This year has been a tough one for everybody, but work has continued and we are making forward progress. You have helped keep our country's industries — including essential ones — running despite COVID-19, and we and our partnering contractors are grateful to you.
We wish you and your family all the best during the holidays. We are looking forward to 2021 and will share regional outlooks for the year ahead in next month's newsletter.
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Local 216:
In Oklahoma, there is ongoing turbine work in Chouteau, a small project upcoming in Tulsa, and a Christmas outage at Goodyear in Lawton. There is upcoming work after the first of the year at Kimberly Clark in Jenks and a large project at the Gypsum Paper Mill in Pryor.
In Arkansas, Local 216 just wrapped up a project for Westrock in Rogers that went well. There is also an outage at White Bluff Generating Station that is about to finish up, and members were complimented on their performance.
Local 216 will have additional work coming up at the Nucor Steel Mill in Blytheville. There also will be upcoming projects in Morrilton and Maumelle later this month.
Local 1421:
Local 1421 just finished a successful outage over the Thanksgiving holidays at GM, with more work possible around Christmas. A turbine outage just kicked off in Ennis, Texas, and there are multiple projects, including Tesla, on the horizon in the Austin area, and work on hydro turbines coming at the beginning of the year.
Local 729:
Work is currently slowing down in Louisiana. Local 729 does have several major turbine outages coming up in the first part of the year. Unfortunately, petrochemical work is still being hampered by COVID issues. There is also the possibility of some capital projects at the River Bend nuclear facility.
Local 2232:
Local 2232 just wrapped up a small Thanksgiving outage in addition to ongoing work at Toyota in San Antonio. There are multiple projects that should kick off or increase manpower at Toyota through December. There is also a project kicking off at Steel Dynamics in the Corpus area that should ramp up on manpower in the near future. After the first of the year, the petrochemical work will be picking back up as well.
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For the Central Region, automotive and power-generation work has been busy this fall. Please take advantage of the journeyman upgrade training classes.
Fellow members, if you are traveling outside of your home local jurisdiction for work, please check in with the local that has jurisdiction where you are procuring work. This is your obligation per the UBC Constitution.
We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!
Local 1192:
- In Huntsville, Alabama, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing is well underway and will continue to hire over the next couple of months, as needed. Please make sure to have your OSHA 10, forklift, and aerial-lift certifications. Riggers and welders will be in high demand as well.
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The Toyota Engine Plant will need roughly 40 additional millwrights for an upcoming project that will last through the end of January. Please contact Clint Smith at 205-789-9299 if you are interested and available for work.
- Automotive Christmas shutdowns are upon us for 2020. Please put yourself on the out-of-work list.
- APM Specialty Services has a project in Mount Vernon, Alabama, that started Nov. 30 and will last for approximately 20 days.
- A Plant Daniels project is underway with Ashton Construction. The project is going well and coming to an end.
Local 1554:
- Christmas shutdown work in the automotive industry will be ramping up this month. Please put your name on the out-of-work list if you are interested.
- General Motors is scheduled to kick off in January 2021. Please reach out to Steve Williams at 615-874-8591 for details.
- Specialty Service Group is now signatory to the Local 1554 Collective Bargaining Agreement and is working at the Johns Manville fiberglass plant.
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Local 2411:
Coker Industrial Contractors has a two-month job coming up at the sawmill in Lake City. W.W. Gay has several small, one-day jobs lined up every other Wednesday and is bidding more jobs coming up in February. W.W. Gay's usual, pop-up emergency jobs are starting to pick back up as well. Milton J. Wood Company has its usual crew busy at various sites around North Florida. Cogburn Bros. has turned in several bids for the spring outage season. Millwrights are working on machinery installations and upgrades with Atlas Industries at the Anheuser-Busch can plant.
Local 1263:
Siemens is doing a vane replacement at W.S. Lee Steam Plant in Belton, South Carolina, until Dec. 16. RCC and TurbinePROs are at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 construction project.
Recent information for members working at the Vogtle Units 3&4 site:
Local 1000:
We have been working small jobs with Airco, SGS, APM, and Tops. More projects are scheduled after the first of the year.
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Get to know Guy Carter, a millwright training coordinator and president of Local 1000 |
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Guy Carter, training coordinator and Local 1000 president, began his career as a millwright at age 38 and discovered a love of teaching six years later. He also continued working through a cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2018.
"Guy Carter has been an asset to our organization since he joined our apprenticeship program," said Cliff Tucker, business agent for Local 1000. "He has excelled in every aspect of being a millwright. Guy cares about the brotherhood. I think that’s why he has made a great instructor and now apprenticeship coordinator."
Learn more about Carter by reading a Q&A with him here. |
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Check out what our apprentices had to say during National Apprenticeship Week |
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Thank you to all the apprentices who helped us celebrate National Apprenticeship Week by telling us why they chose to become union millwrights. We shared many of these comments on social media and received lots of positive feedback. |
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Arlington, Texas, training center upgrade, including exterior remodel and new equipment, almost complete |
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The Arlington training center's exterior remodel is nearing completion! The new façade is part of an $800,000 upgrade that also includes new training equipment.
The SSMRC contributed $500,000 toward the building upgrade and the new equipment: two mechatronics/robot stations and a conveyor prop for training on floor conveyor and power and free monorail systems used in many manufacturing processes.
"The building in Arlington is a very nice building," said Paul Jones, executive director, Gulf Coast Carpenters & Millwrights Training Trust Fund. "It has lots of space for training and it has wooden support beams – the same as the UBC training facility in Las Vegas. It just needed an upgrade, more curb appeal, because it’s a little dated."
The 35,000-square-foot facility was built in the early 1980s using tilt-wall construction. Exterior walls are made of concrete.
The façade remodel includes:
- Removal of wings and earthen berms that covered one-third of some walls
- A complex drainage system to get water falling from the roof away from the building
- Replacing wood on the front of the building
- New signage and new paint in the beige, red, and blue UBC color scheme
- New landscaping
The center has received equipment for mechatronics/robot stations, and the conveyor equipment has been installed.
"The new conveyor and robot equipment will help because a lot of our members work at the GM plant right down the road," Jones said.
The equipment is providing additional training opportunities for apprentices and members, and the Arlington training center staff will have an updated facility to showcase to contractors and potential industry partners.
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Member discusses quality in Vogtle newsletter |
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Robert Boynton, a Millwright Local 1263 member and a general foreman for RCC, was quoted in Vogtle's Quality Newsletter. Read the full article here. |
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Member Milestones
Congratulations to members who recently became journeymen or reached 50 years of service!
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The following members advanced to journeyman status between Oct. 16 and Nov. 15, 2020. |
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Local 216:
Evan Pisciotta
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Local 1192:
Gerald Lynum
Christopher Naylor
Jason Walkenbach
Nathaniel Benson
Andrew Houser
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Local 2232:
Nathaniel Scott
Ryan Shoquist
James Ayres
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A new honorary member who recently reached 50 years of service is: |
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Local 1554:
William Beavers
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The SSMRC grieves the loss of the following members, who passed away between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15, 2020. |
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Local 1000:
Dennis Culpepper
Mike Payton
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Local 1263:
Charles T. Martin
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Nonprofit organizations need holiday donations |
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James Rowland, Western Region director, represented the SSMRC at the BIC Alliance Christmas Open House in League City, Texas. As part of the event, our council donated a toy to Galveston Urban Ministries.
Organizations including the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots are expecting up to a 50% decline in holiday donations this year. At the same time, needs are skyrocketing. If you are able, consider making a donation to a charity in your area. |
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CDC guidance for protecting yourself and others during the holiday season |
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As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is emphasizing that the safest way to celebrate the winter holidays is at home with the people you live with or via virtual gatherings.
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Get the SSMRC Member E-News and other information via text |
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