ISSUE 2 - JULY, 2017 THE UNION EYE

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

It has been a busy twelve months since our last newsletter in July of 2016. We knew we needed to take some time

to communicate some of the many things that have been happening in our Union over the last year.

I wanted to take just a few moments to speak on turnover. If you look at the bottom of this page, you’ll see that as of

July 1, 2017 we are at 1178 members; that is the exact same number as this time last year. Since July 1 of last year,

we have had 52 retirements. We thank all of our retirees for their years of dedicated service and we will be around to

the union meetings again to honor them with their certificates of appreciation and union jackets. The Union knows

that a wealth of knowledge and experience leaves with each and every retiree, that is why we continue to negotiate

with the Company to bring UWUA Power 4 America to our new training center where we will be able to utilize retirees

and hopefully active senior employees to assist in training our members; no one knows our jobs better than us! Since

July 1, 2016 there have been 82 new full-time union eligible employees hired, as well as 6 union interns. The Union

continues to push to backfill all positions, add additional bodies, and create new positions where possible. We would

like to welcome all of our new members to the G-555 family and encourage them to actively participate in their Union.

These topics and more will be expounded upon in the following pages; please take some time to read this Newsletter

and if you have questions or concerns please contact me or call the Union Office.

Fraternally yours,

Eddie Hall, Executive President

Gas Workers Union Local G-555

Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO

It is with the heaviest of hearts that Local

G-555 announces the passing of two active

members of our Union. In April of this year we

lost both Kathy Herbst and Frank Nelson.

Kathy Herbst was a long-time FMS Rep A at

Randall Shop and Wilbeth Shop; while Frank

Nelson was a Contact Tech for many years at

Eastern Shop. Local G-555 sends our

deepest sympathies to The Herbst and

Nelson families, friends & loved ones.

GAS WORKERS UNION

LOCAL G-555

UTILITY WORKERS UNION of AMERICA,

AFL-CIO

www.G-555.com

EDDIE HALL

EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT

ROBYN ARBOGAST

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT

RESSIE SMITH

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

PAUL TALBOO

EXECUTIVE TREASURER

WIL SOTO

BUSINESS MANAGER

7777 EXCHANGE ST., SUITE 11

VALLEY VIEW, OH 44125

PHONE: 216.328.0154

FAX: 216.328.0368

info@G-555.com

www.UWUA.net

AS OF JULY 1st

, 2017 LOCAL G-555 HAS 1178 MEMBERS

THE UNION EYE 2

The Union will be sending out survey forms in the near future to

ask for YOUR input as we prepare to enter into contract

negotiations. Please keep an eye out for a paper survey in the

mail as well as on our facebook & www.G-555.com.

As of July 1, 2017, the members of Local G-555’s Lima District

will receive their final raise to bring their wages equal to those

of the rest of G-555 as part of an agreement negotiated by the

Union. We are happy that the former members of Local 308 are

now equally paid members of Local G-555.

The Union was successful in getting the Company to agree that

in the case of job bids for a Helper or “Learns To” position, that

if a candidate possesses the minimum requirements of the

position, the job will be awarded by seniority.

The Company and Union entered into an agreement to bring

our members a Prescription Safety Eyewear Program free of

charge to all employees who have safety glasses as part of their

PPE. Representatives from 3M have made one round of visits

to the Shops and plan to do a second round in the Fall. We

have heard positive feedback from many of the employees who

have participated and received their prescription safety

glasses.

The Union was able to come to an agreement to change

language in the current Stopper & Tapping job description in

order to promote employees faster. This will allow those in the

classification who demonstrate their knowledge & skills to

ascend through the progression of classifications with reduced

mandatory timeframes attached to those classifications.

The Union was successful in convincing the Company to adjust

their “Job Selection Process” for internal candidates.

Applicants will no longer receive any points for how they fill out

their “self-assessments”, rather the answers from that

assessment will be used during the interview to discuss actual

job skills rather than the STAR technique that had been utilized.

Retirement sessions for those who will be 55 years old by the

end of the existing CBA were held June 6-8 at Canton Perry

Yard, The Training Center, Eastwood, and Randall Shops. For

anyone unable to attend, a video of the session has been made

and DVD’s are available free of charge. Please contact Human

Resources to request a copy of the presentation.

The Union was able to negotiate a Boot Voucher Program

through Tyndale that began June 1, 2017. Employees eligible

for clothing reimbursement in the CBA will be able to purchase

their own boots and can submit their receipt to Tyndale for

reimbursement of up to $150 once per year with a $15 service

fee. The reimbursement form should be available from your

Local Rep or can be found in the members section of www.G-

555.com. Go to: http://g-555.com/members-area/member-benefits/

The password for members is: G-555.

The Company and the Union are once again partnering for the

Union Intern Program. Six interns from area colleges have been

hired to participate in a 13-week intern program where they will

have the opportunity to be exposed to the operations areas of

the Company. Participants will get a one-week gas overview

class and then spend 3 weeks each in Leak Detection, FMS,

C&M and GM&R. This program has been successful in the past

in placing young, educated people into our workforce and we

hope it will have the same success this time around.

With Dominion having re-branded itself as Dominion Energy,

the Union and Company reached an agreement to allow every

member who is eligible for clothing reimbursement through the

current CBA to receive 5 shirts from a select group selected by

the Company at no cost to the member. Employees can

choose to shop from the re-branding catalog when they log-in

where they can find the selections for the 5 free shirts.

The 5 shirts must be ordered by November 10, 2017. The Union

is currently working to see if new Dominion Energy patches

could be made available to replace the existing Dominion

patches or if a patch replacement plan can be made through

Tyndale. In addition, new G-555 patches and heat transfer

logos have been given to Tyndale, so all newly ordered items

that have the Dominion Logo should have the Gas Workers

Union Local G-555 logo as well.

The oldest CBA in the Union’s possession dated July 26, 1951, under the Presidency of Francis J. O’Rourke, was only 13 pages long.

THE UNION EYE 3

On June 8, the Union participated in the Ribbon-Cutting

ceremony for the

Ohio Technical

Training Center

(OTTC) with the

Company and

representatives of

the build team,

Village of Boston

Hts. and Summit

County Officials.

The OTTC is a state of the art training facility that will be used to

train all Dominion employees, ensuring that G-555 members

remain one of the best trained workforces in the industry.

Later that evening the G-555

Young Workers Committee co-

sponsored an open house with

Next Generation, the

Company’s young professionals

group. Union members from

different departments were on-

hand to give demonstrations of

the training facilities and explain what their job involves as

employees toured the grounds. Guests were treated to a cook-

out. We thank the Young Workers Committee and all the

members who volunteered their time as experts in their field in

making the Open House the overwhelming success that it was.

Following a vicious dog attack on one of our own union sisters,

the Company and the Union agreed that there was a need for

better training in dog defense for all employees who spend any

time in the field. Training from Bulli Ray, one of the country’s

premier experts in dog defense, was offered to Dominion

employees. The feedback we’ve received from members has

been positive. Most felt that what they learned would help keep

them safer were they to find themselves in a situation with an

aggressive dog.

Don’t forget, as always, that The “New” Union Eye, newsletter

of Gas Workers Union Local G-555, will be available on the

Local’s official website, www.G-555.com. A link will also be

made available on the Local’s Facebook page, found at:

https://www.facebook.com/LocalG555/

This year the Company chose to relocate the “New

Construction Group” from the ISC to East 55th St. in Cleveland.

The Union was able to get the Company to commit to not

involuntarily transfer the ISC Agents currently in those roles. The

affected agents were able to choose to remain at Eastwood

Shop, and as a result, we were able to secure nine new hires to

fill those positions. Additionally, the Union and the Company

were able to agree to changing the closing hours of the ISC

from 7:00 pm to 5:30 pm. The Union was also able to ensure

that all field support calls are handled by DEO personnel.

A G-555 Communications Committee was created to assist the

Union in delivering pertinent, factual information to our

members in a timely manner in various formats. They are

currently in charge of putting content on the Local’s Official

website & Facebook page. The Committee consists of Paul

Talboo (Chairman), Kristi Grossholz, Rick Higinbotham, Andy

Newsome, & J. J. Popio. One of their first missions was to help

tie themes for content for different days of the week, adding to

the #WhatsInMyCBAWednesday theme where sections of our

contract are highlighted and the #ThrowbackThursday theme

focusing on the history of the Gas Co. & our Union developed

by Chairman, Paul Talboo prior to the creation of the committee.

The committee have created the #MedicalMonday theme

highlighting sections of our medical benefits, the

#TellMeSomethingGoodTuesday theme where members or

the Union can shine a spotlight on positive things happening,

the #SolidarityFriday theme, where we’d like to have employees

at their shops send us pictures of themselves and their brothers

& sisters in their G-555 gear, “repping” their union and showing

their solidarity, and lastly the #FollowFriday theme, highlighting

union & pro-union companies and individuals that we feel our

members should consider supporting or who offer advantages

to our members. Going forward, the Communications

Committee will be charged with helping to roll out phase 2

improvements to the website, which include a text/email blast

system, on-line merchandise store, and other enhanced

features. In addition, they will work on future editions of this

newsletter as well as new merchandise and apparel that will be

available for purchase. Please forward any photos or

suggestions on topics you would like to see covered to

PaulTalboo@G-555.com.

After pressure from the Union about the length of their hiring

process, Dominion began a new recruiting / hiring process this

year in an effort not only to target the most qualified candidates,

but also to decrease the amount of time it previously took to get

a new hire through the on-boarding process in areas where a

large amount of jobs needed to be filled. Union employees

were utilized in both the recruiting and hiring events.

THE UNION EYE 4

ELECTION PROCESS

MODIFICATIONS

G-555 HELPS ONE

OF OUR OWN

Our most recent elections, held on March 27, 2017, saw a departure

from the mail-in ballot style election process that had been utilized over

the last 10-15 years, back to the in-person style voter process the Local

had used from its inception until the early-2000’s, but with some added

improvements to increase voter participation. This Election Committee

worked tirelessly to ensure that they created a solid foundation upon

which the most democratic elections this Local has ever known could

be built upon. A massive amount of coordination, research, preparation,

and communication went into making these recent elections as

successful as they were.

For the first time ever, union elections were held at the Shops at which

our members work to allow ease of access to the polls, similar to the

way we’ve conducted contract ratification votes. The Union worked

hard to ensure that the Company would not interfere with our elections,

including allowing those who were off sick or on vacation to come in to

vote without threat of discipline. The Union was also able to have the

Company allow members that “home start” to be alloted time to come

into their shop to vote, roving clerks that may not be assigned to their

home shops that day were informed that they would be allowed to report

to their home shop in the morning to vote, members at smaller shops in

the Dover / New Phila. / Marietta District were permitted to drive their

Company vehicles on the clock to either the New Philly or Marietta Shop

to cast their votes, and Engineering Inspectors who could have job sites

all over our territory were permitted to leave their job sites to report to

the Springside shop in order to allow them the opportunity to vote.

Further, a system of color-coded and numbered seals for the ballot

boxes was instituted to eliminate any question of tampering. The new

ballot ballot bags and seals are actually approved for use in Federal and

State elections in the U.S. Privacy screens and private voting booths

were utilized to maintain the secrecy of the ballots. The Cleveland office

of the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards

were consulted often to make sure that everything we did in these

elections met or exceeded the DOL’s guidelines for conducting fair

elections.

Voter Turnout increased over similar previous elections that had used

mail-in ballots. Technical issues involving the third party that conducted

those previous mail-in elections were eliminated with this newly

designed process.

The Leadership’s opinion was that no one could do a better job of

conducting our elections than we could. Thanks to the hard work of

everyone on the Election Committee (Paul Talboo-Chairman, Jim Davis,

Deb Moffitt, Rob Newsome, Josh Thornton), as well as all of those

members who served as pollworkers, that opinion proved true.

This new process may not be flawless; as with anything, we are sure

that improvements will be thought of, and instituted by future dedicated

Election Committees, but this election was a success.

In mid-March of this year, one of our union

sisters, Jody Shaw (FMS Representative – Canton

Perry Yard) suffered a tremendous loss when a

fire destroyed her home. Shaw, who fosters and

rescues dogs, was not home at the time, but

thankfully her son and all of her pets made it out

of the home safely.

A call went out to all of our members to ask if they could help a sister in

need. The response from our members was immediate and overwhelming.

Cash donations and gift cards started rolling in from all over our territory.

While the union immediately contacted the Company and asked to have

additional money put into her Tyndale account to replace the uniforms she

lost in the fire, clothing donations and other essentials were collected to help

offset the immediate loss of both her work clothes, personal wardrobe and

personal items. Motions were passed at District Union Meetings to have

funds from raffles, etc. donated to our sister from Canton.

The outpouring of love and concern

from the members, many of whom

she admitted she’s never met, from

areas she’s never been to, were

uplifting at a time when she needed it

the most. “The outpouring of help is

tremendous… from [members] that

don't even know you or [from Shops]

not even in a close surrounding area.

At a time when you think you are defeated, all the donations brought your

spirits back up.”, Shaw said. She went on to add, “I appreciated those that

did the extras things or made personal calls or texts. I tried to send cards

to all that I received donations from, but if I missed you, ‘thank you’. If you

did receive one, thank you again!”

We were happy to find out that after a long

rehabilitation process, Sister Shaw has been

able to move back into her house, but she now

begins the arduous task of unpacking and

making it a ‘home’ again. Shaw commented,

“I am just now getting back in after four longs

months, but have so much to do that now is

the most stressful time for me; [having] to

move and unload boxes.”

We thank Sister Jody for sharing her heart-

wrenching story and we ask all of our members

to keep her in your thoughts and continue to

offer her whatever support or assistance she

may need. The Local would also like to take a

moment to thank all those that donated and

took the time to help one of our own. Situations

like this, when all of our members come

together to support a brother or sister in need,

is when we should be most proud of this Union.

THE UNION EYE 5

UNION & COMPANY MAKE SAFETY INITIATIVES

Our communities continue to face serious challenges; the opioid epidemic,

wage inequality, and other factors, too numerous to name, have led to a

continued increase in violence and crime, especially against utility workers.

This year alone we have had our own members face armed robbery,

harassment, menacing, and more. Being out in the public we also are in

harm’s way of continued gun violence or crimes where we can easily be

bystanders.

The Union’s Leadership is wholly committed to doing everything in our

power to ensure the safety of our members and the customers we serve.

While there is no cure-all to the dangers we face every day or a way to

eliminate 100% of the risk, we have been working every day with the

Company to improve our processes and to attack these issues in new ways

and with new ideas. Below are some of the safety initiatives we have been

working on.

COMMUNICATION: The Union has worked with the Company to ensure that

notification of safety alerts happen quickly and are getting out to all

employees that could possibly be in an unsafe area. Dominion has created

broader groups, utilizing their existing call-out system to inform employees

via text message and email. While this process is improved over what we

had prior, we know it is not perfect; the Company is currently testing a

system that is specifically designed to be a messaging system called Send

Word Now that should improve speed and reliability in notifying our

members, including the ability to add personal email and cell phone

numbers to guarantee notifications are received.

The Company will be rolling out iPhones for all field personnel to aid in

communication over the next few months and they are currently testing

personal alert devices that can be worn and when signaled, would alert

Police and EMS and relay your GPS coordinates. These would be made

available for use at the discretion of the employee and are not going to be

required PPE.

Dominion and our Local have also partnered with other area utility

companies and their unions in order to share information when incidents

occur. First Energy, Spectrum Cable and Dominion have already begun to

notify each other when they become aware of any safety issues. We hope

to add AT&T and other area utility companies in the near future.

LEGISLATION: Our Local is working in coordination with the Company, our

National (UWUA), the Ohio AFL-CIO, other unions including the

Communication Workers Union of America, as well as other utility

companies to build a coalition to push for legislation to increase the

penalties for crimes perpetuated against utility workers. Our hope is to have

a bi-partisan bill introduced when the Ohio House and Senate return for the

Fall session. Studies show that in states that have passed similar legislation,

the crimes against utility workers have dropped by noticeable amounts.

NEW SAFETY COMMITTEES: The Union was able to negotiate the creation

of some new safety committees. A Lone Workers Committee was created

to look into the risks of positions where members perform a majority of their

job duties alone in the field. In their first couple of meetings the union

members from various departments worked with the Company’s

management and safety personnel to identify all of the risks of each position,

find where their risks overlap, and work on ways to mitigate those risks in

the future, along with developing training for employees in those positions.

A Leak Detection / Corrosion Safety Committee as well as a Fleet Safety

Committee were added to the existing process safety committees (FMS,

GM&R, C&M).

OTHER SAFETY INITIATIVES: The Union and the Company worked together

to revise the Dominion Safety Alert procedure. The Company is now making

sure that all safety incidents are reported to Corporate Security for the

purposes of tracking the incidents and to be able to follow up with local law

enforcement, including aiding in the prosecution of those who commit

crimes against our members. President Hall has reached out to the

Cleveland Patrolman’s Association President, Steve Loomis, to ask for help

in making sure that the Cleveland Police take the time to take police reports

from our members when incidents happen.

Out of some of the Safety Committee meetings came the suggestion for

Dominion vehicles to have “DO NOT CARRY CASH” stickers placed on

vehicles again. The Company has had them made and are in the process

of getting them put onto our trucks.

The Union partnered with the Company on their Safety Barometer Survey.

There has been good participation and we hope that the feedback with help

identify more ways we can keep our members safe.

Shop Safety Committees have been calling in during monthly Take P.R.I.D.E.

safety calls to discuss incidents and to share ideas and other best practices.

Following the armed robbery incident involving two members from GM&R

at Northeast, Kristina Anderson, a survivor of the Virginia Tech shootings,

was brought in and made available to the affected employees to share

experiences and offer insight into the recovery process of traumatic events.

Ms. Anderson also gave a presentation at the Northeast Shop for the

employees there. The feedback that was received was positive and the plan

is that she relay her story at our other Shop locations in the future.

The Union has urged the Company to research any and all training methods

used in the industry to help our members stay safe in the field. The

Company has reached out to some of the other large utility companies and

are trying to find the best professional training for awareness and personal

safety.

One incident is too many, but we know we have been lucky that nothing

worse has happened. We are working with the Company to learn from each

incident to try to mitigate the safety risks our members face each day. We

shall stay vigilant. Please do your part in reporting all safety events and near

misses, not only to management, but also to the Union so that we can learn

from them and hold the Company accountable if they do not take the

necessary steps to keep you safe. If you have ideas or concerns, please

reach out to the Union and to your local safety committees. No one does

our jobs better or safer than Local G-555 members!

THE UNION EYE 6

LIMA SHOP GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY

PLEASE VISIT THE G-555 WEBSITE AT www.G-555.com MEMBERS PASSWORD: G-555

& IF YOU ARE ON FACEBOOK, PLEASE LIKE THE OFFICIAL G-555 PAGE: www.facebook.com/LocalG555/

On June 27, 2017 Dominion Energy Ohio broke ground on the new 13 Million

Dollar Lima facility. The new facility, which will contain offices and a warehouse,

is being built across the street from the existing Shop. The project is expected

to be constructed by January of 2018 and employees should be moved in to the

new facility in the

Summer of that year.

G-555 Lima District

Union Rep, Tim

Reindel, was

included in the

ceremony, taking a

scoop of soil with

one of the golden

ceremonial spades.

The Company hosted

a catered lunch for

the employees and

the honored officials from the City and County, as well as the design and

construction team. Employees received new Dominion Energy t-shirts and

insulated tumblers. Operations that day were shut down to allow all the

employees to participate.

The Lima News did an article on the ground-breaking that can be found here:

http://limaohio.com/news/250188/dominion-energy-breaks-ground-on-13-million-lima-facility

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE,

G-555 RETIREES (JULY, 2016 – JUNE, 2017)

R e t ire e Name R e t ire me nt Dat e Ye ars o f S e rvice

Pre side n t Eme r it us, R usse l l J. Maz zol a 7/1/2016 27

R e t ire e Name R e t ire me n t Dat e Ye ars o f S e rvic e R e t ire e Name R e t ire me n t Dat e Ye ars o f S e rvic e R e t ire e Nam e R e t ire m e n t Dat e Ye ars o f S e rvic e

Donald E Wichterman 7/1/2016 28 Darrell L. Threat 10/1/2016 27 Philip J. Yan 2/1/2017 30

John J. Gretchko 7/1/2016 37 Thomas S. Florian 10/1/2016 32 Gerald L. Bucchioni 3/1/2017 30

Gretchen L. McBride-Chavis 7/1/2016 27 Kenneth Knight 11/1/2016 36 Charles E. Deak 3/1/2017 27

Vanessa C Fox 7/1/2016 12 Janet D. Chappelle 12/1/2016 25 Margaret Jean Lewis 3/1/2017 42

Wendy L. Jaffe 8/1/2016 39 Anthony T. Milano 12/1/2016 38 David M. Marshall 3/1/2017 27

Michael J. Hovan 8/1/2016 38 James C. Lorenz 12/1/2016 24 Marilyn E. Rivers 3/1/2017 36

Deborah W. Godfrey 8/1/2016 29 Bobbi Marie Haag 12/1/2016 10 Karla J. Gadley 4/1/2017 35

Susan E. Deeks 8/1/2016 43 Thomas M. Priest 1/1/2017 26 Donna M. Ruther 4/1/2017 33

Cheryl A. Donovan 9/1/2016 23 Ronald K. Casada 2/1/2017 37 Scott W. Spangler 4/1/2017 28

Michael D. Powell 9/1/2016 37 Alan C. Claybrooks 2/1/2017 38 John L. Thompson 4/1/2017 33

Aroulia Hill 9/1/2016 42 Brian C. Hale 2/1/2017 30 Lee E. Winnett 4/1/2017 26

Cheri E. Allen - Tate 9/1/2016 38 Alex W. Huston 2/1/2017 37 Terry B. Blevins 5/1/2017 34

Thomas E. Lenhart 9/1/2016 24 Brian K. Lindsey 2/1/2017 38 Seldon L. Farnsworth 5/1/2017 37

Nancy L. Davis 10/1/2016 43 John Lovelace 2/1/2017 44 Donna S. Falatok 5/1/2017 26

Sharon A. Hartley 10/1/2016 22 Sam Niro Jr. 2/1/2017 48 Inga Draudt 6/1/2017 42

Michael A. White 10/1/2016 32 Donald A. Oehlstrom Jr. 2/1/2017 27 Dale L. Haren 6/1/2017 24

Debora D. Smith 10/1/2016 28 Anthony D. Singleton 2/1/2017 36 James A. Perk 6/1/2017 39

G-555 Lima Union Representative, Tim Reindel (3rd from Left), takes a

ceremonial first scoop at the Lima ground-breaking ceremony.

Rendering of the new Lima facility by Burns McDonnell

THE UNION EYE 7

LOCAL 69 & LOCAL G-555:

BUILDING A BOND OF BROTHERHOOD

Our Brothers & Sisters at the United Gas Workers Union Local 69, UWUA have

had an eventful and at times trying last year or so; enduring a lockout and

working on an expired contract, turnover in elected positions, and recently

severe flooding in areas of West Virginia that they serve. Through everything

they have stayed strong and remained resolved. During the lengthy negotiation

process Executive President, Eddie Hall and the leadership here at Local G-555

continually reached out to UGWU Local 69 President, Craig Bradford, to offer

our support and solidarity.

“Knowing that Local 69’s contract would be the last contract Dominion Energy

bargained prior to the G-555 CBA expiring in 2018, it was of the utmost

importance to us to support Local 69 in their efforts to bargain an equitable

contract. We also knew that there was a lot we could learn about what to expect

for our own upcoming negotiations by building an even better relationship with

our Sister Local”, said Hall.

In early March, Local 69 were finally able to reach an agreement with the

Company. After the dust settled, President Hall and President Craig Bradford

began discussions regarding aspects of their negotiations, tactics the Company

used, etc., but got around to the topic of the need to develop training for Union

Officers, being that both of our Locals were in a similar position having a good

amount of turnover in their elected officer positions. President Hall mentioned

his desire to create an internal Representative training program. President

Bradford explained that they had developed their own training for officers and

invited Local G-555 to travel to Bridgeport, West Virginia to participate in Local

69’s Executive Council meeting and their officer training.

President Hall was happy to accept the invitation, as the Local was in the

process of gathering as much information, from as many different sources as

we could find, in order to create a comprehensive training program for our Local.

Meeting with Local 69 would allow us to share best practices and utilize portions

of the content they created; adjusting it to fit our processes and CBA.

President Bradford and his Executive Board were not easy on the G-555

delegation; they were expected to participate as if they were any other Local 69

Representative. Our team was asked to participate in some mock grievances,

to answer questions on what constituted grievances, to do some sample

grievance writing, to answer questions regarding labor law and Weingarten

rights, and more.

“I appreciated that their E-Board didn’t take it easy on us. Being held to the same

standards as their officers kept us on our toes. It also helped us learn what

teaching methods were most effective as we were learning their CBA and

grievance process as we went, just as if we were new officers ourselves”, said

Local G-555 Executive Treasurer, Paul Talboo, who is helping to design the new

curriculum. Talboo continued, “I also appreciated that they added a section to

teach their Reps how to do a new hire union orientation. It is important to make

sure that we indoctrinate our members into the Union culture as soon as

possible. New members need to understand, especially if they didn’t come from

a union background, that the benefits, wages and working conditions of their

jobs were not handed to them from the benevolent Company, they have been

fought for and won by your Union through years of hard-fought collective

bargaining.”

Jim Davis, Canton District Representative from Local G-555, commented about

Local 69’s training, “I appreciate that Craig and his Board invited us here to

participate in the training. I think there were a number of things that we will be

able to directly translate to our own training. I particularly liked that there was a

written test at the beginning and then at the end of the training so that you could

gauge the amount of information that was learned and retained throughout the

training.”

Looking back after the end

of the training, Local 69

President, Craig Bradford

stated, “I was very

impressed with Eddie and

his group who attended;

with his leadership, it’s

clear that their Local is in

very good hands as they

provided input during our

training as to how they

perform their duties which

actually helped us. We

have begun to form a bond

of brotherhood between

Locals that can only help

us go into the future. I look forward to working with Eddie and his Local for

many years to come.”

Local 69 Vice-President, Jason Boyce, added, “I was very impressed with

Robyn, their Vice President. She was a wealth of knowledge and very inspiring.”

He continued, “The relationship that has developed between the two Locals is a

win-win for us all and the Union movement.”

President Hall expressed his gratitude thusly, “We would like to extend a big

thank you to Local 69 for inviting us to attend their Representative Council

training. President Craig Bradford kept the Directors and Stewards engaged and

challenged during the training, along with Jason Boyce (Vice-President), Derek

Metz (Secretary), and Kevin Parsons (Treasurer). Their training will be very

helpful in developing our Representative training at Local G-555. We look

forward to continuing the bond of brotherhood and working together in the

future.”

Local G-555 Executive Vice-President, Robyn Arbogast, commented on her

experience, “It was great meeting everyone at Local 69. We really appreciated

all the information that you provided about your union’s structure, contract,

bylaws and everything you went through during your last negotiations. Local G-

555 will definitely benefit from your recent experience. Thank you to Craig,

Jason, Derek and Kevin for challenging Local G-555 to compete against your

Representative Council, it was an awesome test!”

Craig Bradford closed with, “The members of Local G-555 should feel very good

about their leadership and your Local; you are very well represented. Our Local

would gladly go to battle with you anytime.”

LOCAL G-555 WALKS THE PICKET LINE WITH CWA WORKERS

May 19-21, 2017, members of the Communications Workers of America

went on strike against AT&T. The strike was called to bring awareness to

AT&T's unwillingness to negotiate towards a fair contract for workers,

while wanting to outsource more and more American jobs.

Members of Local G-555 stood shoulder to shoulder on the picket line

with our CWA brothers and sisters on Saturday the 20th at the AT&T store

in Independence, Ohio.

In the current political climate of anti-unionism, we must be evermore persistent in our fight against corporate

greed. We hope that AT&T will come to the table with an equitable offer soon, but if not, we will be ready to walk

the line again if our CWA Brothers & Sisters need us.

LOCAL G-555 PARTICIPATES IN UWUA MINI-CONFERENCE;

MEETS WITH NATIONAL LEADERSHIP TO STRATEGIZE FOR NEXT CONTRACT

Local G-555 sent a small delegation to a mini-conference held by the Utility Workers Union of America in

Wheeling, WV in early June. The Local plans to incorporate some of the training on grievance handling and

membership outreach to help us as we continue to build our custom G-555 training program for our

Representatives.

While attending, the Executive Officers of our Local took the opportunity to open a dialogue with the Leadership

of the National. Among the items discussed were contract negotiation strategy, benefits costing and options,

contract language provisions, and more.

President Mike Langford and Vice-President John Duffy (see photo left), as well as Secretary-Treasurer Mike

Coleman pledged their continued support to our Local as we prepare for negotiations and moving into the future.