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We had a good trip to Kansas City for the District 6 Conference.  I want to applaud the work done by Cookie Barton and Cheryl Dawson discussing internal organizing.  They did a great job and along with Angela represented our Local how all Locals should be represented.  As you know we prevailed in receiving our COPE award for the 47^th straight year.  The work is a credit to the determination of Angela and Karen Cook.

We will be having some Contract Overview classes on March 15^th at 7:00 AM and March 17^th at 9:00 AM at the Union Hall.  It is important to come to these sessions so that everyone is informed and educated on the bargaining process.  Some of you may be thinking that it is a long way to February of next year but it is not.  We have to make sure our members understand the process so they can pass it on to our non-members.  This may wake some of those non-members up to the fact that they cost all of us.  We will be in for a fight and we will need the unity this local has to accomplish what all of you want.  This is not something that is done by the leadership of the Local but by each and every member.  We are in the process of trying to sign-up the non-members and we have an incentive program in place to help get this done.  We feel these meetings will give the knowledge to all of us to help get those non-members signed up.

We are keeping an eye on the Legislature in Austin as well as Congress in Washington.  We scored a major victory in Congress last week with the passing of the Employee Free Choice Act.  For those that may not be aware of what this act will do; it will give people the right to chose to join a Union without intimidation and fear of losing their job.  This will help the Labor Movement grow and will give workers the opportunity that we have at work.  They will be able to have representation and a voice in their workplaces.  We will have to wait on the Senate which is much tighter than the house and to see if the President will sign the legislation.  We will keep you posted.  As far as Austin goes they are trying to work on Workers Compensation.  Remember, in Texas and only Texas, employers are not required to carrying Workers Compensation policies on their employees.  Needless to say this is criminal but there are folks that Labor has supported that are trying to return the favor.  We will keep you posted.

Congratulations to the Local for receiving the COPE award.  See you at the meeting this month.

United We Stand

Divided We Beg

WE DON’T BEG!!!!