Summer Newsletter July 2024

Happy summer, Brothers and Sisters.

The heat has started early this year. I implore all of you to take extra care when you are exposed to excessive heat and high UV levels outside. If you do not feel well, tell a fellow Brother/Sister or the Forman you need a break to hydrate, cool down or evaluate if you can continue to work, safely and efficiently. Be vigilant, making sure clean water is close by to where you are working and SLAP on the SUNSCREEN!

Work in Brick and Stone has been very busy. Refractory is extremely slow right now. At the time of this letter, Refractory Contractors are bidding jobs, but the Stelco's and AMD's are not yet ready to pull the trigger on any significant sized work projects.

IOL, Imperial Oil Ltd has a large shutdown scheduled for Sept 2 with indoc beginning the last week of August and ramping down to the middle of October. Anyone who has interest of getting on this job, please contact me, Dave Martin at the office 905-527-8418 or on my cell at 905-517-0884. Thorcan has the masonry and are requiring 24 masons. 12 for day shift and 12 for nights. The shifts are 10 hours. There is significant overtime on this job and is a great money-making opportunity for our members.

We are excited to announce that the BACU Local I website is now up and running!!! Please be sure to check www.baculocal1.ca on a regular basis for all of the latest updates and announcements from the Hall.

The Office now has a debit/credit card machine. We also have the ability to allow members to make any payments via e-transfer. A $3.00 fee will apply for this service. Simply call or email Alicia (aliciaa@bellnet.ca) and she will send you an email with a link to easily make your payment.

Our July General Meeting is cancelled. Our NEXT General Meeting is Thursday, August 8th at 8pm in the Hall.

The Labour Day Parade is on Monday, September 2nd. It will start at our meeting point on Stuart Street and Caroline Street at 10:00am and finish with a BBQ at the Hall. Shirts, hats and prizes for the kids will be given out. Parking is available in the GO Station parking lot on Stuart Street and at LlUNA Station back parking lot, where our Hall is.

Going forward, E-Blasts will be how most of our future communication will be taking place. An email address is just as important as your home address or phone number. PLEASE, update your email address and any contact info that has changed. Future E-Blasts will give updates on the IOL shutdown, Drug Testing policies, potentially harmful Confined Space Mobile Monitoring practices and Collective Agreement Bargaining updates.

Out of Work List. Any member who finishes a job and is not immediately transferred to another job by the same Contractor, must call the Union Hall to put their name on the Out of Work List. If the member does not, they are in violation of Article 5 of our Collective Agreement. Signing in helps me with keeping a level playing field for all of our Members. It's tough enough to keep on top of the Contractors. I need your help too!!

In our Collective Agreement and our BACU Constitution, a member must be fit for duty, show up on time and RESPECT all Brothers and Sisters who are on the jobsite. If an issue on the jobsite cannot be resolved by the member or members on the jobsite, the Forman is to be informed and will assist in resolving the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved by the Forman or the issue is with the Forman, CALL ME, Dave Martin 905-517-0884 and I WILL help resolve the issue.

Advice ....

Stay cool. Think about it. Plan a course of action. Is there a compromise?

Here's hoping for a great Summer for you and your family.

In solidarity, Dave Martin, Ryan Dickinson, Nick Scott, Sean Read and Luigi Scodellero