Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I would like to wish you and you family a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. It’s been a challenging year, with more challenges to come in2015! We have always taken these challenges on, and with your help and support, we will aggressively fight for our rights going forward. Thank you for the support you have given the Union leadership in the past because without it, we wouldn’t have been as successful as we have been fighting the Company.
Currently, the Company has Lewis Stages training up at the mine paying them 16-17 dollars and hour driving haul trucks. The Union is aware of this violation of the C.B.A. and we are working to get this resolved. It’s a good time to realize that if we didn’t have a Union contact, the Company would be paying us that same amount and all of the benefits we negotiated would be non-existent.( like healthcare, for one). We are so fortunate to have the Union! We need to remember that we stand on the shoulders of giants who formed the Union years ago, who were beaten, jailed and even killed for the rights we have today.
Currently, the Company has Lewis Stages training up at the mine paying them 16-17 dollars and hour driving haul trucks. The Union is aware of this violation of the C.B.A. and we are working to get this resolved. It’s a good time to realize that if we didn’t have a Union contact, the Company would be paying us that same amount and all of the benefits we negotiated would be non-existent.( like healthcare, for one). We are so fortunate to have the Union! We need to remember that we stand on the shoulders of giants who formed the Union years ago, who were beaten, jailed and even killed for the rights we have today.
2015 will be a low production year at Kennecott. Due to the lower production, we are going to purchase an average of 25,000 tons of concentrate through August of next year in order to keep the Smelter and Refinery running. Do your best to work safely, so you can return home to your family the same way you left.
I have been getting a lot of questions on when the next Shop Steward training will be held. While this is good news that our members want to get more involved we have trained a lot of our members over the past few years. If you do not have a shop steward on your shift, I encourage you to notify your Unit Chair and he will send the person to get the training. The next training will be in the spring of next year. As always, contact myself or your Unit Chair if you have any questions or concerns.
In Solidarity,
Scott Mullins President, Local 392