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February 08, 2010
Upcoming Events:
District 5 meeting
Feb 10, 2010
Union hall, 403 S. Water St.
District 3 meeting (Aberdeen, WA)
Feb 11, 2010
Aberdeen Eagles Hall: 200 W. Market St.
District 4 meeting (Wenatchee)
Feb 11, 2010
Coast Wenatchee Center Hotel 201 N. Wenatchee Ave. Wenatchee, WA 98801
District 4 meeting (Wenatchee, WA)
Feb 11, 2010
Coast Wenatchee Hotel: 201 N. Wenatchee Ave.
District 2 meeting (Mount Vernon, WA)
Feb 11, 2010
NW Wash. Electrical Ind. JATC: 306 Anderson Road
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Important Links
Alaska Operating Engineers-Employers Training Trust
Operating Engineers Regional Training Program of Washington
International Union of Operating Engineers
AFL-CIO
Alaska AFL-CIO
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. DOL - Employment & Training Administration
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
National Labor Relations Board
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Prevailing Wage in Alaska
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Prevailing Wage in Washington
Retirement Seminars

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

Loadline - First Quarter 2010

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

Crane regulations in full effect on January 1, 2010

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
Alaska agreement ratified

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!

Filing Workers' Compensation Claims

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.

 

Operators & Carpenters form NWNCA

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/)

A Message about our Pension Trust

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.
 
Contracts available online

Members can download all contracts

The following contracts are publicly posted:

Alaska's master contract with Associated General Contractors

Washington's master contract with Associated General Contractors

All of Local 302's contracts are now posted on this site's Contracts Page.  However, access to that page is restricted to Local 302 members who have registered to use the site.  Click here to register, or if you have forgotten your user name or password click here.  If you are looking for a contract that is not posted on this site, please contact us.

 


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