the center. These apprentices can now stay in hotels for free while completing training.
“This fund was established through the efforts of the council so apprentices are not having to face hardship to get their training and progress in their careers,” said Wayne Jennings, executive secretary treasurer of the SSMRC.
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Auto industry in Alabama expected to grow significantly in 2021 |
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Alabama's automobile-manufacturing industry is staged for exceptional growth in 2021, with 6,000 new jobs predicted. Projects such as the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing facility, which our members are helping construct in Huntsville, are spearheading this expansion. Read more.
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U.S. Labor Department ends Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program (IRAP), commits to expanding union apprenticeships |
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To strengthen registered apprenticeship programs (union apprenticeship programs are "registered"), the U.S. Labor Department announced last month it has halted the duplicative non-union apprenticeship system that the department says could reduce quality, strip protections for apprentices, and cause confusion for industry. DOL has suspended applications for Standards Recognition Entities in the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Program. The agency also relaunched the federal Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship.
On March 18, the Labor Department announced it is making $87.5 million in grants available to states for use in expanding and diversifying their registered apprenticeship programs. Read more here and here. |
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Why the union election at Amazon is such a big deal |
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Approximately 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, are currently voting by mail on whether to unionize. If the election, which closes March 29, results in the workers organizing, the facility will be the first Amazon location in the United States with union employees. But the implications go further than that.
This article explains why the Amazon election could signal the growth of labor unions in general, after decades of decline, if legislation such as the PRO Act were to become law.
During Women's History Month and with Black History Month just behind us in February, it's also important to note that black women are leading the fight at the Amazon warehouse. Their victory would give all Amazon workers more power to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
This illustrates an old idea: that workers' rights and civil rights are inextricably linked. At the AFL-CIO Convention in December 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Our needs are identical with labor's need—decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community.”
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Senate confirms Marty Walsh as new labor secretary |
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The U.S. Senate has confirmed Marty Walsh as secretary of the Labor Department. Walsh is the first union card-carrying member in this role in more than 50 years. Last month, he met with carpenter apprentices in Boston (photo below). Read more.
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DOL proposal would strengthen worker wage protections |
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The U.S. Labor Department is proposing to rescind two final rules that would significantly weaken protections afforded to American workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read more.
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American Rescue Plan to provide relief payments to individuals and assist businesses, schools, and local governments in wake of COVID-19 |
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A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill called the American Rescue Plan became law on March 11. The legislation authorizes:
- A third round of economic-relief checks to individuals and families ($1,400 per person for individuals earning up to $75,000/year and couples earning up to $150,000/year);
- An expanded child-tax credit;
- Extended unemployment benefits;
- Money to safely re-open schools and for summer programs to help kids catch up;
- Increased funding for COVID-19 testing and the vaccine rollout;
- Increased funding for state and local governments to prevent layoffs and service cuts;
- 100% subsidy for laid-off workers to stay on their union health care plans;
- Relief for multi-employer pension plans;
- Relief for small businesses, particularly restaurants and bars.
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OSHA enhances COVID-19 worker protections |
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OSHA is conducting a COVID-19 national emphasis program focused on high-risk industries and employers that retaliate against employees who complain about workplace hazards. Read more.
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Check out the new issue of Carpenter magazine |
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Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The first 2021 issue of Carpenter magazine is hot off the (digital) presses. In this issue we explore what unites us as members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Make sure to check it out here. |
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