Retiree thanks Executive Council for endorsing Obama
I WANT TO thank the Boilermaker Executive Council for announcing their endorsement of Barack Obama for president. I hope he makes good on his support for organized labor.
I started at the trade in October 1940 in Local 477 in a boiler shop, then to Local 483 at Shell Refinery in Wood River, Ill., and in 1950 to Local 363, where I retired in 1984. My working and retirement life has been much easier because I am a member of the Boilermakers.
JOHN THOMPSON, Local 363
Mt. Vernon, Ill.
SAJAC thanks contractors for donations
IN THE SIX years I have been involved with the Southeastern Area Joint Apprenticeship Committee (SAJAC), and the nearly 30 years I have been a Boilermaker, it never ceases to amaze me, and pleasantly so, the spirit of volunteerism of our members.
Boilermakers are always willing to give of themselves in the form of teaching anyone willing to learn the tricks of the trade we take for granted as Boilermaker craftsmen.
Training is very expensive, and dollars for training are hard to come by. This being said, there are people and companies I would like to thank.
Dan McKinna (F&M Mafco Inc.) has been loaning SAJAC rigging equipment (including tuggers, chokers, and snatch blocks) for over three years. Jeff Howard (H&S Tool) and Tom Nolfi (Advanced Pneumatics Co.) have been loaning SAJAC milling and rolling motors, and selling us equipment at a discount for several years.
AP Com Power Inc. and B&W Construction Co. Inc. donated over $10,000 worth of STEAM books and boiler schematics. Other contractors, who already contribute funds to SAJAC, have donated tools, equipment, consumables, and enough steel to build a practice rigging platform. Dennis Klingman (Lincoln Electric) has made their training library available to us at no cost. And the list goes on.
All I can say is thank you to our vendors, equipment suppliers, and contractors for saving SAJAC tens of thousands of dollars that have been put to good use elsewhere for training.
MICHAEL PETERSON
SAJAC director
Justin Haase family thanks members for memorial gifts
THE FAMILY OF Justin Lee Haase would like to thank everyone who contributed to his memorial fund at Eagle State Bank in Eagle, Neb. Justin worked for Local 83 [Kansas City, Mo.] at Nebraska Boiler in Lincoln, Neb. He lost his life in a car accident on Nov. 30, 2007. He had been taking a welding test and was only 10 hours from getting his life insurance and benefits. Justin was just 22 years old and leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, Maddi.
The Boilermaker family is very kind and we appreciate your thoughtfulness during this very sad time. I am thankful for any of you who got to know my son and his sense of humor.
I am putting together a memory box for his daughter. If you have a story you would like to share, please send to rmlapage@yahoo.com.
ROBIN LaPAGE, mother of Justin Haase, and family
Wife of L-83’s Neely says husband was a proud Boilermaker
MY HUSBAND, BILL NEELY, passed away Nov. 12, 2007, of cancer. He was proud to be a member of Local 83 [Kansas City, Mo.]. I’ll never forget when they organized Quinn Machine and Foundry Corp. It was a hard fight, and he was proud to be part of it.
Thank you for taking care of all your union members.
BEV G. NEELY, wife of L-83 member
Retired L-104 BM-ST Anderson passes away; will be missed
RETIRED LOCAL 104 BM-ST Michael R. Anderson passed away March 18, 2007. Mike joined Local 104 [Seattle, Wash.] in Sept. 1974, and worked in shops, shipyards, and field construction jobs. In July 1987, Mike was elected BM-ST of Local 104; he resigned in 1999 due to health problems.
Mike was a trustee for the Boilermakers National Pension Trust, a chairman of the Boilermakers Apprenticeship and Training Trust, the head union trustee for the Northwest Metal Crafts Health Trust Fund, and a delegate and officer for the Puget Sound Metal Trades Council.
Mike dedicated his life to creating a better standard of living and working conditions for those he represented and his efforts are greatly appreciated. He was a kind-hearted, giving person who touched the lives of many. His presence is greatly missed.
Gary Powers, L-104 BM-ST
Seattle, Wash.
