David J. Nix Reg.# 44408
I will be keeping this Video Blog page updated as I receive new information. I still have not convinced Fred to record a video but I am not giving up. I try to keep all information on this site professional and unbiased. Local 5 takes pride in our new web site and we will be making regular updates to this page as well as all the other pages on this site as new information comes in.
BLOG.LOCAL5SALAMANDER.INFO
Tuesday, Oct. 18th Update
We have updated the In Memoriam Page of our website in honor of our beloved fallen brother Walter P. Stanton. I just received the material from the hall and it is now posted on our site. I never had considered having to post a memoriam on my friend Waldo and I have to say, it is a very sad occasion but at the same time, I am honored to do this for a friend who's friendship I will always remember and cherish. R.I.P. Waldo. We all love and miss you and our meetings will never be the same without you being there raising money for all our members who fall on hard times.
Sunday, October 9th Update
As we all now know, we have lost a member and a friend to members of Local 5 when we lost our friend, Walt "Waldo" Stanton. He was a human Dynamo who did more to help his fellow man than any one person in the thirty four years I have been in this trade. He not only gave a silver coin to all the new people he encountered on every job he worked on as far as I know, he is the man who championed the M.A.F. which is now going to be called officially the Waldo Fund in our local if the members vote to make that happen at the October meeting. When I built the website in Feruary of 2009, I made the page called the Waldo Fund. Since that time, I have had travelers who subscribe to our website ask me what the Waldo Fund is. A couple of months ago, Waldo asked me to put a blog on the website explaining what his M.A.F program is all about. The words I put on that page are the words of Brother Walt Stanton and I will not remove his words from his own page on our website as long as I have anything to do with it. Now, if we can all agree, the M.A.F will officially be called The Waldo Fund which we already have a page honoring all his generousity and love for his fellow man. Five men who are totally dedicated to his cause could not fill the shoes of this beloved man who cared more for all of us than he did for himself. He not only touched many of the lives of members of Local 5 as well as travelers he encountered as they came to San Onofre and Diablo Canyon to help out with our outages, he also touched the lives of the families of these members. If half the people in this world had the love in their hearts for their fellow man as he did, there would be no poverty, wars, or homeless people in this world. I am honored to have known Waldo for as long as I have known him but there are many members who loved and knew him better than I did. When I received the call from Brother Gene Clark while working in North Carolina, I was devastated by the news and the news even affected my health with an increase of my level of stress I was experiencing to having chest pains which I was afraid would be the death of me. I ended up in the hospital 2500 miles from home and underwent all kinds of tests that revealed my stress levels had risen to the level of causing me chest pains. I am not dying and I did not have a heart attack but I thought for a day or so I was going to be seeing my friend, Waldo on the other side. We must celebrate his life and come together as members who respect and appreciate the man and all he did behind the scenes to help his fellow man. About a year ago, Waldo asked me to help him with his efforts by organizing the M.A.F. and make it a viable way to help our members who fall on hard times. I told him my help had to be limited to making announcements on our website because I don't have near the organizational skills waldo had and also, I travel too much to have a greater involvement in the program. M.A.F. was his dream alone and he made it happen. Let's not let it fizzle out and let's continue what our friend started with absolutely no help from anyone else. Look for a page on our In Memorium page in the next few days as I get the funeral announcement and other things from the hall this week because I just returned to L.A. Saturday night from my trip to N.C.
August 8th Update
Now that we have settled our contract, we have time to focus on other important issues concerning all our members such as work and when will we enjoy full employment again. With the economy in the present condition, we can all agree that even though our contract does not please everyone who is a member of our local, the contractors are not feeling victorious in their negotiations either. We are still in tough financial times and hopefullly with the work we now have on the books, we can get all our members back to work soon and keep them all working for a while. We all know that in the construction business, things seem to go in spurts and this is a very unstable economy to make predictions in. We seem to be on the verge of a spurt in growth of the construction market and that is thanks to the Solar projects that are now under way and will be hiring insulators soon in a big way. San Onofre has a 55 day outage coming up next January and will hire sometime in December in preparation for that.
Some of our members are working in Saint Louis on a refinery which is in full swing now. Chicago still has a hundred men on the bench with hopes of work breaking soon clearing their bench as well. Sometimes it seems as though we take one step forward and two steps back. There is work in Ohio but at present time, it is only 40 hours and hireing is sporatic at best.
There has been a long time from the last update to this one. I need to train someone at the hall to make regular updates so this site does not die like the last one did. We have the tools to keep all our members informed using this website and we need to do a better job at getting that job done. I blame myself for the serious lack of content on this site because I have not kept it up since I built it in February of 2009. I need help to keep it running properly and if anyone has any suggestions as to how to best accomplish that, or if you would like to volunteer your time to help with the site, please call the hall and express your desire as to how to keep this site fresh and up to date.
Some of our members are working in Saint Louis on a refinery which is in full swing now. Chicago still has a hundred men on the bench with hopes of work breaking soon clearing their bench as well. Sometimes it seems as though we take one step forward and two steps back. There is work in Ohio but at present time, it is only 40 hours and hireing is sporatic at best.
There has been a long time from the last update to this one. I need to train someone at the hall to make regular updates so this site does not die like the last one did. We have the tools to keep all our members informed using this website and we need to do a better job at getting that job done. I blame myself for the serious lack of content on this site because I have not kept it up since I built it in February of 2009. I need help to keep it running properly and if anyone has any suggestions as to how to best accomplish that, or if you would like to volunteer your time to help with the site, please call the hall and express your desire as to how to keep this site fresh and up to date.
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
Our second anual J.A.C. Golf Tournament is coming up soon and as it was such a success last year, we hope to have the same if not better success this year. Details will be posted on the Article Scan page as soon as I receive the new flyer from Peter Rojas.
I have managed to talk Fred into doing another Video Blog and that will be coming up as soon as both our schedules permit. With his permission, I can republish the first one he did and you can see if he is getting more confortable being in front of the camera. I think he did an exellent job the first time so the second one should be even better. It would be nice if we could all show him our support after we publish the next video and maybe we can talk him into doing at least one a month if not weekly.
As you all know, we are now in contract negotiations and I hope that is going well and we should have something to bring to the members to vote on soon.
I have managed to talk Fred into doing another Video Blog and that will be coming up as soon as both our schedules permit. With his permission, I can republish the first one he did and you can see if he is getting more confortable being in front of the camera. I think he did an exellent job the first time so the second one should be even better. It would be nice if we could all show him our support after we publish the next video and maybe we can talk him into doing at least one a month if not weekly.
As you all know, we are now in contract negotiations and I hope that is going well and we should have something to bring to the members to vote on soon.
Tuesday, May 10th Update
The following message has been requested by Brother Walt Stanton who is Chairman of the M.A.F. which is the Members Asistance Fund. You can find information about the M.A.F. on the Waldo Fund page link when you log onto our website.I will write it in his own words as he asked me to post this message on the Video Blog page.
I would like to thank the members who showed up at the April 16th, 2011 meeting in San Diego. We voted to strike a portion of Article XIII, Section 6 from our Constitution and By-Laws and Regulations that I feel should be ommitted because it should be a personal decision to travel to work in other territories during a strike and not be regulated by having that option left up to the discression of the Strike Committee. The part of Article XIII, Section 6 that was ommitted was as follows; In the event of a strike, no travel cards or Letters will be issued without first receiving the approval of the strike committee.
On June 17th, 2011 at the Buena Park meeting, the Members Assistance Fund, "M.A.F" will be up for vote as part of the Constitution and By-Laws and Regulations. Please attend this very important meeting and show your solidarity by showng your support for our M.A.F. and how important it is for all our members and their families who are in need..
I would like to thank the members who showed up at the April 16th, 2011 meeting in San Diego. We voted to strike a portion of Article XIII, Section 6 from our Constitution and By-Laws and Regulations that I feel should be ommitted because it should be a personal decision to travel to work in other territories during a strike and not be regulated by having that option left up to the discression of the Strike Committee. The part of Article XIII, Section 6 that was ommitted was as follows; In the event of a strike, no travel cards or Letters will be issued without first receiving the approval of the strike committee.
On June 17th, 2011 at the Buena Park meeting, the Members Assistance Fund, "M.A.F" will be up for vote as part of the Constitution and By-Laws and Regulations. Please attend this very important meeting and show your solidarity by showng your support for our M.A.F. and how important it is for all our members and their families who are in need..
Tuesday, May 3rd Update
This site has remained dormant for the last three months while I was working in Wisconsin at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. When the catastrophic earthquake and the following tsunami did all the damage in Japan, it devastated the nuclear industry in Japan but the ripples will be felt throughout the nuclear industry world wide. I am one of those people who believes the nuclear industry as we know it today will change for the better because of lessons learned in the disaster that happened in Japan. The plant that is experiencing all the problems is forty years old and has operated without major problems for all that time. A major earthquake caused that all to change in an instant. We in the U.S. will benefit from lessons learned during the disaster in Japan and I believe we will experience a huge increase in the work that is done in our own plants as they are shut down for refueling. Since the disaster is still underway and Japan is doing what they can to regain control of the most damaged reactors in that plant, it will take a while for new procedures to be written changing the way we operate here in the U.S. and take actions that will prevent the same thing that happened in Japan from happening here. Japan can not replace their nuclear energy with fossil fuel because they have no natural resources such as oil or coal to produce that energy. They would have to import all that oil and coal and that would put an enormous strain on the worlds energy sources and drive up energy prices world wide. There are people who would like to use this disaster as an excuse to shut down nuclear power use in this country and the rest of the world. All we would accomplish by doing that is putting ourselves back in the dark ages and put such a demand on fossil fuel that we could not afford it. The key to keeping safe nuclear energy is to insure a secure shutdown process which is possible and is the norm in the nuclear industry here in the U.S. All we have to do is assure we have a redundant system that continues running cooling water through the reactor in the event two safety systems fail as they did in Japan. We may even see some changes in design as the result of the catastrophe that happened in Japan but we can all rest assured that nuclear energy is both clean and safe in this country and our N.R.C. will do what it takes to keep our nuclear industry safe in this country by learning from the disaster in Japan.
As for other work in our industry, Canada is making a list of people who are interested in working up there in the near future.
Local 1 has work on a refinery as well as a new fossil fuel power plant in Southern Illinois.
Now for the best news of the year or even the last decade, Osama Bin Laden has been killed in a mansion in Pakistan and it was done by our very own Navy Seals. This is special for me because I watched the World Trade Center fall in person while I was working on a cogeneration plant in Linden, New Jersey right across the harbor. It took almost ten years to get Bin Laden but he is finally dead. He lived by the gun and he died by the gun.
As for other work in our industry, Canada is making a list of people who are interested in working up there in the near future.
Local 1 has work on a refinery as well as a new fossil fuel power plant in Southern Illinois.
Now for the best news of the year or even the last decade, Osama Bin Laden has been killed in a mansion in Pakistan and it was done by our very own Navy Seals. This is special for me because I watched the World Trade Center fall in person while I was working on a cogeneration plant in Linden, New Jersey right across the harbor. It took almost ten years to get Bin Laden but he is finally dead. He lived by the gun and he died by the gun.
Thursday, November 25th Update
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everyone got enough to eat without getting a belly ache from eating too much.
To everyone who had to work this holiday, You should be thankful to have a job that requires you to work the holiday. I hope the trend of work breaking here in Local 5's territory keeps up and gains momentum and at the same time, I hope work around the country follows that trend.
I understand that the work in Hawaii that was supposed to break earlier this year is finally breaking so that is good news.
This message was not pre approved by the business manager and is only comments from me so if it offends anyone as some of my older posts have, You can blame only me and not our business manager.
To everyone who had to work this holiday, You should be thankful to have a job that requires you to work the holiday. I hope the trend of work breaking here in Local 5's territory keeps up and gains momentum and at the same time, I hope work around the country follows that trend.
I understand that the work in Hawaii that was supposed to break earlier this year is finally breaking so that is good news.
This message was not pre approved by the business manager and is only comments from me so if it offends anyone as some of my older posts have, You can blame only me and not our business manager.
Wednesday, November 17th Update
The subject of my posts as putting a negative spin on things has been brought up by certain members who feel I am shining a bad light on things that are going on during the meetings each month. These comments have been my opinion and do not reflect the opinions of the business manager or any other officer in our local.
From this point on, all blogs on this site will be read and approved by our business manager prior to being published on this site. I certainly do not wish to cause any one any harm by the comments I have published here on this site and If I have hurt any one's feelings, I appologise.
The next blog on this site will be posted by Fred Montoya tonight as he will make a statement in his own words. He has posted a comment to the site but I am having difficulty publishing it so I will set him up to make his own blog instead. This was my intention in the first place when I built this web site to have the officers in our local make their own blogs including video blogs but until now, that has not happened.
From this point on, all blogs on this site will be read and approved by our business manager prior to being published on this site. I certainly do not wish to cause any one any harm by the comments I have published here on this site and If I have hurt any one's feelings, I appologise.
The next blog on this site will be posted by Fred Montoya tonight as he will make a statement in his own words. He has posted a comment to the site but I am having difficulty publishing it so I will set him up to make his own blog instead. This was my intention in the first place when I built this web site to have the officers in our local make their own blogs including video blogs but until now, that has not happened.
Saturday, June 26th Update
We have finally finished contract negotiations and the contract was voted on today. There were 204 members at the meeting but not all members could vote because some of them owed money and were not eligible but the contract was ratified. We received an increase of 1.75% for all classifications which adds up to an increase of .85 for mechanics and all classifications accordingly. The peridium rate went up to $60. per day for 80 miles from the radius. The vote was about 119 to 51 in favor of ratifying the contract. The duration of the contract is for 1 year and we will be in negotiations again after the first of the year 2011. We hope to get a better contract then because the economy should be turning around by then. There are other locals in the Western States such as Las Vegas and San Francisco negotiating contracts now and this is a bad economy to try to negotiate a good contract. Since our economy is in such bad shape right now, I guess we are doing good to get any increase at this time. We decided to ask for a 1 year contract so as to not get locked into a bad three year contract.
Friday June 25th Update
I have finally hired in on the Scotford Upgrader Project in Edmonton, Alberta. We had nearly three full days of orientation and training and now I am being thrown to the wolves so to speak. I have been shown my first project for Monday and ready for work. Safety is a huge issue on this project and you can be run off the job at the drop of a hat. There was one guy fired today that dropped a sharpie felt tipped pen through a grating floor into a confined space. He was observed by a Fuller Austin safety man and fired on the spot. I don't know about other units in the plant but you have to wear hearing protection at all times in the unit I work in even though it is quiet in your work area. There is a rule that on every scaffold whether you need to be tied off or not, you still have to wear a harness. You are required to wear steel toed boots with the green triangle safety symbol on them but I have yet to be checked for my boots. They have change trailers where you put on your coveralls which by the way have to be long sleeved. You are not permitted to wear your coveralls into the lunch trailer as well as your hard hat or even your safety glasses. There is a place called Direct Workwear on 9880 63 Ave. in Edmonton where you can buy used coveralls at a reasonable price. The phone number for that is (780) 435-5967. He closes before we get back to the Ramada at 6:30 but if you call ahead, he will stay open and wait for you to get there. When you check into the Ramada, you tell them that you want the monthly rate of $1780 per month divided into four payments. It comes to about $56 per night opposed to the $69 per night plus tax for the weekly rate. If you take the monthly rate, they pack you a bag with an apple, juice box, muffin, and a crunch bar to take to work with you every morning. You get them at the front desk. Canada Day is next Thursday and is equivalent to our Fourth of July. I am told that we may start 6/10s after the holiday. On 6/10s, Saturday is your double time day. Some guys have contacted the Canadian Consulate to ask about potential problems they may have due to their criminal history that may prevent them from getting a work visa. If you have a misdemeanor offence on your record, odds are very good that you will not have a problem getting a visa at the border. You must tell the truth because they have access to all your records. If you are calm and truthful to them at the immigration desk, they will give you the benefit of the doubt. When you go into the facility for visa processing, if there is nobody at the immigration desk, just have a seat and wait patiently because they are busy running your plates because they have your tag number from the surveillance camera. They know you are sitting there and they are watching for nervous behavior. Just remain calm and patient and you will be successful at getting a work visa even with a couple of misdemeanors on your record.