Important Meeting Notice

Attention all Members: The Executive Board met today and decided to suspend all September Union District Meetings.  The reason for this is that we have not seen the release of state restrictions because of on-going concerns regarding containment of the spread of the virus.  We do not want to put any of our members or their families in harm’s way and the best mechanism to combat the spread of this virus is by limiting our exposure through decreased interactions.  That said, the Executive Board will be meeting again before the October meeting dates to reassess the situation. We will update the website in real time to alert you to any changes.

We are continuing to do our best to be responsible to our members and the general public in combating this virus. If you have any concerns with our course of action you can certainly contact me. Be safe out there.

In Solidarity,

Boeing Power Plant Operators – Watch out for SCABBING OPPORTUNITIES

IUOE Local 302 and Boeing Power Plant Operators have been in negotiations for more than 10 months. Without reaching a Fair Contract. In response to these difficult negotiations, Boeing has contracted Strom Engineering as a contingency plan if the Power Plant Operators must strike to get a Fair Contract.

BE AWARE – Strom Engineering is calling any Steam Licensed Engineers with Grade 1, 2 or 3’s to see if Engineers are willing to work in and around Seattle area.  This would be to SCAB IUOE Local 302 members’ work. PLEASE SAY NO!

Any questions, please contact Roberta Burnett or Jeff Frazier at 253-351-9095.

In Solidarity, IUOE Local 302, District 286.

The Local 302 Executive Board has approved the Strike Fund Committee’s recommendation to stay with the investment management team that has been managing the Rock Solid Strike fund, although the Management Team Scott Wealth has moved away from Wells Fargo and now independently working as Scott Capitol Advisors. Therefore the custodian bank will change from Wells Fargo to Fidelity and the management team name will be Scott Capital Advisors who are all the same from Scott Wealth Management.

Please see the following document here for tips to our Welders facing layoffs at Boeing.

Important Meeting Notice

Attention all Members: The Executive Board met today and decided to suspend all August Union District Meetings.  The primary reason for this decision is the reported rising cases of Covid and the increased state restrictions that are being implemented to contain the spread of the virus.  We do not want to put any of our members or their families in harm’s way and the way to combat the spread of this virus is by limiting our exposure through decreased interactions.  That said, the Executive Board will be meeting again before the September meeting dates to reassess the situation. We will update the website in real time to alert you to any changes.

We are continuing to do our best to be responsible to our members and the general public in combating this virus. If you have any concerns with our course of action you can certainly contact me. Be safe out there.

In Solidarity,

Washington Training Center Update

Effective July 1^st, the Spangle and Ellensburg, WA training centers have been merged and will be managed and run by the Ellensburg Training Director, Ole Fjellstad.  As many of you know, this effort has been in the works for some time and we are pleased that it has now all come together.  

“I’m excited for the opportunity to lead this effort to expand our training capacity throughout the state, which is critical for the training needs of our apprentices and journeyman,” said Ole Fjellstad, Training Director.  “Expanding our capacity to train our members only ensures for our ability to produce and deploy the most qualified operators in the field.”   

“Ole is a longstanding Local 302 member and has done an outstanding job running the Ellensburg Training Center for the past 9 years,” said Daren Konopaski, Business Manager and Training Trust Member.   “This was a logical adjustment to our training operations and we are enthusiastic about the expanded training opportunities that we will be able to offer to our members.” 

A few logistical changes and updates to the services offered for Spangle, include: 

1. We will now operate on a 4-10 training schedule consistent with Ellensburg (Monday through Thursday). 
2. The office will remain open 5 days a week.
3. The students who live far enough away will now stay at a hotel paid for by the training department. 
4. We are acquiring 9 new pieces of equipment as well (3 loaders, 3 dozers, and 3 Excavators).

We should have our training schedule posted the week after Labor Day and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ole at 509-899-0200.

Important Meeting Notice

Attention all Members: The Executive Board met today and decided to suspend all July Union District Meetings. The Executive Board will be meeting again before the August meeting dates to reassess the situation for August meetings. We are hopeful that we will be able to hold our meetings in August. We will update the website in real time to alert you to any changes.

We are continuing to do our best to be responsible to our members and the general public in combating this virus. If you have any concerns with our course of action you can certainly contact me. Be safe out there.

In solidarity,

Daren Konopaski
Business Manager

June 1st, 2020 Rates & Wages Schedule

If you are a contractor looking for our schedule for the updated rates and wages as of 6/1/2020, you can find it on the left hand side titled "NEW: Recent 302 Contracts" where the contracts and their schedules are located (schedules can also be found within the contracts themselves). The link for that page is here.

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Brothers & Sisters:

I just wanted to provide a brief update on the status of the three states and our Union's operations. First, by decision of the Executive Board, all May Union meetings have been cancelled. Second, our offices are still up and running but will remain closed to walk-in traffic until further notice. Third, all members in good standing will soon be receiving a letter informing them that we intend to continue with June meetings and the election process. However, if by May 22nd we haven't been given the go ahead by the governments of all three states we may be required to further delay the June meeting schedule and election of officers.

The status of the three states varies but for the most part we are seeing positive movement toward returning to work and normal operations:

WA Update: Governor Inslee issued the "Stay Safe Stay Home" Order which is to remain in effect until May 4th. Depending on the data the Governor may extend his further, but in a sign of positive momentum in returning to work the Governor just approved recommendations provided by his Construction Roundtable (of which we hold one of the three labor seats) to allow contractors to return to "low-risk/Phase1" construction work provided the work is on an existing project and social distancing requirements can be met. The release and the specifics can be found on the attached link. We are continut to work with the Roundtable, the Governor's office, and the enforcement agencies on "moderate risk/Phase 2" and "high risk/Phase 3" construction activities. We don't expect any other updates on other work activities or social gatherings until May 4th.

AK Update: Alaska has faired much better on the active Covid cases and reports to have the necessary medical capacity to provide all necessary care. AK considered much of our work to be essential services but they are moving toward phasing in many other activities to normal operations. The attached link is the recent return to work plan issued by Governor Dunleavy.

ID Update: Idaho Governor Brad Little recently announced his plan to "re-open" Idaho. His earlier stay at home order was extended to April 30th. Construction was exempted as an essential service, but you can see from the attached link the timetables for certain businesses and activities to resume. Little's plan comes in four phases in two-week intervals. Starting May 1, many businesses and church can re-open if they can follow distancing and sanitation guidelines. This doesn't inlcude gyms, bars, or dine-in restuarants. The growth of new cases of coronavirus in Idaho has slowed and if the number of coronavirus cases continues to drop and hospitals aren't overwhelmed, further restrictions will be lifted. If there are no setbacks, all businesses could re-open by the end of June, though some, like bars and movie theaters, might have capacity limits.

We are continuing to do our best to be responsible to our members and the general public in combating this virus. If you have any concerns with our course of action or if you have any questions you can certainly contact me. Be safe out there.

In Solidarity,

Daren Konopaski
Business Manager