THANKS PETE

Today is Peter Gilmore’s last day on the job serving as the Managing Editor of the UE NEWS. We would like to thank Peter for providing UE Members with decades of first rate news and for his invaluable work at the UE-GE National Negotiations table. At the table, Brother Gilmore spent hour after hour, day after day making a precise typewritten record of the proceedings. Over the last few Negotiations, his transcripts were used to update Members accessing the UE National website. We wish Peter well in his future ventures and we want to thank him for being a good friend and supporter of Local 506 for so many years.

Agenda:

The Elections for Divisional Chief Stewards will be held in the shop on Monday, January 23, 2006.

Prior to the elections, the names of all Candidates will be published in a special UE Local 506 Bulletin, along with information on each Candidate’s attendance at Local Union Meetings, Union Offices held, and a brief statement of qualifications.

Two tellers per shift will be chosen, by mutual agreement of the Candidates, to conduct the election in the Division. The Divisional Election Committee representative will post notices for the election in prominent locations three days before the election. The posting will list the candidates, date, hours of voting, and where and how the voting will be conducted. Newly elected Chief Stewards will be sworn in at the third shift Membership Meeting on February 16, 2005.

The complete rules for Union Elections are contained in the UE Local 506 Constitution. If you do not have a copy, see your Chief Steward or stop by the Union Hall to pick one up.

29^TH GRIEVANCE   by Randy Majewski

As the New Year unfolds the members of Local 506 have a new set of challenges to address in the coming year. Of nearly 1,000 new members, some have been exposed to a union environment, while others have not. We need to teach everyone hired in the last couple of years, the history of Local 506 and explain the culture in the plant.

Although I am sure that some of the new employees feel intimidated by the union, I believe most are glad that we are here – while some may not be so glad. It will take both the officers and veteran members to prove to these skeptics why we are here. We will be doing that through steward’s classes and other informational flyers to educate new members on our history.

This looks like another busy year at the plant, but we can’t let down our guard in defending ourselves on the shop floor. While continuing to build the best products in the world, no matter what they may be (locomotives, wind, wheel, rebuilds, etc.), I ask that our established members help our new brothers and sisters learn the ropes, so to speak, in the shop - much like we did when we were just starting ourselves. This is no time to use generation gaps or service gaps to divide the members. We are in this together, not apart.

FRANKLY SPEAKING   by Frank Fusco

First off, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. Secondly, 2005 was a very profitable year for Erie GE and the members of 506 and that is the way it should be. So what can we expect in 2006? The Erie works will produce about 100 more locomotives this year than in 2005, Off Highway will have another banner year and we expect Wind Energy will start building gearboxes for use in the field. We were told by the Company that because of the heavy work load this year they wanted the back shops to keep producing parts right up till the end of the year, so that in January we could "hit the ground running". Apparently a couple of BL’s in Bldg. 6 missed that memo and some members had to endure TLOW’s in week 1.

Lean projects in Bldg. 10 station 3 are under way. There were a few problems with the grandfathered averages but we expect to have those fixed shortly and the Lean project in Bldg. 12 Main Cab will advance soon.

Elections for Divisional Chief Stewards will take place January 23^rd and shortly after that the Job Preservation Steering Committee will begin its "labor of love". We will be working closely with Bldg. 5 Chief Steward Jim Pifer in an effort to bring in enough fabrication work to keep the folks in that building busy.

If you have passed the powerhouse in the last week, you would have noticed two "package boilers" in the Bldg. 4 parking lot. The reason for the temporary boilers is one of the coal fired boilers had to be shut down due to EPA regulations and the remaining boilers could not produce enough steam to heat the plant. That problem should be solved when the new gas boilers are installed this summer.

SPORTS SHORTS
Basket of Cheer Raffle Winners – The Holidays were a little more "festive" for the following "Basket of Cheer" winners, thanks to everyone who supported our annual fundraiser:

Applications are now available for the annual Sports Committee sponsored VAVS (veterans) Bowling tournament which will be held on February 26^th at Eastway.

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