Massachusetts Democratic Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren was in Washington this week where she visited UBC headquarters and met with General President Doug McCarron, Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, UBC Political Director Tom Flynn, NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich and NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce.

Warren will be meeting rank-and-file union members at a Town Hall meeting next week. The event will be held Wednesday, May 9 at 5:30 PM at 1199SEUI's Union hall on Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester. All carpenters are encouraged to attend and bring their families to this important event. Warren will talk to members about herself and where she stands on issues important to us.

Our future is in our hands!

 In recognition of Earth Day 2012 the New England Carpenters Training Fund is sponsoring a FREE electronics Recycling on Monday, April 23, 2012 at the New England Carpenters Training Center (NECTC), 13 Holman Rd, Millbury, MA 01527.

Items may be dropped off between the hours of 7:00 AM and 2:30 PM (any day this week or on Monday, April 23).

Please call the NECTC at 508-792-5443 to let them know if you will participating so they have an idea of when you will arrive and the items you will be bringing.

The following items will be accepted.

• PC’s/Laptops
• Monitors (CRT & LCD)
• Terminals
• Servers
• Wires and Cables
• Fax Machines
• Printers
• Power Supplies
• VCR, DVDs, CD’s, floppies, camcorders
• Electrical Equipment
• Stereo Equipment and components
• Server Racks
• Projectors
• Photocopiers
• Communication Equipment
• Networking equipment
• Cell Phones
• Telecom Equipment

****We will not accept TV’s as there is a charge for them

The office of Mayor Thomas Menino released the following video about construction projects in the City of Boston, terming 2012 the “Year of the Crane”. The video highlights the $3.4 billion in projects currently under construction along with an additional $14 billion in approved projects.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and other industry groups are calling on the Massachusetts legislature to make it a felony for employers to fail to purchase workers compensation insurance for their employees. Senate Bill 915, sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Majority Whip Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) also has the backing of Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Operating without workers' compesnation insurance is currently a misdemeanor, punishable by upt oa year in prison or a find of up to $1,500. The new law would make the felongy punishapble by up to five years in state prison, two-and-a-half years in jail or a fine of up to $10,000.

NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce said that although union carpenters are always covered by workers' compensation insurance, they are still hurt by those who cheat.

"In an industry where work most often goes to whoever submits the lowest price, any contractor who does not purchase workers' compensation coverage has a competitive advantage right from the start over contractors who follow the law and have coverage," he said. "That negatively impacts any carpenter that works for a legitmate contractor. We're not looking to hurt all employers, we value the role they play in creating jobs. We just want everyone to comply with the law when they do it."

Even the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a group that lobbies for businesses, support the bill. In a story by the State House News Service, John Regan, AIM's Executive Vice President described the current situation as unfair to too many.

"Their faliure to have that insurance in place means that if workers working for them get injured, the rest of the employer commnity pays the bill" and that making failure to have coverage a felony "reflects the seriousness of the issue, and conveys how important it is that coverage be in place."

According to the SHNS story, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has reported more than 1,000 cses costing the worekrs compensation fund $26 million in the last five years becuase their employer didn't have worers' compensation coverage. In recent years the department has routinely issued Stop Work Orders against more than 3,000 employer found to be operating without workers' compensation coverage.

Information sessions are being held for members who would like to learn more about degree programs available through the union at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Two sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks.

Saturday, April 21 at 10AM: 750 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA

Saturday, May 5 at 9 AM: 13 Holman Rd., Millbury, MA

Learn more general information about the program by clicking here.

While we love the convenience and immediacy of sharing news and information through the “Council Update” and on NERCC.org and social media platforms, we know not every carpenter is active online. So the New England Regional Council is committed to continuing to produce the New England Carpenter magazine and deliver it to every member’s home.

The latest issue of New England Carpenter magazine has rolled through the presses up in Salem, Massachusetts at Deschamps Printing. You’ll notice some changes in this issue, including some new design elements and more (and bigger) pictures of union members and union projects!

We’re featuring a cluster of stories about member involvement in area standards demonstrations and introducing the Union Participation Program, which will plug active members into ongoing union efforts to protect standards and win more work opportunities.

Keep an eye on your mailbox or check-in at the media center on NERCC.org

Piledrivers Local 56 held a Pinning Ceremony on November 28, 2011.

The member in attendace who received a pin for the most years of service was Brother Alfred Arsenault, who initiated into the local in 1946. He received a 65-year pin. 

For a complete list of members recognized, click here.  

Governor Deval Patrick is forwarding an email from Local 56 Business Representative Dave Borrus to thousands of Massachusetts residents. The topic? Training Local 56 is offering commercial divers in a that was funded by a grant from the Patrick administration. It has previously been featured by the UBC's website.

Borrus' email includes a slide show and audio of Borrus and fellow members of Local 56 telling the story of the tank and how the training program for it developed. It is embedded below.

Local 56 started using the 7,000 gallon tank in September of 2008. Construction was made possible through two $80,000 grants from the state, grants which had been stalled under the previous administration.

"Governor Patrick restored funding that provide the means by which we had this tank constructed. He understood this was training money. These were individual grants to grow the economy," Borrus says. "This is one small one. This is the seed that grew into millions and millions of dollars of jobs."

Borrus reports that since the tank training began, contractors using union divers have won 9 contracts that have produced 54,000 work hours and generated more than $4 million in wages and benefits.

"These paychecks that would've gone to other states are here, being spent locally," Borrus said. "Those tax dollars on those wages earned are coming back into Massachusetts. These funds that made this tank construction possible were vetoed by the previous administration."

The Carpenters Union has joined efforts with neighbors in the community to spruce up the pedestrian cut-through located on the corner of Dorchester Ave. and Howell Street.




A set of stairs were installed in the green area connecting Dorchester Ave to Washburn Street. Members of Piledrivers Local 56 fabricated the treads in the piledrivers shop. The the treads were cut to size, holes were predrilled, and the hardware to hold the treads in place was fabricated at the shop.

RDA Construction donated the greenheart timber used for the stair treads. This eco-friendly timber is used in dock and pier construction. The dense timber won’t rot when placed directly on the ground, as water cannot permeate it.

Other volunteers assembled a pergola in the green area. The douglas fir was donated by the Carpenters Union.

Often the first workers on site, pile drivers drive metal sheet piling to hold back the dirt during excavations; drive concrete and metal piling as part of the foundation system for large buildings; drive wood and concrete piling to hold up docks, wharfs and bridges; and construct slurry wall systems.

In some cases they work on off-shore oil rigs and as commercial divers involve din underwater construction. Pile drivers are also required to install heavy timbers and weld or cut large metal beams.