Happy Labor Day To All IBEW Local 363 Members And Their Families!

Happy Labor Day to all IBEW Local 363 members and their families. Here is a short Labor History lesson for your use:

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

ABINBEV MCC Workers Choose IBEW Local 363 In NLRB Election

The workers at the ABINBEV Metal Container Corporation have choosen IBEW Local 363 to represent them in collective bargaining in an election that was held on Friday August 27 and Saturday August 28 by the National Labor Relations Board.

These workers manufacture the cans for Budweiser Beer and other beverage companies affiliated with the company which is now called ABINBEV after the sale of the Anheuser Busch Company to INBEV - a Belgium owned company.

This campaign started approximately 6 months ago and there was a tremendous amount of work put into this effort by countless workers at the plant and by IBEW Local 363. This is a solid group of workers who are very proud to become members of the IBEW and especially of Local 363.

They understand the power associated with having a written contract to work under. With the sale of AB, the workers knew they had to take steps of their own to protect themselves and they contacted Local 363 to make that happen. They picked the right union!

We are glad they had the courage to take those steps and we welcome them into the IBEW. There are 164 NEW IBEW 363 members now because of their courage and effort to band together to join the union and to speak with one voice.

Once again, welcome to IBEW Local 363!

IBEW Local 363 Clambake Will Be Held On September 18, 2010

Business Manager John Maraia has announced that the Annual IBEW Local 363 Clambake will be held as scheduled on September 18, 2010 at The Platzl Brauhaus at 127 Call Hollow Road, Pomona, NY 10970 from 9:30AM - 5:30PM.

Tickets CANNOT be purchased at the door.

If you have not purchased a ticket yet you can still do so by mail as long as a check for $50.00 made out to the IBEW Local 363 Clambake is received in the Harriman union office by 9/10/10.

If you are HAND DELIVERING a check you can purchase a clambake ticket up to the day prior to the bake at the Harriman Office.

Remember there are NO DOOR SALES - so act now if you are planning to attend. Hope to see you there.

Out Of Town Work Update - Updated August 27

For any of our Brothers and Sisters who are interested in traveling we have just been informed of an opportunity in the North East:


IBEW Local 7 Sprinfield, Ma will be hiring travelers soon. They have a couple of big switch yards that they will be starting soon. Here is the contactinfor for IBEW Local 7:

IBEW Local 7
185 Industry Avenue
Springfield, Ma. 01104

(413) 734- 7137 Tel
(413) 746-4568 Fax
ddalma@ibewlocal7.com
Business Manager Daniel D'Alma

Call Local 7 for signing and resigning information

Out Of Town Work Updates 8- 17-10

We have beem informed that the following IBEW Locals will be looking for people soon.

IBEW Local 1579 Augusta, Georgia - They have a NUKE Plant that has just started. Come the Fall of 2010 they will be looking for up to 600 electricians. Here is their contact info:

IBEW Local 1579
1250 Reynolds Street
Augusta, Georgia 30901
(706) 722-6357 tel
(706) 724-9792 fax

admin@ibew1579.org


IBEW Local 1547 Anchorage Alaska - looking for men now - Must have State License - can take 4 hour code book test.

Here is the contact information for Local 1547

IBEW Local 1547
3333b Denali Street, Siute 200
Anchorage, Alaska 99503

(907) 272-6571 tel
(907) 777-7255 fax
webmaster @ibew1547.org

As always, we are constantly checking throughout the country for leads to help our unemployed Brothers and Sisters who wish to travel get the proper and most updated information.

Also, if any of our members hear of any local union that they would like us to call to inquire about work for travelers - please call Ross Olivieri in our referral office and he will contact the
local(s) requested.

Taylor $100 Million Biomass Facility To Receive Loan Guarantee

Taylor Biomass in Montgomery should be able to move forward with its plans to build its first biomass gasification plant to convert trash to electricity.

The US Department of Energy has given initial approval, and is ready to give the final OK, for $100 million in loan guarantees for the project.

Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Maurice Hinchey and other politiciansjoined IBEW Local 363, Building Trades Officials and company leaders, including President James Taylor, to make the announcement.

Schumer called Taylor a visionary.

“His work with our help is going to make the world a better place,” he said.

Taylor now hopes to break ground on construction this fall.

“Senator and congressman, I would ask you to extend your invitation to President Obama and Secretary [of Energy] Chu to put on their schedule sometime around October 15, 2010 to put the shovel in the ground in Montgomery,” he told the lawmakers at a news conference at his office.

There is a project-labor agreement that's in place for this project so we are pushing for this project to move forward.

We have been working closely with Jim Taylor for years hoping we would see this project come to life. It is as close as you can be right now - let's keep our fingers crossed.

Urgent: Important Notice About The IBEW Local 363 Clambake

This is an important notice to all members about the IBEW Local 363 Annual Clambake. The ticket orders for this years clambake have been extremely slow. We understand the economic situation has contributed heavily to this situation but under the circumstances we are obligated to send out this reminder notice.

We strongly encourage all Brothers and Sisters of IBEW Local 363 who want to attend this years bake to act now and send in their check for $50.00.

We have a deadline to meet in order to book the event. At this time we do not have enough tickets sold to have the bake.

We have until August 18th to have the number of tickets sold to book. We are between 70 and 100 tickets short of booking.

If you have not sent in a check yet please do that THIS WEEK. You can send it to the Harriman Office and write clambake on the envelope and makes your check to:

IBEW Local 363 Clambake for $50.00.

If there are not enough tickets sold to book any member who sent in their check will be refunded their money.

We will inform the membership of any developments.