Winter has arrived in Ohio, but so far the weather hasn’t been too bad. As you are out and about, be careful of slips and falls in the icy conditions.

The new Governor was sworn in last month and is getting his team assembled. We are hopeful for a gener-ous ODOT budget and for im-proved funding mechanisms. Along with a new Governor comes a new ODOT director. Local 18 is optimistic that it will be someone with whom we can work with. Governor Mike DeWine has worked with Local 18 in the past, and we expect a great working relationship going forward.

The scholarship application period is now open for the Ed-ucation and Safety Fund. The scholarship program is open to all members and their families that are participating in the Health and Welfare program for use in higher education and continuing education classes. Awards are based upon the number of applicants and the amount of money in the fund. Last year, each applicant was eligible for a $2,900 scholarship. Also, anyone who is pursuing a career related to the construction industry and writes a short essay is eligible for an increased scholarship. One scholarship per district is given for the person with the best essay; last year’s amount was $5,000.00 each. Local 18 is proud that the E&S fund was able to award over 2.3 million dollars in scholarships last year. Take advantage of this great program.

It’s winter, so what better time to stop and visit your regional training center and refresh your credentials? In late November, OSHA is-sued its updated Crane Certification Require-ments. Please pay attention if you are a crane

operator, as the new standard calls for ALL crane operators to be certified. Otherwise, you will be classified as a trainee and will not qualify for many types of lifts. Please check the training manual sent to you for a listing of classes at the train-ing centers.

Pipeline work continues in Ohio with the Falcon Pipe-line, which supplies gas to the cracker plant in Pennsylvania. This 97-mile project has 10- to 16-inch pipe using Northern Clearing and Minnesota Lim-ited performing the work. Nu-merous other pipeline projects are scheduled for this year.

In late December, the Ohio EPA issued a permit-to-install for air emissions for the Bel-mont Cracker Plant planned by

PTTGC. A hearing was also conducted in De-cember with the EPA for the National Pollut-ant Discharge Elimination Service (NPDES) for an overall net decrease of raw water require-ments for wastewater discharge. This should open the door for PTTGC to move forward with the construction process.

Retiree meetings will begin to resume in the coming months, so refer to the retiree calendar of events for the meeting in your district. Local 18 is thankful for the support given by the retirees to this administration. Without the support of the membership, in-cluding the retirees, this great Local Union could not grow and increase its market share of work.

We will be beginning negotiations shortly for the Construction Employers Association (CEA) building agreement in Cleveland and surrounding counties. If you have a suggested proposal, please get them to District 1 or my

Be safe in these winter

months!

REPORT TO THE MEMBERSby Richard E. Dalton, Business Manager

Local 18 CALENDAR Jan. 1 – Scholarship application Apr. 1 period

FEBRUARY

4 All Districts – Advisory Board mtgs.

9 District 3 Labor History Class – District Hall, 7:30 a.m.

11 All Districts – Membership mtgs.

13 District 2 Info. mtg. – Lima (No meetings until April)

16 District 4/5 Labor History Class – District Hall, 7:30 a.m.

18 District 6 Info. mtg. – Guernsey County Fairgrounds

18 President’s Day

20 District 1 Info. mtg. – Ashtabula (No meetings until April)

23 District 6 Labor History Class – District Hall, 7:30 a.m.

MARCH

7 District 1 Steward Refresher Class – District Hall, 7:00 p.m.; Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

4 All Districts – Advisory Board mtgs.

10 Daylight Savings Time Begins

13 District 2 Info. mtg. – Lima (No meetings until April)

14 District 2 Steward Refresher Class – District Hall, 7:00 p.m.; Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

18 District 6 Info mtg. – Guernsey County Fairgrounds

20 District 1 Info. mtg. – Ashtabula (No meetings until April)

21 District 3 Steward Refresher Class – District Hall, 7:00 p.m.; Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

28 District 4/5 Steward Refresher Class – District Hall, 7:00 p.m; Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF LOCAL UNION 18 AND ITS BRANCHES, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS

continued on page 15continued on page 23

FEBRUARY 2019 VOL. 53, NO. 2

Buckeye Engineer

Official Publication of Local Union 18 and its branchesInternational Union of Operating Engineers

Richard E. Dalton Business Managerand Editor

Thomas P. Byers PresidentMark A. Totman Vice PresidentMichael R. Bertolone Rec.-Cor. SecretaryJefferson S. Powell Financial SecretaryJoseph W. Casto, III TreasurerScott R. Stevenson TrusteeDarrin Morgan TrusteeGregory T. Greenlee TrusteeThomas J. Perevosnik AuditorDouglas P. Pallaye AuditorIsmael Gutierrez, Jr. AuditorJason Baker ConductorRonald Krohn, Jr. Guard

Main Office3515 Prospect Ave. Cleveland, Ohio216-432-3138 44115

Cleveland District Offlce3515 Prospect Ave. Cleveland, Ohio216-432-3131 / 1-800-452-1526 44115Robert W. Park, Jr. Executive BoardMatthew T. Grills Executive BoardRon Metro Executive Board

Toledo District Office2412 S. Reynolds Rd. Toledo, Ohio419-865-0221 / 1-800-952-5960 43614Stacey L. Chamberlain Executive BoardChad N. Swartz Executive BoardJohn D. Townes Executive Board

Columbus District Office1188 Dublin Rd. Columbus, Ohio614-486-5281 / 1-800-762-4070 43215Brian A. Dean Executive BoardThomas R. Hyme, Jr. Executive BoardDonald L. Staggers Executive Board

Franklin District Office3860 Towne Blvd. Franklin, Ohio937-806-0406 / 1-800-452-1530 45005Donald R. Black Executive BoardKendall Budd Executive BoardHarold D. Burton Executive Board

Akron District Office1721 Triplett Blvd. Akron, Ohio330-784-5461 / 1-800-452-1529 44306Michael W. VanFossen Executive BoardJeffrey A. Work Executive BoardDerek Furbee Executive Board

Ohio Operating Engineers Federal Credit Union

3515 Prospect Ave. Cleveland, Ohio216-432-0300 / 1-800-462-0549 44115

Ohio Operating Engineers Fringe Benefit Programs

1-800-282-1767

The BUCKEYE ENGINEER (USPS 0068-600) is published monthly by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18 and its branches, 3515 Prospect Ave., Cleve-land, Ohio 44115. Periodical postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio. POSTMASTER: Send ad - dress changes to the BUCKEYE ENGINEER, 3515 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44115.

DUES SCHEDULE

Any member of Local 18, 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D, 18RA or 18S who does not have his/her current dues paid may be suspended. Dues are payable on a quarterly basis on the first day of each quarter (30-day grace period), with the exception of 18D and 18S to be paid on a monthly basis.

The following quarterly and monthly dues schedule for Local 18 and its Branches and Owner/Operator members is effective until October 1, 2019.

Local 18 $66.75 per quarter +3% Administrative Dues*

Local 18A $66.75 per quarter +3% Administrative Dues*

Local 18B $66.75 per quarter +3% Administrative Dues*

Local 18C $51.75 per quarter (Shops) +2% Administrative Dues* only when working for Dealer/Rental Shops. 3% Administrative Dues when working for other shops, i.e., Highway Heavy Companies*

Local 18C $57.75 per quarter (Stone Quarries, Material Yards, etc.)

Local 18D $24.50 per month

Local 18G Two times the employee’s hourly rate per month to be paid quarterly

Local 18RA $66.75 per quarter +3% Administrative Dues*

Local 18S Two times the employee’s hourly rate plus $10.00 per month to be paid monthly

Owner Operator members $150.75 per quarter

Reduced Dues $45.75 per quarter

Jefferson S. Powell Financial Secretary

Contributions or gifts to I.U.O.E. Local 18 are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.*On October 8, 2012 at all district membership meetings, the membership approved an amend-ment to Article VIII, Section 1, of the Bylaws, increasing the administrative dues to 3% of gross wages for all members of Local 18 except Local 18C Quarry and Sand & Gravel Pit members, Local 18D, Local 18G and Local 18S members. The membership also approved an increase of adminis-trative dues to 2% of gross wages for 18C equipment shop members. The Executive Board, at its October 28, 2012 meeting, approved January 1, 2013 as the effective date for implementation of the dues increase.

Local 18 Training Centers

Richfield Training Center4675 Newton Rd.Richfield, OH 44286(P) 330-659-4115(P) Toll Free 800-842-9419(F) 330-659-9785

Cygnet Training Center9435 Cygnet Rd.Cygnet, OH 43413(P) 419-655-3282(P) Toll Free 888-634-6880(F) 419-655-3290

Logan Training Center30410 Strawn Rd.Logan, OH 43138(P) 740-385-2567(P) Toll Free 888-385-2567(F) 740-385-7285

Miamisburg Training Center4250 Soldiers Home –Miamisburg Rd.Miamisburg, OH 45342(P) 937-859-5211(P) Toll Free 800-635-4928(F) 937-859-5901

Visit the website at local18training.net

February 2019 3

continued on page 6

District 4/5 busy with a variety of work

BUCKEYE REPORT

At the time this article was written on the first day of winter, and even with the foul weather, there were still many of our Broth-ers and Sisters working on various projects throughout the district. The 2019 workload is looking very good this early in the season; with the start of the new soccer stadium in Cincinnati and groundbreaking for the Ama-zon distribution hub at the Greater Cincinnati Airport that will encompass over 250 acres and several million square feet of warehous-ing, along with truck parking.

South Western CountiesWork is starting on the Mill Creek Express-

way at I-75 and I-74 in Cincinnati. Walsh Construction was the low bidder in the late spring and is just now getting underway, with the removal of some barrier walls for traffic crossover, to start work on I-74. This project will provide four lanes of continuity between Hopple St. and Mitchel Ave., along with the reconfiguring of the eastbound I-74 connec-tion to I-75 North. Work on I-74 includes re-decking the existing eastbound bridge over Spring Grove Ave., Mill Creek, and the rail-road tracks. The project has a completion date of May 2022.

Over on Langdon Farm Rd. Rack & Ballauer is laying a new 16-inch ductile iron water main project that is 6,700 feet in length, in-cluding 2,000-feet of 6- and 12-inch water main. This project will add 18 new fire hy-drants and 60 new water service connections.

On Virginia Ave. and Kirby Ave. in Cincin-nati, one of our newly signed contractors, Howell Construction, is installing a stream water sewer that is 5,000 feet long and is 36

inches in diameter that connects to a series of retention ponds for storm water runoff control.

At the AK Steel mill in Middletown, main-tenance contractors McGraw/Kokosing, Graycor, and Brand Energy are staying busy with repairs to the grounds, building, and machinery in the mill. TMS International (SCARFING) is keeping busy with the clean-ing of the impurity of the steel slabs before going to the hot strip mill to be coiled. Over

at the Basic Oxygen Furnace, Vesuvius USA is staying busy degassing the molten metal before it’s poured into the slab mold. Over at the transportation facility, Maxim Crane is working on the pot haulers and wheel load-ers for the mill. On the south side of the mill the MPW is operating the locomotive and conveyors that bring coke over from across

LAYING asphalt on Stewart Rd. in Silverton is Rack & Ballauer Excavating.

WORKING for OhioCAT in Troy is Andrew Kenworthy.

MECHANICS at OhioCAT AG Washington Court House include (l-r) Seth Leasure, Manfred Dittmann, Jayson Lodwock and Shane St. John.

4 Buckeye Engineer

P O L I T I C A L A C T I O NLegislative Reportby Mark Totman, Legislative Representative

The 133rd Ohio Gen-eral Assembly is in full swing now, and the new Speaker of the Ohio House is our candidate Larry Householder!

We worked with Speaker Householder during his previous speakership. He was a friend of Local 18 then, and he is a friend of Local 18 today! We are proud and excited

to move forward with Speaker Householder to better Ohio for our membership and the citizens of Ohio.

Having said that, just know that being the Speaker of the Ohio House is the toughest job in downtown Columbus. The Speaker has 99 members to corral every day. We can take great comfort in knowing he understands the hardships of hard-working people and our is-sues, and he supports our wages, benefits, and our union.

We look forward to working with Speaker Householder for the next six years.

Next month, we will update you on the ODOT budget process (a new two-year bud-get), and what we can expect in the upcom-ing years. As you know, the money previously

achieved by bonding the turnpike and other funding initiatives will be ending in 2019, and we will have to look for other funding solu-tions for our Highway Industry.

We will be looking for guidance from the Governor, the Speaker, and the Senate Pres-ident to help us and we will have updates starting next month.

As always, the reason our political pro-gram has been successful is because you the members, have contributed your hard-earned money to our PEP PAC Program and have voted for the candidates regardless of party that support our issues.

You are a powerhouse at the Statehouse!

Thank you!

Missouri lawmakers have started filing bills for the 2019 session. The list includes the usual grab-bag of technical changes, spe-cial-interest legislation, and pet causes of legislators in the state House and Senate.

Some have merit and will likely reach the finish line in one form or another. There’s a sports wagering bill. Senator Lauren Arthur wants no-excuse absentee voting in Missouri, a change long overdue. One pre-filed bill would expand Medicaid in the state.

Other pre-filed bills, on the other hand, should die quickly. Incoming Republican Senator Eric Burlison has introduced a new Right-to-Work bill, one that would prohibit making membership in a labor organization a condition of employment.

Wait. Didn’t Missouri just go through this?Yes, yes it did.Republican lawmakers rammed through

a Right-to-Work bill last year, then watched as a coalition of groups gathered enough referendum signatures to force a statewide vote on the issue. To virtu-ally no one’s surprise, those voters over-whelmingly rejected the Right-to-Work Proposition A, by a better than two-to-one margin, in August.

Burlison apparently feels he knows better than nearly 940,000 Missouri voters. “De-mocracy is not freedom,” he told The Star in a text message.

Well, yes. Some rights – civil rights are a good example – are inalienable. But the right

Missouri voters rejected Right-to-Work – loudly. The General Assembly should listen

to a job with union benefits, without paying a fair share of the cost of negotiating those benefits, isn’t one of them.

And Burlison’s hubris in overturning the clear will of the voters is concerning. If the voters’ decision can be easily tossed aside, why have a petition process at all?

Sadly, the senator-elect’s anti-voter atti-tude is becoming more common in his Re-publican party. Lawmakers in Wisconsin and Michigan are now gleefully grabbing power from incoming gubernatorial Democrats, as if the voters’ voices are immaterial. They should cut it out.

Democracy isn’t freedom, perhaps, but freedom is impossible without democ-racy. The voters have spoken on Right-to-Work in Missouri, and their votes should be respected.

Source: https://amp.kansascity.com/opinion/edito-rials/article222663205.html

A recent column on the Forbes website suggests that there are great career oppor-tunities within today’s construction industry – especially for women.

According to the column, 80 percent of U.S. construction firms are currently unable to fill open slots with qualified workers, cre-ating more than 250,000 job openings in the industry as of mid-2018.

“The more we can introduce STEM (Sci-ence, Technology, Engineering and Math) and

Building a career in constructionthe more we can introduce more vocational types of programs earlier, is a benefit for ev-eryone, not just women, but the entire next generation. There is a massive construction labor shortage and we need to attract some unique and diverse talent, next-generation talent that has . . . unique skills and interests. And that doesn’t always mean someone with a four-year degree. Sometimes it means some-body that has on-the-job site experience with a vocational tech program,” the column said.

February 2019 5

This article is a follow-up to the one that ap-peared in the December ’18 issue of Buckeye Engineer. That article reported on a letter sent by U.S. Senators to Amazon expressing concern over the company’s anti-union and anti-worker policies. Since then, things have taken a key step forward.

Amazon warehouse workers at the New York-based fulfillment center in Staten Island announced the launch of a union push with help from the Retail, Wholesale and Depart-ment Store Union. This action is in response

Amazon warehouse workers step up their organizing efforts with a push to unionize

to several systemic and ongoing detrimental workplace conditions at the company.

Among workers’ complaints are reports that Amazon consistently forces employees to work 60-hour schedules or more during peak periods, and also often demands over-time in addition to those hours. Other com-plaints surround the company’s unreasonable work pace demands that create unsafe condi-tions, its policy of having employees engage in security and other corporate activities on an unpaid basis, and its propensity to pres-sure organizing workers with frivolous disci-plinary actions.

Part of a groundswellThe fulfillment center in Staten Island

seems to represent a larger effort by Ama-

zon workers to unionize. Employees at sev-eral Amazon facilities in Minnesota were among the first to force management to the bargaining table after workers held protests in the summer of 2018. Also, the company recently bought online retail giant, Whole Foods, for $13.7 billion. Last year, workers launched Whole Worker, a unionizing effort in response to changes made by Amazon since the acquisition.

A large impactAccording to Amazon’s latest earning

reports, its workforce reached more than 613,000 employees worldwide, with most of those located in the U.S. That figure does not include the 100,000 or so temporary employ-ees the company hired this past holiday sea-son. Should Amazon employees be successful in their organizing efforts, it could have a major impact on the number of workers who are union-represented across the country.

Source: The Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/01/amazon-fulfillment-center-warehouse-employ-ees-union-new-york-minnesota]

According to a recent opinion column appear-ing on the Fox Business website, “Democratic leaders pledging to prioritize a ‘transforma-tional investment in America’s infrastructure’ may enable President Trump to get some traction on a key campaign promise.”

The column cited recent American Society of Civil Engineers statistics estimating that there is a $2 trillion/10-year investment gap, prompting the Society of Civil Engineers to give the deteriorating U.S. infrastructure ‘a D+ grade’ in 2018. Recognizing this ongo-ing problem, a recent Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans (69%) rate a major infrastructure spending package “as the pres-ident’s most important campaign promise.”

“As Congressional leadership and Pres-ident Trump work toward an infrastructure solution, it is essential that leaders at the state and local level also collaborate on policies to meet the demand for a next-generation workforce, ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely on infrastructure investments and sup-port state economic growth,” the column concluded.

Infrastructure still top priority for 2019

Lawmaker files bill to repeal Virginia’s Right-to-Work lawVirginia’s House of Delegates will consider legislation repealing the state’s Right-to-Work law during the 2019 legislative ses-sion.

The bill, HB1806, was filed by Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas), a self-described “social-ist” lawmaker who took office following last year’s “wave” election which brought into office a freshman class of legislators hailing from the party’s left wing.

Virginia’s Right-to-Work law, in place since 1947, provides that workers may not be forced to join a labor union or pay union mem-bership dues as a condition of employment.

During his election, Carter campaigned against Right-to-Work, making his feelings on the law known when he shared a video of himself shredding a letter from the National Right to Work Committee. He later made his position clear, tweeting to the Virginia Cham-ber of commerce, “Yes, I will work to over-turn Virginia’s RTW laws.”

By filing HB1806, Carter has made good on that promise.

Carter, a close ally of union bosses, also filed legislation granting government employ-ees the right to strike and walk off the job, even when it would close public schools or threaten public safety.

First enacted eight decades ago, Virginia’s Right-to-Work law had long enjoyed bipar-tisan support, until the 2017 House elections shifted the Democratic caucus leftward.

Previously, Democratic leaders had in-sisted their members were not trying to re-

peal the law.“We don’t have a Right-to-Work issue

here,” minority leader David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) said. “No one’s arguing that it should be repealed in Virginia, so I don’t see what the rationale is.”

Toscano made the same argument during a 2016 floor debate between himself and Del. Dickie Bell (R-Staunton), who patroned a Right-to-Work constitutional amendment out of concern that legislation like Carter’s may eventually be filed.

I’d ask the gentleman in light of his worry about a challenge, can he point to any time that this Right-to-Work statute has been challenged in the sense that legislation has been offered to overturn it or repeal it?” To-scano asked of Bell.

“If it is your preference to wait until there is a pressing need, to wait until an emer-gency, exists, that’s fine,” Bell responded to the Democratic leader. “On the other hand, if you choose to be proactive, and have safe-guards in place so that those needs never arise, then you would be standing with me on Right-to-Work.”

“The only thing that changes is that we have permanent protection for our workers.”

Carter’s legislation explicitly authorizes the creation of “Agency shops,” in which workers are required to join the union or pay membership dues.

Excerpted from: https://therepublicanstandard.com/

6 Buckeye Engineer

Work will be completed by the fall of 2020. Kokosing will also replace two bridges in Brown County on North Pole Rd. The comple-tion date for this project is late fall of 2019.

John R. Jurgensen has started major work by widening I-70 in Clark County between U.S. Rt. 68 and S.R. 72. John R. Jurgensen has moved more than 50,000-yards of dirt and installed over a mile of 12- to 24-inch storm piping. Double Z Construction is doing the bridge reconstruction on this project with McKinney assisting with the drilling. This spring, John R. Jurgensen will also begin the major widening of U.S. Rt. 35 in Greene County from Factory Rd. to Trebein Rd.

Belgray Inc. has been awarded culvert re-placements in Greene and Clinton Counties with work to start in early spring.

R.B. Jergens is still busy with the major wid-ening of Fields Ertel Rd. in Hamilton County. R.B. Jergens has installed 2,000-feet of 12-

District 4/5 busy with a variety of work

continued on page 8

continued from page 3

the road from the SunCoke furnace to the mill for storage and future use.

Also, KT Grant is working in various places throughout the mill scraping and knocking out slag that is left behind in the steel mak-ing process. Last but not least, Stein has the recycling of all the slag and molten metal that is left over from the steel making process. The slag is separated and sorted, while the reus-able metal is returned to the mill for repro-cessing, and the slag is crushed and sorted to various sizes to be used as aggregates for road base construction. At SunCoke plant on Yankee Rd., Fluor Constructors has the facilities maintenance contract that includes maintaining the coke furnaces, conveyors and buildings.

In Boone County KY, Coppage is working on a new industrial park site southeast of Walton. They are moving one million yards of dirt and rock at this location for a new ware-house building along with the construction of a new access road to the site as well.

Over on Houston Rd. in Kenton County, Nelson Stark is working on the last phase of site development at the old Showcase Cin-ema property at the corner of I-75 and I-275, which encompassed the moving of 400,000 yards of material and installation of all the underground utilities. Also in Kenton County, Mead, InfraSource and Price Gregory have kept several crews busy doing spot repairs and integrity work for Duke Energy, which acquired a gas system from another company.

Eastern CountiesBarrett Paving Inc. has started on the I-71

resurfacing project. Barrett began this project in the latter part of 2018, and will complete the project by summer 2019 by milling over 957,000-square yards of old asphalt and ap-plying 179,000-tons of new asphalt. Donegal assisted with milling, and Blue Ridge did the sweeping for this project. Barrett Paving also continues work in Clermont County, widen-ing S.R. 32 by laying over 60,000-tons of new asphalt.

Kokosing Construction started work on the major reconstruction of I-70 in Madison County. Mamco, Security Fence, and Mid-Ohio Landscaping will help with this project.

LAYING pipe for a new warehouse on Salzman Rd. in Monroe is Nelson Stark.

REMOVING and replacing air handing units on new warehouse in Erlanger is Gould Smith.

OPERATING a rubber tire backhoe in Wapakoneta is Dennis Ely.

February 2019 7

Taking control of your finances is a great feel-ing. Setting resolutions can help you reach short and long-term goals and even improve the way you feel. Of course, making plans is easy – seeing them through can be more difficult. Here are 3 tips for success gathered from current research conducted by Fidelity Investments.

• Success breeds success. Feeling encour-aged by their progress helped people to stick with their plan.

• Tracking progress is crucial. When peo-ple could see the bottom line impact of their actions, they felt motivated to keep going.

• Breaking down big goals into more at-tainable milestones works. Lofty goals are important, but you may need some val-idation along the way. Whether it’s paying down debt or saving money, identify some key markers along the journey. Once you hit a milestone, consider rewarding your-self for a job well done.

Set yourself up for a successful 2019 – 3 resolutions to improve your finances

Ready to put the tips into action? Fidelity’s study asked people if they were considering any financial resolutions. These 3 financial resolutions were at the top of the list for people who plan to improve their financial picture in 2019.

1. Save more48% of people said that saving more was

their top financial resolution for the New Year. If this is one of your resolutions, here is one way to save more money in 2019:

Make savings automatic. One reason that workplace retirement accounts are often suc-cessful is because savings happen automati-cally. The money is put into your retirement account before you ever see it. You can recre-ate that on your own by setting up a recurring transfer to take money out of your checking account and whisk it into a savings account before you have a chance to spend it. Tip: A good rule of thumb is to have an emergency fund that could cover 3 to 6 months’ worth of essential expenses.

2. Pay down high-interest debt29% of people said that this was their top

financial priority in 2019. Here are a few strat-egies for paying down high-interest debt:

Track your progress. Consider using a debt payoff calculator (Bankrate.com) to see what it will take to pay off your debt. It can be a little painful to work through it slowly, but it’s satisfying to check off each payment and watch your debt levels fall.

3 tips for financial resolutions

You could consider using the avalanche method or snowball method for paying down debt if you have more than one loan or credit card you’re paying off.

Snowball: Pay off the lowest balance firstMaking extra payments on the smallest loan and paying it off can give you a psy-chological boost early on. Then apply the payment amount of that loan to the loan with the next-lowest balance.

Avalanche: Pay the highest interest rate firstThe avalanche approach is the most finan-cially efficient because the extra payment goes to the loan with the highest interest rate. Once you’ve paid off the debt with the highest rate, move on to the loan with the next-highest interest rate.

A recent study by Fidelity on life events and financial wellbeing found that paying off debt is one of the most effective ways to boost your overall sense of wellness. While it’s no fun to forgo spending and saving today to pay off debt, it may make you happier and certainly can improve your financial picture in the long run.

3. Spend less15% of people said that this was their top

financial priority in 2019. Here are some ways to help manage your spending this year:

Consider using the envelope method for budgeting and day-to-day spending if you find you need a little extra help. Determine how much you can spend in certain spending categories like groceries, fun, and transporta-tion over a set period of time (per pay period for example). Each spending category gets an envelope. Into that envelope goes your spending money for that category. Once the envelope runs dry, you are finished spending until the next infusion of cash comes in.

But it’s not always realistic to keep so much cash around. If cash won’t work for you, track your spending using an app – or try it the old-fashioned way with a spreadsheet.

Be sure to keep an eye on your bottom line and note the money you’re able to save. If you tend to rely on credit cards to carry you over when your cash runs out, hide the plas-tic. Eventually, you may not even notice the weeks and months you didn’t pull it out to cover routine purchases. Your best bet when using credit cards is to pay them off in full each month or only use them for an emergency.

It’s easy to delay making decisions about important financial matters, but it feels great to accomplish your goals. The keys to success are tracking your progress and setting mile-stones along the way to the finish line. Simply taking the steps toward your goals and keep-ing at it is often success in itself.

Excerpted https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/personal-finance/financial-resolutions

8 Buckeye Engineer

get farmers prepared for the 2019 planting season.

McLean Company is keeping Local 18 members busy by getting paving equipment ready for the upcoming, busy paving season.

North Western CountiesC. R. Meyer is working at the Pratt Paper

Recycling Plant in Wapakoneta. The company is installing a new 600-foot long paper ma-

and 36-inch storm piping, 1,800-feet of new water main, a 14-foot x 90-foot three-sided culvert along with 7,500-feet of new curb. Asphalt paving will be completed in early spring. R.B. Jergens also completed the wid-ening of the North and Southbound exit ramps to Tylersville Rd. from I-75. Security Fence assisted with this project.

Brown County asphalt was awarded the two-lane resurfacing of U.S. Rt. 52 and S.R. 136 in Adams and Brown Counties.

Shelly will soon start work to complete the two-lane resurfacing of S.R. 41 and S.R. 124 in Highland County.

Great Lakes Construction has stayed busy with the major rehabilitation project from the Ohio River to Five Mile Rd. on I-275 in Hamilton County. This project consists of four miles of bridge overlays, asphalt milling, and repavement, along with the installation of new guardrail and parapet wall reconstruc-tion. John R. Jurgensen, Security Fence, and Bansal Construction will be assisting with this two-year project.

Eagle Bridge Company has started work on Bechtle Ave. and Snyder Park Bridge. Eagle will be replacing the bridge deck and reflec-tion wall on this project.

Distribution Premier Energy has started work in Wash-

ington Court House. They will be installing 4,000-feet of gas main and 150 commercial and residential services.

Miller Pipeline has completed installing more than 12,000-feet of gas main and 125 commercial and residential services.

K.S. Energy installed more than 35,000-feet of gas main and 600 commercial and residential services in the district, this year.

ShopsOhioCAT AG Washington Court House

is staying busy with rebuilds and services to

chine that turns recycled paper into brown paper used to make corrugated boxes. Just to the east, in Logan County, Eagle Bridge will be starting a bridge replacement on S.R. 235. The company will demolish the existing bridge and rebuild a new one over the summer.

Complete General will be starting a bridge overlay project on Fort Loramie Swanders Rd. over I-75 in Shelby County. The company also has another bridge overlay project on S.R. 589 over Mosquito Creek. The project will be starting in early spring.

Great Lakes will be continuing with Phases 2 and 3 of the apron replacement at the Day-ton International Airport in the spring. They will be removing concrete on the east side of Concourse A and pouring a new 16-inch thick concrete apron. CG Construction & Utilities has also been working at the Day-ton International Airport. The company has installed 7,000-feet of 16 ductile iron water main and over 6,500-feet of forced sanitary line, along with a new lift station for the new warehousing being built around the west side of the airport.

Schumacher Crane has been busy over the last few months at the Esther Price Fac-

District 4/5 busy with a variety of work

continued on page 9

continued from page 6

WORKING in Botkins, Ohio for Associated Hydro Excavating is Seth Johnson.

OPERATING a paver in Middletown, Ohio is Russell Werring.

February 2019 9

District 4/5 busy with a variety of work

continued on page 9

continued from page 8

tory in Dayton. Over the summer, they were on site a number of times setting structural iron, HVAC equipment, and finishing up the project. In early winter, they will assist on the installation of a new chocolate candy line. Also in Dayton, CG Construction & Utilities is working on Harvard Blvd. for a water main replacement. They are installing 2,500-feet of 8-inch ductile iron water main, four fire hydrants, and 40 new services to homes and businesses.

The Miami Valley RTA is keeping two of our signatory contractors busy with long-term contracts. BelGray is working on a flat concrete replacement at bus stops all over the Dayton area. Associated Hydro Excavating is excavating all the pole foundations for the electric trolleys. These projects will keep Local 18 operators busy over the next four years.

Eagle Bridge, along with the help of Piqua Steel Company, has just replaced 32 plexi-glass sound wall panels on I-75 near Main St. in Dayton that were damaged in an accident last summer. Just south on I-75, Complete General will be starting on the exit ramps from U.S. Rt. 35 westbound to I-75 north- and southbound this spring. The company will demolish a bridge abutment, and replace it, along with overlaying the two bridges.

Kinnison Excavating is working on a water main replacement in Kettering off Stroop Rd. They are installing 9,000-feet of 8-inch duc-tile iron water main, 16 new fire hydrants, and 270 houses to hook up to the new main. After completion of the water main, the com-pany will be doing the asphalt and concrete work to complete the project. Barrett Paving will be starting the 2019 asphalt season on I-75 in Montgomery County. Donegal will be performing the milling on the project, and Barrett will lay over 7,500-tons of asphalt.

Distribution and MaintenancePremier Energy will be starting two projects

in the city of Versailles. The projects consist of 8,000-feet of 4-inch and 2-inch plastic main for over 200 residential and commercial ser-vices. Premier Energy also will be working in the city of New Paris installing 4,000-feet of two-inch plastic main and 100 services. Miller Pipeline started the 2019 work season in the city of Minster. The company is installing 3,000-feet of 4-inch plastic main and install-ing 30 services.

ShopsAt OhioCAT in Troy, the mechanics have

been working on the overhaul of 12 CAT 3512 engines. The engines are 2,500 hp at low rpm which are used to power fracking pumps. Also, in the shop, the mechanics have been working on a CAT 988G loader. They

have rebuilt the transmission and installed a new torque converter. The mechanics at Co-lumbus Equipment in Huber Hts. have been keeping busy over the winter season servicing contractor equipment and installing new aux-iliary lines on some new excavators.

QuarriesMartin Marietta Troy Plant will be return-

ing to work in March to start getting the dredge repairs finished and ready to produce aggregate. In the spring, when the weather turns, the Martin Marietta Phillipsburg Plant will also be returning to work. The members will finish up repairing the plant and start to process limestone. At the National Limestone

Plant in Buckland, the members will continue to load out aggregate over the winter as their customers demand the projects in the Wapa-koneta area.

In closing, we hope that everyone had a great and safe holiday season, and if you haven’t done so, it is a good time to attend one of our many training classes at one of the training centers. And, don’t forget about the monthly membership meetings as well. We also want to extend our gratitude to our Business Manager, Rick Dalton and President, Tom Byers for their leadership, guidance, and support. Please be safe and have a prosper-ous work year.

WORKING at the Esther Price Factory in Dayton, Ohio is Tim Profitt, operating a Schumacher crane.

10 Buckeye Engineer

If you stay out of the sun, suffer from milk allergies or adhere to a strict vegan diet, you may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency. Prior to 2000, very few doctors even considered the possibility that a person might be vitamin D deficient.

But as technology to measure vitamin D became inexpensive and widely available, more and more studies were done and it be-came increasingly clear that vitamin D defi-ciency was widespread.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention reported that 32% of children and adults throughout the United States were vitamin D deficient.

HEALTH 4U

• A National Health and Nutrition Examina-tion Survey found that 50% of children one to five years of age, and 70% of chil-dren between 6 and 11, are deficient or insufficient in vitamin D.

• Researchers estimate that 50% of the gen-eral population is at risk of vitamin D defi-ciency and insufficiency.

• It is estimated that more than 95% of U.S senior citizens may be deficient in vitamin D, not only because they tend to spend a lot of time indoors, but also because they produce less in response to sun exposure. (A person over the age of 70 produces

about 30% less vitamin D than a younger person with the same sun exposure.)

In addition, those infants who are breast fed and not given a vitamin D supplement are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D. Re-search also has shown that pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient, especially during the winter, may have babies whose growth is retarded and may have skeletal deformities.

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is pro-duced by the body in response to skin being exposed to sunlight. After fairly brief expo-sure to sunlight, the body can make vitamin D for several hours. But the amount of sun it takes to make enough vitamin D depends on several factors. Because UV light exposure is linked to skin cancer and other diseases, safety is a concern when sunlight (or light from tanning lamps) is used to meet vitamin D requirements.

Although it is considered the "sunshine vitamin," there are foods and vitamin D sup-plements that have the advantage of not causing skin cancer and other unwanted ef-fects on the skin that can be caused by UV light. Among the foods in which vitamin D occurs naturally are some fish – salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines – fish liver oils (cod liver oil was a standard "drink" to youngsters for many years) and in fortified dairy and grain products.

Beef liver, cheese and egg yolks contain small amounts. Most of the milk supply in the United States has vitamin D added to it, as do some breakfast cereals, orange juices and such milk substitutes as soymilk.

Vitamin D deficiency can occur when……an individual doesn't consume the rec-

ommended levels of the vitamin over time. This is likely if a strict vegan diet is followed because most of the natural sources are ani-mal-based as indicated earlier – fish and fish oils, egg yolks, cheese, fortified milk and beef liver.

…exposure to sunlight is limited. Because the body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight, a person may be at risk for deficiency if he or she is homebound, lives in northern latitudes, wears long robes or head coverings for religious reasons, or has an occupation that prevents sun exposure.

…an individual has dark skin. The pigment melanin reduces the skin's ability to make vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure. Some studies show that older adults with darker skin are at high risk of vitamin D de-ficiency.

…the kidneys cannot convert vitamin D to

The 'sunshine vitamin'

continued on page 14

February 2019 11

District 1 members staying active

INSTALLING waterline with an excavator for Mr. Excavator at ODOT’s new D-12 Maintenance Facility in Cleveland is Jason Roeper.

WORKING for Karvo on Prospect Ave. in Cleveland is John Capek, Jr.

MANIPULATING a bearing for the tunnel boring machine at the Doan Valley Storage Tunnel project in Cleveland.

OPERATING an excavator for Platform Cement at the new Lake County Administration Building is Mitch Behnke.

MECHANIC for Kokosing Construction on the I-271 project in Cuyahoga County is Travis Drake.

PAVING at the Pinney Dock in Ashtabula is Koski Construction.

see additional District 1 photos on page 21

SETTING new storage tanks for ALL Crane at Aqua of Ohio in Mentor is Lee McKay.

12 Buckeye Engineer

McNally Kiewit DVT using a Manitowoc 16000 crane to set a 105-ton bearing for the tunnel boring machine at the Doan Valley Storage Tunnel Project in Cleveland. This tunnel will help facilitate a cleaner Lake Erie by storing the overflow from the sewage plants. When completed, this will allow the Northeast Ohio Sewer District to process the waste without having to discharge any raw waste into Lake Erie.

Doan Valley Storage Tunnel Project

February 2019 13

District 2 active on various projects

INSTALLING a one-inch line near the Toledo Port Authority is Geeding Construction and Turnkey Tunneling is performing the bore.

PULLING up asphalt for Miller Brothers Construction at the South St. bridge project in Toledo is Dave Chamberlain in the mini excavator, while Doug Marihugh is driving sheeting on the north side of the bridge.

INSTALLING electric and internet cables from Kelly's Island to Marblehead in Port Clinton are Durocher Marine and Great Lakes Demolition.

OPERATING a skid steer for Rudolph Libbe at Gibsonburg Medical Marijuana Facility is Jeremy Kinsman.

NIGHT work by Durocher Marine and Great Lakes Demolition, installing electric and internet cables from Kelly's Island to Marblehead in Port Clinton.

14 Buckeye Engineer

its active form. As people age, their kidneys are less able to convert vitamin D to its active form, increasing their risk of the vitamin de-ficiency.

…the digestive tract cannot adequately absorb vitamin D. Certain medical problems, including Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis and celiac disease, can affect the intestine's ability to absorb vitamin D from the food a person eats.

…the individual is obese. Vitamin D is ex-tracted from the blood by fat cells, altering its release into the circulation. People with a body mass index of 30 or greater often have low blood levels of vitamin D.

So why is it so important?Vitamin D is an important compound the

body needs to regulate and balance the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the body by controlling how much of these nu-trients are absorbed from foods, and how much is taken from, or added into, bones. It has a role in nerve, muscle and immune functions, and affects inflammation as well as cell growth and death. Vitamin D is best known for its role in using calcium to help build strong bones. It also affects many other tissues in the body, including the kidneys, in-testines and parathyroid glands.

Research suggests that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of different conditions, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, glu-cose intolerance and multiple sclerosis.

Symptoms of bone pain and muscle weak-ness can mean a vitamin D deficiency. Unfor-tunately, for many people, the symptoms are subtle. Yet, even without symptoms, too little vitamin D can pose health risks. Low blood lev-els of the vitamin have been associated with:

• Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease

• Cognitive impairment in older adults

• Severe asthma in children

• Cancer

The best way to eliminate any concerns you may have that you have a vitamin D de-ficiency is to have a blood test to check your vitamin D levels.

(Material in this article adapted from the Vitamin D Council, WebMD, Mercola.com, World Health Organization, American Cancer Society and the Mayo Clinic among others.) ***The information contained in the above article is for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as medical advice. It has not been designed to replace a physician's medical assessment and medical judgment.

Health 4Ucontinued from page 10

As 2019 begins, we are already in prepa-ration for the one night steward intro-ductory and refresher classes. Dates are as follows:

District 1 March 7District 2 March 14District 3 March 21District 4/5 March 28District 6 April 4

The Education and Safety Fund scholarship application period opens January 1, 2019. Applications are available at the Fringe Ben-efit Office, or at any Local 18 district office, as well as on Local 18’s website, by clicking on the “FRINGE BENEFITS” link below the

Scholarship Period“MEMBERS” tab, or by going directly to https://memberxg.gobasys.com/OOEFBP.

Scholarships are available to members of Local 18 who are eligible for benefits from Ohio Operating Engineers Health and Wel-fare Plan, or who have at least one month of eligibility in the twelve-month period imme-diately preceding the date that the applica-tion is received at the Fringe Benefit Office. Qualified dependents may also be eligible for a scholarship if they meet the requirements established by the Board of Trustees.

The Trustees will be awarding a special scholarship to an eligible dependent child majoring in a construction industry-related course of study. If interested for consideration of this special award, the Trustees require that a two-page, double-spaced, essay is submit-ted, along with your scholarship application.

The essay should include answers to the following:

1. What is the reason you are pursuing a construction industry-related major?

2. Who or what influenced you to pursue a construction industry-related major?

3. What is your connection to the IUOE Local 18?

4. What are your long-term plans?

All scholarship applications must be submitted to the Fringe Benefit Office by April 1, 2019.

by Joe Casto

STEWARD TRAINING

All classes will begin at 7 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m. Classes will be held at the District’s Union Hall.

Last year’s workload required many Local 18 members to step up and become stew-ards. A big thank you goes out to the more than 400 stewards who were on the front lines looking out for the interests of their Brothers and Sisters this past year.

We look forward to a prosperous 2019 and the need for more stewards. Please attend the one night steward class in your district and bring a Brother or Sister with you!

SEE YOU THERE!

Apprentice application period continues

The 2019 apprentice application period will continue on February 7, 8, and 9, 2019 with applications taken from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the following locations:

Region 1 Training Center4675 Newton Rd.Richfield, OH 44286(800) 842-9419

Region 2 Training Center9435 Cygnet Rd.Cygnet, OH 43413(888) 643-6880

Region 3 Training Center30410 Strawn Rd.Logan, OH 43138(888) 385-2567

Region 4/5 Training Center4250 Soldiers Home – Miamisburg Rd.Miamisburg, OH 45342(800) 635-4928

For any additional information regarding our program, or for additional maps and di-rections, check out our website: www.local-18training.com

February 2019 15

General Motors could keep some auto plants open and more union members workingGeneral Motors announced late last year that it was halting production at five of its North American plants, including the factory in Lordstown, Ohio. The move by GM is ex-pected to impact more than 14,000 employees. However, the latest de-velopments in the story offer hope that more union employees may keep their jobs.

The company is now saying that one of the lo-cations it expects to close could find a reprieve based on the results of contract talks with the United Auto Workers this year. During sev-eral days of meetings on Capitol Hill earlier this month, CEO Mary Barra said she was willing to keep an “open mind” about the plant closings.

Lordstown, Ohio facility may get a breakAmong the prime locations that may re-

main at least partially open is the Lordstown, Ohio plant. It is seen as one of the factories that could be front and center in the GM/UAW contract talks this summer.

When GM announced its plan on No-

vember 26th of last year to shutter several locations, the company received intense bi-partisan backlash from local, state and fed-eral politicians. Since then, the company

has softened its tone, with GM spokesman Pat Morrissey saying: “The future of the Lordstown plant and others is a matter of negotiations.”

Even if Lordstown doesn’t get a reprieve from GM, the facil-ity may still find a new life. During a recent interview on CBS “60 Minutes,” Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Mo-tors, indicated he’d be

open to buying the facility.For now, GM is offering many workers at

Lordstown and other locations the option to transfer to factories whose products are in high demand, such as a truck facility in Flint, Michigan, and other facilities in Tennessee and Ohio.

Source: CNBC.com [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/gm-hints-it-could-negotiate-a-way-to-keep-one-or-more-plants-open.html]

I regret to say that I have reported far too many accidents, resulting in severe injuries that have occurred within our jurisdiction in 2018. I have researched na-tional sources to find

fatal accidents that are tragic yet preventable, in an effort to educate our members on the devastating and life-changing event. One of the most informative and complete sources for this information is the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) website. With the goal of reaching the public with this in-formation, MSHA has developed the “Fatal-gram”. With its rather morbid name, it leaves no doubt as to the subject matter it discusses. I have a few such reports I wish to share with the Brothers and Sisters of Local 18.

by Brett LaFaso, Safety Director

SAFETY REPORT

On April 12, 2018 a 60-year-old truck driver pulled up to a card reader, too far away for him to reach it by leaning out the win-dow. Instead, he attempted to lean out the open door of his truck, and while reaching the card scanner, his foot slipped off of the clutch, causing the truck to lurch. The victim fell from the vehicle, and subsequently was run over and killed by the truck.

The accident was caused because the driver did not properly secure the truck from movement before opening the cab door.

On November 3, 2018, at a stone quarry, a supervisor pulled onto the crusher site and parked behind a loaded CAT 785B haul truck. The truck backed up to dump and ran over the truck with the supervisor in it.

The accident occurred because the super-visor parked in the potential path of heavy equipment. Large equipment such as the CAT 785B has blind spots in which a small vehicle,

such as a pickup truck, would become unde-tectable.

To avoid an accident of this nature, park out of the way, use strobes to make others aware of your presence, and radio the em-ployees in the heavy equipment of your in-tended movement in the area.

With the MSHA Fatalgrams accuracy and timeliness of its reporting procedures, the ability to make intelligent associations be-tween the accumulated data becomes very easy. Here are some facts drawn from the MSHA 2018 Fatalgram Data:

• There were 15 reportable fatalities at me-tallic/non-metallic mines in the United States in 2018. Metallic/non-metallic mines include stone quarries, sand pits and the like.

• Out of the 15 fatalities, 11 were in Right-to-Work (RTW) states.

• Only one fatality was at a union site in a union friendly non-RTW state.

• The average age of employees killed in a RTW State – 46.4

• The average age of employees killed in a non-RTW state – 40.25

• Deaths averaged about once a month until October when 6 of the 15 reported fatal-ities happened between October 2nd and November 3rd. One can say that the end of season rush with longer hours and longer workweeks could have been a contributing factor.

• Bonus information – When you figure in the deaths at those same types of mines attributed to natural causes and remove anomalies like heart birth defects, the av-erage age of workers in RTW states is 62 years old. The oldest of those employees was 78.

Conclusion: In a Right-to-Work state, you will make less money, be forced to work later in life and have a greater chance of dying on the job.

Report to memberscontinued from page 1

office for consideration.Be safe in these winter months! Stay warm

and don’t overdo it and create any health is-sues for yourselves from the weather.

16 Buckeye Engineer

District 3 getting the job done

60-year member Johnie Jardine, and wife Donna, at the Retirees Christmas meeting.

WORKING at Gallia County Landfill, Cheshire Village is Jamil Burgin.

WORKING for Capital City in Franklin County are (l-r) Tony Bowersock, Ryan Elliott and Will White.

BUSY in Fairfield County for Miller Cable are (l-r) John Hemmer and Randall Zoeller.

ON-THE-JOB for George Igel Company in Licking County is Riley McClellan.

WORKING for George Igel Company in Fairfield County is Robert Stockdale.

KEEPING busy for Mt. Carmel Stabilization in Licking County is Ethan Matheny. ON-THE-JOB at the Blacklick Sewer Interceptor project is State Wide Concrete Pumping.

see additional District 3 photos on page 18

February 2019 17

District 6 busy with large volume of work

LIFE member Dennis Hosler is operating the crane with oiler Bryan Westfall standing beside him. Both work for Midwest.

RECEIVING 40-year membership awards are (l-r) Roger Buchwalter, Jonathan Fox, Donald Stonestreet, Larry Michel, Gary Jeffries, Bill Neitz, Carl Lundgren, James Martin and Frank Mazur.

WRENCHING for Kokosing Industrial at the MarkWest Plant in Hopedale, Harrison County is Brian Neely.

OPERATING steward, Rustin Shreiner, runs a hoe for BT HDD.

WORKING with Shook Construction in Canton at the Waste Water Treatment Plant is Ricky Haller.

STEWARD Jeff Work and Heather Abbey working for Contractors Rental.

MECHANIC Travis Browning working for APEX Pipeline.

18 Buckeye Engineer

Additional District 3 photos continued from page 16

ALONG with D3 District Representative Greg Greenlee are 25-year members (l-r) Richard Jesse, David Corn, Steven Corn, President Thomas Byers and Christopher Leonard.

WORKING for ALL Crane in Licking County is Jeff Smith.

ATTENDING the opening of the Portsmouth Bypass in Scioto County are (l-r) John C. Reynolds, Jason Shaffer, and Greg Dillow.

BUSY at the AEP Data Center in Franklin County is Capital City Crane.

WORKING together, Maxim Crane and Ben Hur set wall panels at the new Franklin County jail project.

ALONG with18S Business Representative John Hardesty (l) and District 3 Representative Greg Greenlee (r) are 40-year members (l-r) Charles Boggs, William Reeb Jr., Wayne Penwell, Joe Pickens, Richard Teisinger, Mark Blythe and Warren Brininger.

February 2019 19

18S members on the job

RECEIVING his 25-year pin and badge working for National Gas and Oil is Service Technician Thomas Cooper.

SHOWING off their steward hats are (l-r) Lead Engineer Joel McQuillen and Assistant Chief Michael Fracasso, both of CBRE.

DISPATCHER David Sheppard of National Gas and Oil receiving his 25-year membership pin and badge.

HOLDING information packets they developed to assist drug abuse patients get the help they need are Local 18S EMT LeAnna Davis, and Dispatcher EMT Jack Lemley from Meigs County EMS.

WORKING for CBRE is Operating Engineer Matt Thomas.

WORKING for CBRE are (l-r) Operating Engineers Bradley Bechtol, Matt Thomas, Ronald Lusk, Jr. and Matthew Adams.

INSPECTING a pump for CMC and Maintenance Inc. at the Akron Federal Building is William Ziegelhofer.

20 Buckeye Engineer

February and March Local 18 Training ScheduleRichfield (800) 842-9419

February 2 8-Hour ICRAFebruary 4-7 40-Hour Asphalt MillingFebruary 5-8 32-Hour OSHA 30/STPFebruary 7-8 16-Hour Trench SafetyFebruary 11-14 40-Hour AsphaltFebruary 15-16 16-Hour OSHA 10/STPFebruary 16 8-Hour HAZWOPER RefresherFebruary 16 8-Hour ICRAFebruary 19-23 40-Hour HAZWOPERFebruary 20 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDFebruary 20-22 24-Hour MSHAFebruary 21 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDFebruary 23 8-Hour Load SecurementFebruary 23 8-Hour Labor History (D6 Hall)February 23 8-Hour Signal Person

February 25- 40-Hour Crane I March 1February 26-27 16-Hour BROKK IntroductionFebruary 28- 16-Hour BROKK Introduction March 1March 7 8-Hour Steward Refresher (D1 Hall)March 9 8-Hour Load SecurementMarch 11-14 40-Hour Crane IIMarch 11-15 40-Hour Utility Support EquipmentMarch 16 8-Hour Forklift CombinationMarch 16 8-Hour HAZWOPER RefresherMarch 18-21 40-Hour Tower CraneMarch 18-22 40-Hour GraderMarch 23 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDMarch 25-29 40-Hour GraderMarch 30 8-Hour CCO Refresher

Cygnet (888) 634-6880

February 2 8-Hour Skidsteer RefresherFebruary 4-8 40-Hour HAZWOPERFebruary 9 8-Hour MSHA RefresherFebruary 11-15 40-Hour Crane IFebruary 12-14 24-Hour MSHAFebruary 16 8-Hour HAZWOPER RefresherFebruary 16 8-Hour Hydro-ExcavationFebruary 18-22 40-Hour GraderFebruary 18-22 40-Hour WeldingFebruary 20-21 16-Hour OSHA10/STPFebruary 23 8-Hour Forklift CombinationFebruary 25-27 24-Hour GPSFebruary 25- 40-Hour Vac-U-Worx March 1

February 28- 24-Hour GPS March 2March 4-8 40-Hour Crane IMarch 4-8 40-Hour Deep ExcavationMarch 9 8-Hour OSHA 10/STP (Day 1)March 11-14 40-Hour Asphalt MillingMarch 11-15 40-Hour Crane IIMarch 14 8-Hour Steward RefresherMarch 16 8-Hour OSHA 10/STP (Day 2) March 16 8-Hour MSHA RefresherMarch 18-21 40-Hour AsphaltMarch 21-22 16-Hour Crane RiggingMarch 23 8-Hour HAZWOPER RefresherMarch 23 8-Hour Signal PersonMarch 25-29 40-Hour Directional Drill

Logan (888) 385-2567

February 2 8-Hour Forklift CombinationFebruary 2 8-Hour Skidsteer RefresherFebruary 2 8-Hour Tier IV EmissionsFebruary 4-6 24-Hour SkidsteerFebruary 4-8 40-Hour Plan ReadingFebruary 4-8 40-Hour Vac-U-WorxFebruary 7-8 16-Hour BROKK IntroductionFebruary 9 8-Hour Labor History (D3 Hall)February 11-13 24-Hour SkidsteerFebruary 11-15 40-Hour Vac-U-WorxFebruary 14-15 16-Hour BROKK IntroductionFebruary 16 8-Hour Load SecurementFebruary 18-22 40-Hour Crane IFebruary 18-22 40-Hour WeldingFebruary 20-21 16-Hour Trench SafetyFebruary 21 8-Hour ICRAFebruary 22-23 16-Hour Trench SafetyFebruary 23 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDFebruary 25- 40-Hour Grader March 1February 25- 40-Hour HAZWOPER March 1

February 25- 40-Hour Utility Support Equipment March 1March 2 8-Hour HAZWOPER RefresherMarch 4-7 40-Hour Asphalt MillingMarch 4-8 40-Hour Directional DrillMarch 6-8 24-Hour MSHAMarch 8-9 16-Hour Trench SafetyMarch 9 MSHA RefresherMarch 11-14 40-Hour AsphaltMarch 11-14 40-Hour Crane IIMarch 11-14 40-Hour Pipeline DistributionMarch 16 8-Hour CCO RefresherMarch 16 8-Hour Hydro-ExcavationMarch 18-21 40-Hour Deep ExcavationMarch 21 8-Hour Steward RefresherMarch 23 8-Hour CCO RefresherMarch 25-27 24-Hour GPSMarch 26 8-Hour Forklift CombinationMarch 27-28 16-Hour Crane Rigging March 28-30 24-Hour GPSMarch 29 8-Hour Signal PersonMarch 30 8-Hour CCO Exam

February 2019 21

This Month in Labor HistoryAFL, CIO Agree to Merge 63 Years Ago This Month

After a decades-long struggle for dominance, on February 8, 1955, two labor giants – the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Union (CIO) – signed an agreement to merge, beginning a long period of unity within organized labor.

Over a period of 50 years, from the time of the merger until 2005, the AFL-CIO’s member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the United States. Today, the AFL-CIO remains the largest federation of unions in the United States, comprised of 55 national and in-ternational unions that represent some 12 million active workers and retirees.

Additional District 1 photos continued from page 11

REPLACING waterline on Richmond St. in Painesville are (l-r) Flake Vannoy, Efrain Rolon, Jr. and Andy Mostoller.

LOADING dirt at new West Side High School with an excavator for Platform Cement is Life Member Tom Cooper.

WORKING for Terrace Construction doing an excavation for AT&T in Cleveland Heights near Lee Rd. is David O'Dear.

February and March Local 18 Training Schedule

February 2 8-Hour Signal PersonFebruary 4-7 40-Hour Pipeline DistributionFebruary 6 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDFebruary 8-9 16-Hour Crane RiggingFebruary 9 8-Hour MSHA RefresherFebruary 12-14 24-Hour GPSFebruary 12-13 16-Hour OSHA10/STPFebruary 16 8-Hour Labor History (D4/5 Hall)February 18-20 24-Hour Drones in ConstructionFebruary 18-21 40-Hour Asphalt MillingFebruary 18-22 40-Hour Crane IFebruary 19-22 40-Hour WeldingFebruary 25-28 40-Hour AsphaltFebruary 25- 40-Hour Crane II March 1

Miamisburg (800) 635-4928March 2 8-Hour Forklift CombinationMarch 8 8-Hour Skidsteer RefresherMarch 9 8-Hour Load SecurementMarch 12-14 24-Hour SkidsteerMarch 12-15 40-Hour WeldingMarch 16 8-Hour WAZWOPER RefresherMarch 16 8-Hour Signal PersonMarch 18-22 40-Hour HAZWOPERMarch 19-20 16-Hour OSHA 10/STPMarch 19-21 24-Hour SkidsteerMarch 22-23 16-Hour Crane RiggingMarch 23 8-Hour Trench Safety (Day 1)March 26-28 24-Hour GPSMarch 28 8-Hour Steward RefresherMarch 29 8-Hour First Aid/CPR/AEDMarch 30 8-Hour Trench Safety (Day 2)

22 Buckeye Engineer

Shops members prepare for the work season

WORKING at Cummins Bridgeway is Daniel Vetovitz.

ON-THE-JOB at Gallo Equipment is Corey Adams.

KEEPING busy for Cummins Inc. in Cleveland is Sam Ocampo.

BUSY at OhioCAT Western is Jay Elsasser.

ON his last day before retirement is Randy Troyer.

WORKING at Cummins in Cleveland is Andrew Soukenik.

WORKING at Gibson is Kelsey Bache.

February 2019 23

PEP’S Club 18Yes, I would like to do my part to support candidates and issues that help promote work for Local 18.”To comply with federal law, we must use best efforts to obtain, maintain and submit the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 per calendar year.”

Name: Reg. No:

Address:

City: State: Zip:

Phone: District:

❑ $18.00 ❑ $50.00 ❑ $100.00 ❑ other $

$

❑ Money Clip ($100.00 minimum contribution)Contributions or gifts to PEP’s Club 18 are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Forms and contributions should be sent to P.E.P. Local 18 3515 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115.

Local 18 extends its sympathy to the families and loved ones of the following members who have passed away.

LM Richard Craig (D-3) November 6

LM Stephen Harmeyer (D-2) November 19

LM Stanley Godaway (D-6) November 24

LM Ralph Watson (D-4/5) November 26

Richard Cook (D-1) November 27

LM Rick Hankins (D-1) November 30

LM James Craft (D-6) December 1

LM Floy Parson, Jr. (D-4/5) December 1

LM Walter Bussell (D-4/5) December 4

LM James Hawk (D-6) December 4

LM Clarence Smith (D-3) December 4

Timothy Kelly (D-1) December 5

LM Leevandis Hicks (D-6) December 8

LM Jerry Phipps (D-6) December 8

LM Elbert Wills (D-4/5) December 10

Gary Glagola (D-6) December 13

LM Charles Scurlock (D-3) December 17

LM Roger Cox (D-3) December 18

LM Richard Moore (D-6) December 20

IN MEMORIAM

Local 18 Calendarcontinued from page 1

RETIREE CALENDAR

FEBRUARY 6 District 3 Meeting 22 District 1 Meeting

MARCH 20 District 6 Board Meeting – D-6 Union Hall, 10:30 a.m. 21 District 2 Meeting 28 District 1 Meeting

Due to IRS regulations, a portion of your administrative dues are not deductible on your 2018 income tax return (filing period 2019). In accordance with Local 18 Bylaws this amount is used for promoting, preserv-ing, supporting and combating legislative initiatives affecting collective bargaining and union membership rights.

If you pay 3.0% administrative dues, then 16.7% of your total administrative dues are not deductible.

If you pay 2.0% administrative dues, then 25% of your total administrative dues are not deductible.

Your regular dues are not related to lobby-ing and therefore are 100% deductible.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS 2019 Labor History classes scheduled Feb. 9 Dist. 3 Union Hall

Feb. 16 Dist. 4/5 Union Hall

Feb. 23 Dist. 6 Union Hall

Recent Club 18 contributors$180.06 Bill M. Baker, District 6

$118.00 Nathaniel Brice, District 4/5

$11.00 Thomas Zumbro, District 3

Publications Available

The following publications are available through your District Office upon request.

1. International Union of Operating Engineers Constitution

2. Local 18 Bylaws

3. U.S. Department of Labor Publications

A. Election of Officers of Labor Organizations

B. Rights & Responsibilities Under the LMRDA

IN ALL DISTRICTS:

ADVISORY BOARDSWILL MEET 1st MONDAY

OF EACH MONTH.

MEMBERSHIP WILL MEET 2nd MONDAY

OF EACH MONTH.

Official Publication of Local Union 18 and its branchesInternational Union of Operating Engineers

Published Monthly

Vol. 53, February 2019, No. 2

3515 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Send Form 3579 and correspondences to above address

Periodicals

Postage Paid

Cleveland, OH

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Changed your address?If you have moved and have not notified Local 18, please send your change of address to:

LOCAL 183515 PROSPECT AVE.CLEVELAND, OH 44115

HELP US TO HELP YOU. Advise us if, and when, you move!

Survivor, pension benefits go to 17

District 1Larry J. Barnes (early retirement); Donald

Conti and Michael J. Gilgenbach, Joint & Sur-vivor (normal retirements); Ronald D. Good-will, Joint & Survivor (disability retirement); and Michael J. Yochman (early retirement).

District 2Shawn L. Claar, Joint & Survivor (early re-

tirement); and Michael K. Lumbrezer, Joint & Survivor (normal retirement).

District 3James C. Croft and Joseph E. Cronin, Joint

& Survivor (normal retirements); and Cather-ine S. Pitcock (early retirement).

District 4/5Randal K. Dollenmayer (normal retirement);

Thomas E. Freier, Joint & Survivor (early re-tirement); and Timothy J. Shepherd (normal retirement).

District 6David L. Machesney, Joint & Survivor (nor-

mal retirement); Tara E. Maroney and Bradley A. Maurer (normal retirements); and Mark C. Parsons (disability retirement).