Monthly News Letter - January 2012
			REPORT FROM BUSINESS MANAGER THOMAS A. MONTANO Hopefully with 2011 coming to an end we can put behind us one of the worst years we have seen in unemployment since the 1980’s. Although the forecast still does not look very promising, there are some signs of recovery. The 2012 New Mexico State Legislative session is coming up shortly and we are looking forward to some Capital Outlay money being secured for construction projects. We are still hoping with cautious optimism that Congress will come to some sort of compromise on the American Jobs Act proposed by President Obama. The state of New Mexico’s Department of Workforce Solutions finally came up with Rules and Regulations for the setting of Prevailing Wages for the State of New Mexico’s Public Works projects. These regulations are nowhere close to the intent of Senate Bill 33. There will be a Public Hearing in Santa Fe on these proposed Rules and Regulations. I have already drafted our letter opposing the changes and will be there to publicly oppose them. The rest of the Building Trades are following suit and is preparing to go to go to court should we have to. With the current administration in power, it is an ongoing battle. There isn’t any attempt to compromise. This, amongst other reasons, is why we spend our time and monies on politics. We need to have our political allies in place to defend the rights of workers. This year’s elections are crucial in that any movement in the balance of political parties will definitely have an effect on us. This is not only federally but here in the state as well. We have all heard of the deadlock in Congress and how much it has hurt the American people because of the die-hard tea party politicians and hard-core conservatives who control the US House of Representatives and the shortage of Democrats in the Senate which allow the Republicans to filibuster any attempts to provide relief to the American people. There is nothing wrong with being conservative, but at what or whose expense? We have to turn this around. I will be working hard in the coming months to do just that. I ask that you join me. Working together we can achieve much more than any one person or half a dozen persons. In the coming weeks and months ahead, we will be calling on the membership for help. Please consider offering your time and assistance when the call comes. In closing, I would like to wish all of our members and their families a very Happy, Safe and hopefully more Prosperous New Year.

 

	REPORT FROM BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE R. DANIEL BEAVERS I have two very important items to report on this month. First, you have probably hears on the news that the CMRR project in Los Alamos, which I have been reporting on for the past several months, was delayed for a year as part of a deal made by Congress this past week. This was a direct result of a Republican controlled House of Representatives, which, once again, shows the importance of politics and the importance of having a strong P.A.C. fund, as well as working to assure we have politicians who are labor friendly in power. It is not enough to have a Democratic, labor friendly President who wants to do things, especially when he has to compromise on every issue to get them passed through the House and Senate. The next issue is the charges that were filed against the New Mexico Gas Co. by Local No. 412. we received word from the N.L.R.B. last week and they felt the Company did not violate the National Labor Relations Act. Therefore, the charges were withdrawn by Local No. 412. The ruling was based on the fact that the Company was a successor to an existing agreement for a period of less than three years, which is considered presumptive recognition. Also, after a review of the petition to decertify the bargaining unit, the N.L.R.B. found it to be legal and correct. I realize that most of 2011 was a very difficult and trying year for many of our members and I am hopeful that 2012 will be a much more prosperous year.		REPORT FROM BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE RILEY was out of the office and not able to provide his report.		REPORT FROM BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE JERRY VAUGHN The work situation in the month of December was slow, but we hope January will pick up. Midwest Mechanical has the University Hospital in El Paso and is down to only 6 or 8 hands. Goyette has work at Fort Bliss for the next 2 years on a residential/light commercial job. We don’t expect Goyette to fire any new hands in the near future. B&H is still working on the A-Mountain High School and a small job at the hospital in Los Alamos. They also picked up work at a hospital in Silver City. We hope to start the Silver City job in late January. Yearout Mechanical is working on the prison in Las Cruces and started a new chiller job at NMSU in Las Cruces; however, they will not need any help at this time. MBI is still working on the job at New Mexico State but it is a residential job and they are down to a small crew. C.D. Mechanical was the lowest bid on the new elementary in Las Cruces but we don’t have a state date. H-Y Tech is working at LES in Eunice and has no need for new hands. Intermech is also working at the LES plant and is manned up at this time. Intermech picked up about one more month’s worth of work at the LES plant. There will be an area meeting in El Paso on January 19th at 5:30 p.m. I hope to see you there. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year!