News

2014 inter-Union Gas Conference Day 3

Wednesday September 10, 2014

 

2014 inter-Union Gas Conference

Held September 8-11 at the Disney Yacht Club in Orlando, Florida

 

Disney World fact of the day:

Every year Disney World finds an average of 6,000 cellphones, 3,500 digital cameras and 18,000 hats.

 

The morning was spent in the Distribution Workshop facilitated by Dennis LaTurgez, IBEW, out of Colorado. There was plenty of discussion on call outs; whether they are automated and how they are administered. Many have or are moving to "fair share" call outs and/or disabling systems that allow employees to be removed from call out lists during holidays and select weekends.

 

An issue on cadmium was brought to everyone's attention. Go to www.osha.gov and type "refurbishing gas meters" where you should find a Health Hazard Evaluation.

 

There was a lot said about Excess Flow Valves. In particular, Ontario tried to use EFV's instead of protection posts in driveways but the  government informed them that was not acceptable practice.

 

Some locals have Wellness Programs that give Health Spending Accounts credits for participation, wellness days (off) and other perks and benefits to the employee.

 

The session finished off with lots of conversation about medical and retirement plans.

 

 

Famous Orlandonite quote of the day: "...dharma bums refusing to subscribe to the demands that they consume production and there have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway."

Jack Kerouac - Dharma Bums

 

 The afternoon opened with a Panel on Training Veterans and Future Gas Workers. Mike Hazard represented Veterans in Piping which provides a training platform for returning service men and women transitioning back to civilian life. Mike was followed by Rick Passarelli and Jami Simon of the UWUA speaking on behalf of the Utility Worker Military Assistance Program. They have successfully put 200 Veterans through the Dawson Technical Institute and onto employment in the gas industry.

 

 Next up was Best Practices for O & M Training, Operators Qualifications and Leak Reductions. Of particular interest was Jim Galvin, President of the Unifor Union Gas Workers Council informing us that Union Gas and Enbridge Gas built two new training facilities in Ontario. After the gas companies revamped training manuals a committee was created for training young and old members and now Competency Assessment Programs are done yearly.

 

The final panel was on Working Together which focused on utilizing the Gas Conference and making improvements. Recommendations were made to expand workshops and create a website or Facebook page. As there was only about 30% of the registered delegates at this particular panel discussion there were a few suggestions about how to make sure all locals are getting the value they deserve when sending delegates. Finally, a request to have a 50/50 draw that would benefit a local charity in the host city was enthusiastically supported by seemingly all of us in attendance.

 

 

Song of the day: Wage Slaves

Artist: Obliterations

Album: Obliterations (2013)