Mazda Toyota project in Huntsville, Alabama, set to provide work opportunities throughout 2021 and beyond |
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Local 1192’s work at the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant under construction in Huntsville, Alabama, is going well after kicking off this spring. The project is expected to provide work for millwrights throughout 2021 and beyond, said Clint Smith, Local 1192 business agent. “Overall, it’s going really well,” Smith said.
This article about the project was written earlier this year, and here are updates on work progress:
- Local 1192 has partnered with 13 contractors so far at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing.
- Between 430 and 470 millwrights have worked at the site.
- The local has filled all calls from contractors.
- There have been no lost-time accidents.
- Conveyor work in the paint shop, which is shared by Mazda and Toyota, is 75% complete.
- The conveyor system in the Toyota assembly building is 60% complete.
- All robots have been installed in the Toyota body weld portion of the plant.
- Millwrights are beginning robot installation in the Mazda body weld area.
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Local 216:
Local 216 has turbine work ongoing and coming up at Green Country, Magnet Cove, Entergy Hot Springs, and White Bluff. We also have pulp-and-paper work at Kimberly Clark and some work with a new customer in Rogers, Arkansas. We are wrapping up some of the work at Big River Steel, but other work is ongoing.
Local 729:
Local 729 has ongoing work at Nine Mile Nuclear. We also will have some work at Graphics Packaging. Our employers are bidding various maintenance projects in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, and we have several projects starting at the first of the year.
Local 1421:
Local 1421 will have a Thanksgiving outage at General Motors. There is also ongoing turbine work in Ennis and Granbury with an upcoming project at Handley as well.
Local 2232:
We have just started a project with Calaveras Power, and we have work coming up with DOW, Total, and Motiva. We also have turbine work in East Texas and South Texas kicking off. There is ongoing work at Toyota in San Antonio if anyone is interested.
Please remember to get on the out-of-work list if you are looking for work!
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We are busy within the automotive and power-generation industries. If you are available for work, please put yourself on the out-of-work list and reach out to your local business agent.
–Jeff Smith, Central Region Director
Local 1192:
- Mazda Toyota Manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama, is well underway and will continue to hire over the next couple of months. Please make sure to have your OSHA 10, forklift, and aerial-lift certifications. Riggers and welders will be in high demand as well.
- Toyota Engine Plant will need roughly 100+\- millwrights for an upcoming project. Please contact Clint Smith if you are interested and available for work.
- Plant Watson has an outage underway as of Oct. 19. All is going well.
- Plant Barry’s barge unloader project starts Nov. 2 and it is scheduled to last approximately 30 days.
- Alley Crane and Rigging is now signatory to the Local 1192 CBA and is looking to perform work within the jurisdiction.
Local 1554:
- TVA Allen is underway with APM, and the project is going well.
- GM in Springhill is scheduled to start in December 2020.
- Cumberland City has an outage underway until December 2020.
- Nissan in Smyrna has a scheduled outage for December 2020.
- Specialty Service Group is now signatory to the 1554 CBA and is looking to perform work within the jurisdiction.
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Local 1000:
- UPS - Phase one is finished and we're working on maintenance. Phase two has been pushed back until further notice.
- Siemens is working at McIntosh in Florida.
- We are currently having a recruitment drive to fill the need for millwrights to work in the phosphate mines. Local 1000 members need to get their mine and phosphate card to fill the requests of our partnering contractors.
Local 2411:
- Future work that has not been awarded includes an Amazon project and an expansion at B. Braun Medical Manufacturing Plant.
- Anheuser-Bush is releasing work.
- We are supporting power-gen work with Local 1000.
- Papermills are releasing work and beginning their outages.
Local 1263:
- Congratulations to Local 1263 for the addition of a new contractor partner. Industrial Air and Mechanical from Dalton, Georgia, has joined the team and is currently employing 12 millwrights at Ball Container in North Georgia.
- We need stainless TIG welders for Genesys in Jefferson, Georgia.
- CR Meyer is installing conveyor at Carolina Beverage in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- BKB is performing bearing replacement in a WestRock paper mill in Florence, South Carolina.
- Siemens is performing a turbine outage at Cleveland County Power in Asheville, North Carolina.
- SRS is going to begin a plutonium pit project sometime soon.
- CR Meyer is beginning call-outs for the converting equipment for the Macon papermill; more jobs coming soon.
- 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:
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With the fall 2020 outage soon finishing, the 2021 spring outage season is now on the planning board. The SSMRC has 45% of the national nuclear maintenance outages this season, with nine outages currently scheduled. I will not go into details at this time as the information I have attained is tentative and will surely change before the outages begin. Four of the nine outages are scheduled to start between mid-March and early April. No one can predict how COVID-19 will be affecting the nation then, and I am sure utility companies will take the virus into consideration, as they did this fall.
The scheduled outages are (listed in order of start date): Hatch, Riverbend, Browns Ferry, St. Lucie, South Texas Project (STP), Farley, Catawba, Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO), and Sequoyah.
The first question most of you probably have in mind is: “Which jobs can I take to work two outages this season?” I am glad to see there will be some opportunity for this, and working with the schedules, along with logistics, I will do my best, as always, to be fair to all.
Be mindful Browns Ferry is scheduled for a major upgrade, and we will be completing the last mono-block upgrade at Catawba this season. These are both high-profile outages, and the manpower requirements at Browns Ferry will be over one hundred.
Because manpower availability was an issue in the fall, training level was not highly scrutinized. Our employers and utility partners are paying closer attention to craft training and qualifications/certifications for their outages this season. If there is one thing I would stress you do during this seasonal break, it's training, training, training. For those new to the industry or new to the brotherhood, I have listed some recommended training courses below. If you are a tenured member, please attain, check, and update all your skills training with expiration dates. Now is the time to do! You can find a list of classes offered across the SSMRC's jurisdiction here. Your training level could make the difference in whether you are referred to an outage!
Suggested classes:
- UBC 40 Hour Rigging Certification (Journeyman or upper level apprentice)
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Signaler Qualification (Journeymen or upper level apprentice)
- Hytorc Certification
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OSHA 10 (minimum)
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Forklift (Industrial and Rough Terrain)
- Human Performance
- Turbine Familiarization
Note: If you have a current CDL (commercial driver’s license), please email me at dbonds@ssmrc4070.org.
– David Bonds, SSMRC nuclear representative
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Get to know Robert Jeffers, a new business agent for Local 2411 in North Florida |
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Robert Jeffers began serving as a business agent for Local 2411 in North Florida on Aug. 28. Jeffers is learning from Paul French, who has been Local 2411's business agent since 2008 and will retire Dec. 31.
"Robbie Jeffers brings to the table a can-do attitude, energy, and a willingness to pick up the torch from Paul French," said Logan Brown, SSMRC Eastern Region director. "Mr. Jeffers has an excellent relationship with the members of Local 2411 and its contractor base. I have high expectations of Mr. Jeffers to continue to operate and grow the local."
Read a Q&A with Jeffers here. |
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Happy Apprenticeship Week! |
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It's National Apprenticeship week in the United States. If you are an apprentice, we want you to know how much we appreciate you. If you are a journeyman, please make a special effort to mentor apprentices on your jobsite this week. They are the future of our trade! Let's all celebrate Apprenticeship Week by spreading the word about the earn-while-you-learn opportunity and the excellent pay and benefits a union millwright career offers and by encouraging others to join us. Here's a link you can share.
Check our social media channels this week for videos featuring apprentices across the SSMRC.
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At age 75, Joey Hildreth is working 10-hour days and promoting the millwright trade to other women |
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After Joey Hildreth began working as a millwright in 1974, she didn’t see another female millwright on a jobsite for at least four years. But that didn’t shake her confidence in her career choice.
“It wasn’t a bed of roses,” she said. “In the beginning, people loved or hated me. Now I have everybody’s respect. I earned it by working hard, doing my job, and not asking others to do it for me.”
Hildreth’s background prepared her to work in a “man’s world.” Her mother was an airplane mechanic at Courtland Army Airfield in Alabama during World War II, and she grew up as the only girl in a family with four children. Her father and two of her brothers were millwrights. Click here to read more about Joey Hildreth. |
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Charlotte, North Carolina, training center nears completion |
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After a year of construction, the new millwrights and carpenters training center in Charlotte, North Carolina, is nearing completion. The most recent work includes electrical wiring, plumbing-fixture caulking, painting, and installing of drop ceilings.
The new training center sits on 6 acres the Southeastern Carpenters Training Trust Fund purchased in 2018 with help from a $300,000 grant from the Southern States Millwright Regional Council. The council also donated a new conveyor/monorail system and the dual-robot cell. Read more here.
See additional photos and keep up with construction progress here. |
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Three generations of the Sewall family working at Florida jobsite |
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Three generations of union millwrights are at work at a Siemens jobsite in Florida. From left are: Ricky Sewall (a Millwright Local 216 apprentice), Brian S. Sewall (Ricky’s father and a Millwright Local 1192 member), and Brian Sewall (Ricky’s grandfather and a Millwright Local 1607 member). |
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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 Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, 2020. |
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Local 216:
Chris Carrigan
Kendrek Hawkins
Local 1000
Tami Flint
Local 1192:
Mitchell Howton
Caleb Burleson
William Stewart
Brandon Shelton
Justin Stephens
Eric Scott
Local 1421:
Jose Narvaez
Thurman Purnell
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Local 2232:
Justin Benwill
Timothy Bryant
Bryon Chunn
Kyle Davis
Hudley Owens
Richard Springer
Local 1554
Colton Blair
Chad Bouldin
Esther Freeman
Jon Gronbeck
Quincy Mills
Cale Newberry
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New honorary members who recently reached 50 years of service are: |
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Local 1421:
Douglas Baker
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The SSMRC grieves the loss of the following members, who passed away between Sept. 12 and Oct. 21, 2020. |
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Local 1263:
Randy G. Casey Jr.
(7 years of service)
James A. Thain
(12 years of service)
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Local 216:
(12 years of service)
Local 2232:
Jeffrey Saroz
(39 years of service)
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UBC Constitution changes based on convention voting |
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At the 42nd General Convention of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (our parent organization), delegates approved a number of amendments and changes to the UBC Constitution.
See the bulletin here for a summary of significant changes. The amendments were effective beginning Oct. 1, 2020 unless otherwise stated. |
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Please help us raise funds for a Miracle League field in Nashville |
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Please help the SSMRC support the Miracle League of Music City, which has launched a year-end campaign to raise the final $250,000 needed to break ground on on the $2 million Miracle League Complex.
This special rubberized field is the first in Nashville and will allow people of all ages and abilities the chance to play baseball! The complex will the field, restrooms, concession stand and playground, all 100% handicap accessible!
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With coronavirus cases surging, please take precautions to protect yourself, your family, and your co-workers |
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COVID-19 cases are increasing dramatically in most parts of the United States, including the South. The 7-day moving average of new cases nationwide is more than 110,000, which is more than double what it was a month ago. Public health experts say that number could double again before the end of the year. See COVID-19 updates here, the risk level in your area here, and the Centers for Disease Control's precautions page here.
With cases spiking, we are again urging all members to take the COVID-19 Preparedness Qualification online course. If you complete the 15-minute course and successfully pass the quiz, this qualification will be in your training history and listed on your Training Verification Card.
To access the course, follow the instructions below that apply to you.
If you don’t currently have a carpenters.org account:
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Log in or create an account by clicking in the “Members: Update Your Contact Information” box here: https://www.carpenters.org/resource-hub/for-our-members/. Please use the email address our council has listed for you in Personify. If you are not sure of this email address, contact your business agent.
- Verify your account via email.
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Visit https://ubc-citf.carpenters.org/ and click “Log in with Carpenters.org.” (Don’t use the main log-in boxes on this page.) If you create an account and cannot immediately access courses, wait about an hour and try again.
If you already have an account:
If you have trouble logging in, contact your local training center. Find contact information here.
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Get the SSMRC Member E-News and other information via text |
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