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RETIREMENT SEMINARS
Local 302/612 Trustees will be conducting a series of seminars in February to help educate and prepare our members for retirement. We encourage all members who may be thinking of retiring soon to attend one of these seminars. Spouses are also encouraged to attend.
February 18 – District 3, Silverdale Beach Hotel & Convention Center, 7:00pm
February 19 – Local 612, Tacoma Best Western Tacoma Dome Hotel, 7:00 p.m
February 20 – District 1, Local 302 union hall in Bothell, 9:00 am
February 22 - District 5, Local 302 office in Ellensburg, 7:00pm
February 23 – District 8, Extended Stay Hotel in Juneau, 7:00pm
February 24 - District 7, Local 302 union hall in Fairbanks, 7:00pm
February 25 – District 6, Local 302 union hall in Anchorage, 7:00pm
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LOADLINE - First Quarter 2010
The Loadline is a quarterly publication that covers issues which directly impact the work of our Operating Engineers in Washington and Alaska.
Click on the link above to view
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New Crane Regulations now in full effect
The Crane Regulations passed into law in 2007 went into full effect on January 1, 2010. The requirement for Operator qualifications includes hours of experience required to operate the various types of cranes. The new law requires that even if you have an NCCCO card you must also have the required hours of operating experience for the type of crane you are operating. This requirement is in the law to ensure that the Operator has had seat time for the crane being operated. It will also stop the entities that- for a fee- will allow anyone to practice for a few days, take the NCCCO test, and call themselves crane operators even though they have no on-the-job experience operating a crane. There is no requirement in the Crane Laws or Rules that require our members to sign an affidavit (a notarized document) on operating experience. For experience prior to 2010 the employer may accept a signed declaration from crane operators attesting that they have the hours required by law to operate a certain type of crane. An acceptable declaration form is shown in the link below. All crane operators should keep track of their hours and types of cranes being operated. Open the links below to view the entire Washington Administrative Code pertaining to operator qualifications and certification, and to complete the crane operator declaration form. Print a copy of the completed form for your records.
Crane Operator Qualifications and Certification
Crane Operator Experience Declaration form
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Local 302 members say 'yes' to Alaska AGC contract
Local 302 members throughout Alaska ratified the AGC contract during meetings held on December 15 in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.
The Alaska staff and members worked very hard to get an acceptable agreement. All of Local 302 staff offer our thanks and congratulations for a job well done!
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Project Help
According to the Washington State Labor Council, workers in the construction industry are making a common mistake when they file for Workers' Compensation that ends up causing a denial of the claim, or significant delays in receiving the requested compensation. On the Report of Accident form, injured workers are listing their Union as their Employer because they are dispatched. This is not the correct thing to do. If you need to file a workers' compensation claim due to an on-the-job injury, your Employer is the Contractor you worked for at the time the injury occurred.
For more information and assistance in completing the workers' compensation forms, please visit the Project Help section of the WSLC website.
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Operating Engineers & Northwest Carpenters create
new Regional Partnership
Two of the largest building trades unions in the northwest - the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 302, 612 and 701, and The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters (Northwest Carpenters) - have joined forces to create the first regional council of the National Construction Alliance II. Together, these founding unions represent over 35,000 working men and women in the construction and building trades in Washington and Oregon.
Read the complete press release issued by the NWNCA on August 17, 2009.
Visit the new NWNCA website (http://nwnca.org/)
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A Message about our Pension Trust from the Operating Engineers Local 302 The current financial market crisis has caused anxiety for savers and investors, and retirement plan participants. We want you to know that your Board of Trustees have been discussing these issues with our financial experts and we want to share with you why we feel your pension program is safe and secure. The broad stock market lost nearly 40% over the last year. This followed five years of a very strong market compounding at 13% per year. Market declines of this magnitude are traumatic but not unique. They happened most recently in 2001-02 and before that in 1973-74. This decline has been driven by a meltdown of the Sub Prime Mortgage Market. It has brought down large financial institutions including Bear Stearns, Lehman, Washington Mutual and Wachovia, and restructured many others: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, and Merrill Lynch. Congress has passed dramatic legislation and the Federal Reserve has acted to support a recovery of the banking and financial industry. Most believe the recovery will happen but that the volatility is not over yet. Previous recoveries in 2003 and 1975 resulted in dramatic rebounds of the markets. The Trustees of the Operating Engineers Pension Plan maintain a broadly diversified investment portfolio. It is constructed in a manner that is consistent with the long-term actuarial assumptions that underlie the Plan’s benefit structure. Due to the investment program’s design and professional oversight and monitoring, it has been successful throughout the years and in all types of market conditions. For the past 5 years it earned 12.9% per year ranking in the top 5% of other plans. The Trustees employ an asset valuation method that provides for the “smoothing out” of fluctuations in the value of invested assets due to market volatility over time. Participants should also take comfort in the fact that the Pension Plan continues to operate from a very strong funded position and is well-poised to contend with the current volatility. Your Plan was recently certified as a well-funded “Green Zone” plan under the Pension Protection Act and has amassed a substantial credit balance over time against the Federal government’s minimum funding requirements. In summary, the Pension Plan is well-positioned to meet its future obligations and weather market volatility along the way. The long-term nature of this defined benefit pension program and the prudent measures and policies employed by the Trustees allow for uninterrupted operation in turbulent times and retirement security for its participants and beneficiaries. We will be having a Trust meeting on the 30th of October and will update you if there are any changes to the Trustees’ opinion on this matter.
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