IUOE 302

Washington Primary Candidate Endorsements

2010 WSLC & IUOE LOCAL Endorsements

Following are the 2010 election endorsements of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO and IUOE Local 302. The Washington State primary election is August 17. Ballots will be mailed no later than August 1.

Primary Election Endorsements
(click to open)

District Meeting Schedule Changes

District 1 Meetings Suspended for the Summer
A motion was passed during the July 1 District 1 meeting to suspend the August and September District 1 membership meetings. The next District 1 membership meeting will be held on October 7th.

District 6 Meeting Suspended for August
A motion was passed during the July 22 District 6 meeting to suspend the August District 6 membership meeting. The next District 6 membership meeting will be held on September 23rd.

Labor Picnic

Mount Vernon Labor Picnic
Celebrate working people and their families at the 2nd annual Labor Picnic from 11:00-3:00 on August 28th at Hillcrest Park in Mount Vernon. This is a potluck event and there will be games available for kids and adults.

More information is contained in this flyer: Labor Picnic

AGC Contract Vote Results

Members vote 'YES' for AGC Contract
The ballot results are in, and the Washington members of Local 302 voted to approve the proposed 2010-2012 Master Labor Agreement by a margin of nearly 3 to 1.

Initiative 1082

A HOSTILE TAKEOVER
of Washington's public non-profit workers' compensation system

Initiative 1082: Don't sign it. Don't vote for it.

Learn more about it

Loadline - Second Quarter 2010

LOADLINE - Second 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

Alaska Pipeline Project

ALASKA PIPELINE PROJECT

The first open season in the history of Alaska's North Slope development commenced on April 30, 2010. The open season process puts the project to a test of the market, providing information to suppliers of natural gas suppliers, including project cost details.

Open these links to learn more about the
Alaska Pipeline Project and Open Season

2010 Washington Legislative Priorities

Senate Bill 6381: Transportation Funding

Updates the 2009-2011 transportation budgets to an overall spending level of $8.5 billion amounting to a billion dollar increase over the original biennium budget. This bill has been signed into law.

House Bill 2561: Jobs Act

A law that would create jobs by funding construction for energy cost saving improvements to public facilities by authorizing the State Finance Committee to issue $861 million in general obligation bonds and must be approved by the voters in November for work in 2011.

Senate Bill 6889: Convention Center

This bill deals with the governance and financing of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The Bill would allow for the creation of a public facilities district for the purpose of acquiring and operating the Center, giving them the ability to expand when financing is available.

House Bill 1614: Storm Water Clean-up

This bill’s goal is to clean up the storm drains, culverts, streams and rivers of Puget Sound and the state by imposing a fee on petroleum products that contributed to storm water pollution. This impact fee would raise approximately $100 million for the clean-up work, creating jobs.

House Bill 2805: Off-Site Prefabrication

This bill would require contractors and subcontractors on public works projects that are estimated to cost over $1 million to submit information to the Department of Labor and Industries as a part of the Affidavit of Wages Paid forms. This will give our state the ability to gather information on how much prevailing wage work contracted in-state is sent out-of-state for off-site fabrication. This bill has been signed into law.

House Bill 2789: State Agency Subpoena Authority

This bill will allow the Department of Revenue, Department of Labor and Industries, and the Employment Security Department to issue subpoenas for records related to underground economy investigations. This bill has been signed into law.

Senate Bill 5789: Data Center Tax Exemptions

A sales and use tax exemption is provided for data centers. To qualify, the center must be located in a rural county, have at least 20,000 square feet dedicated to housing servers, and construction must begin between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011. This bill has been signed into law.

Senate Bill 6575: Underground Economy

This bill started with good support and high hopes. As it progressed through the process, there were so many changes and amendments it became hard to support. Although it passed, it is expected that the Governor will veto the bill as it will divert money from the state’s general fund.

House Bill 1992: Prevailing Wage

This bill would extend prevailing wage requirements to construction projects that involve tax incentives, loans provided by a public entity, or public land that is sold or leased. This bill died in committee.

House Bill 2513: Credit History for Purposes of Insurance

This bill would have prevented insurance companies from using your credit history, income or education to determine eligibility for auto or homeowner’s insurance. This bill died in committee.

2010 Alaska Legislative Priorities

Unemployment Insurance

SB170 TITLE: "An Act modifying the Alaska unemployment insurance statutes by redefining the base Period for determining eligibility for unemployment benefits; relating to contributions, interest, penalties, and payments under the Alaska Employment Security Act; and providing for an effective date.

HB346 TITLE: An Act establishing the Workers' Compensation Advisory Board; and providing for an effective date.

SB159 TITLE: "An Act increasing the maximum funeral expenses payable as a workers' compensation death benefit; and providing for an effective date."

Crane Operator License

SB97 TITLE: "An Act relating to the licensing of crane operators; and providing for an effective date

Oil and Gas Production Tax

HB308 TITLE: An Act relating to the tax rate applicable to the production of oil and gas; relating to credits against the oil and gas production tax; and relating to the period in which oil and gas production taxes may be assessed

SB159 TITLE: "An Act relating to the duties of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development; relating to the tax rate applicable to the production of oil and gas; relating to a rebate of the production tax on oil and gas based on the employment of resident workers; relating to credits against the oil and gas production tax; relating to the period in which oil and gas production taxes may be assessed; relating to the interest rates applicable on certain amounts due related to various taxes, penalties, payments, and the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act; and providing for an effective date.

HB312 TITLE: An Act authorizing an advisory vote on use of Alaska permanent fund earnings for an in-state natural gas pipeline; and providing for an effective date."

Transportation Infrastructure

HB329 TITLE: "An Act relating to the transportation infrastructure fund, to local public transportation, to motor fuel taxes, and to the motor vehicle registration fee; and providing for an effective date."

HB356TITLE: "An Act making a special appropriation to the transportation infrastructure fund; and providing for an effective date."

HB333 TITLE: "An Act directing the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to develop and implement standards and operating procedures allowing for the use in the construction and maintenance of transportation projects and public facilities and in the construction of projects by public and private entities of gravel or aggregate materials that contain naturally occurring asbestos, and authorizing use on an interim basis of those materials for certain transportation projects and public facilities; and relating to certain claims arising out of or in connection with the use of gravel or aggregate materials."

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

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.

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!

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.