Education is one of the cornerstones of the United Steelworkers. An educated membership is a strong membership. USW does a great job putting together conferences and other trainings to educate our members. With the craziness that is 2020, unfortunately many scheduled events were canceled this year. In the absence of in-person events this year, USW has put together a Virtual Education Conference.
I received an email from plant manager Greg Halford this morning in regard to warehouse inventory. The email says that "After one week of shutdown, the Des Moines warehouse inventory has dropped 5% on units, or approximately 13,000 tires. That's the good news, customers continue to buy our tires." Greg also says that this is a pretty substantial drop in 7 days. Hopefully the trend continues, but it could eventually impact critical sizes. I just wasted to share with you all that we are selling tires and for the folks in the warehouse it has been business as usual.
This year's Labor Day festivities were soggy and wet, but the Labor community was still out in full force. Local 310 braved the rain for the parade. The weather broke for a couple hours for the picnic at the Union Labor Park where there were hamburgers and hot dogs, ice cream trucks, bouncy houses, face painting and tattoos, and a tug of war tournament.
National Grid is jeopardizing the safety of our communities by locking out 1,100 of its most experienced employees who are critical to ensuring safe and quality gas work in Massachusetts. These workers, members of USW Locals 12003 and 12012, not only protect and maintain essential infrastructure, they repair dangerous gas leaks in dozens of cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth. Learn more at https://www.lockoutatnationalgrid.com/
Union Plus Mortgage Company (UPMC) is a new mortgage brokerage company founded and owned by the labor movement to support union members with mortgages when they buy a home or refinance their current loan.
The nominations are in and the ballot will soon be set for the upcoming Local Union Officer and Bargaining-Committee elections that are set for April 24th and 25th. It is always good to see interest from our Sisters and Brothers who want to step up and help lead this Local Union both now and in the future.
