FISHING TOURNAMENTs

USW LOCAL 7135 SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Our social activities are growing for our members enjoyment. We have expanded our sports programs, as
well as other social event such as fishing tournaments, golf tournaments, and are working on develping
more family related annual events such as picnics and day trips to parks and other locations. We will keep
you informed of these events as they are comming up.
JUNE 2015 NEWSLETTER
We now have Canadas Wonderland ticket availible at the Union Hall, and the offer of a two day enterance
pass for $55.00 has been presented to our members. There is more information on the advertisment in this
newsletter.
We are currently looking for some key personel volinteers to help out with these events, and are now
working on our Labour Day BBQ. If you are interested in volunteering with the Social Committee, please
contact joe Paquette for more information.
USW BASEBALL TEAM
We are now booked in two SPN Tournaments in July. The Slammer in the Hammer
on July 4th-5th, and the Save Second base (for Breast Cancer) on July 18th- 19th. We
are still looking for a couple of players to fill out two rosters, so if you’re interested,
contact Ross Sarullo in the QA department or joe.paquette@usw7135.ca.
USW HOCKEY TEAM
Our ice hockey team is coming along, and we have a great
group of guys playing every Sunday at the Hamilton quad
pad arena. We are playing in a union run league, and there
are two other teams from different Steelworker Locals in
our area. You can look up our teams schedule at the Civic
Employees Hockey League (CEHL) website under summer
league, Steelworker Canucks. Come and check us out on
Sunday evenings.
FISHING TOURNAMENTs
I have received many phone calls and questions as to when our
next fishing derby will be. Bills bait and tackle are working out
a Bass tournament now for July, and we will be running a
salmon derby in early September.. Keep an eye out for more
information soon,
Or for more information, contact Joe Paquette.
I would like to start this report by thanking all the people that supported me for the position of President
in the Executive elections, and I will assure the membership that this Executive remains committed to
serving our members in a professional and reliable manner.
P-1 and P-5 lines are currently good until the end of October 2015. It was reported to us at the last Union
Management meeting that there have been slow downs on this car type for orders due to the price of oil,
being so low right now, and the costs that are associated with pulling the oil from the sands, as well as
the issues that the governments are having making final decisions on the tank car Safety upgrades, and
time lines on the service life of these rail cars. It looks like these concerns are being finalised soon, and
the inquiries for these cars are starting to come in now, so it still looks positive for these cars, and we are
expecting more orders soon.
P-2 is currently running Hopper cars, and will change over to potash cars during the shutdown, and will
remain steady and run with some minor changeovers to various car sizes until well into 2016.
P-3 will be running Pellet cars, and will remain steady and run with some minor change overs until well
into 2016.
P-7 will continue running Well car until the end of November 2016.
We have been informed that our vacation pays will be out on July 17th, 2015.
The Hot weather season is here. Please take care when working in the heat. In this newsletter, there is a
safety article about working in the heat for your information. Please take the time to educate yourself on
the facts of working in the heat for your own protection, and report any symptoms of heat exhaustion to
your supervisor and medical department immediately.
We have had discussions with the company pertaining to the new punch clocks, and will be receiving
information from the manufacturer and supplier on these clocks. We will inform the membership of our
findings as soon as we finish our investigation in this matter.
Don’t forget that the golf tournament is coming up this month on June 27 th. Please get your money in,
and I have been told that there is still room for registration. Don’t miss out on a great time. More
information can be found on the advertisement in this newsletter.
Please stay away from the stairway in the prep lunchroom, and respect our non-smoking members.
In Solidarity,
Steve Weller
RAILCAR
MANUFACTURING
NEWS
Rail traffic: Intermodal gain offsets carload decline
In reporting weekly U.S. rail traffic, as well as volumes for April 2015 and the first four months of 2015, the
Association of American Railroads took note of how growth in intermodal traffic offsetting declines in several
types of carl oad traffic. The net result is traffic that is relatively flat.
“The federal government recently announced that its initial estimate of first quarter GDP growth was just 0.2%. Based
on rail traffic in April, we aren’t seeing a surge in economic activity to start the second quarter,” said AAR Senior Vice
President John T. Gray.
Railway association welcomes Canada-U.S. harmonized
tank car standard
OTTAWA, May 1, 2015 – The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) welcomes the harmonized rail tank car standard
introduced today by Canada’s transport minister and the United States transportation secretary.
“We believe that harmonization and consistency between Canadian and U.S. tank car requirements is important to
ensure a safe and efficient rail transportation system in North America,” said Michael Bourque, President and CEO of
RAC. “A speedy transition to a safer means of containment – the TC-117 tank car – is the most important safety
measure we can take to ensure the safe transport of dangerous goods.”
Canada’s railways take safety very seriously. The railway industry has advocated for more robust tank car standards
including increased shell thickness, jacket protection, and full-height head shields to protect the car from puncturing,
among other safety features. The RAC participated in consultations on the new harmonized standard, filing comments
with Transport Canada, and with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through its
membership on the Association of American Railroads’ Tank Car Committee.
Through their common carrier obligation, railways in Canada are required to move dangerous goods, including crude
oil, by law under the Canada Transportation Act.
Rail customers and leasing companies own the vast majority of tank cars, and are responsible for updating and
retrofitting their tank car fleets.
New Transport Canada rail safety rules move way too slowly
Here is what Transport Canada knows:
That the average train derailment in Canada and the United States involving crude oil costs the rail industry $13.2million;
That the most expensive such derailment to date, the one in Lac-Mégantic, Que., in 2013, with its loss of 47 lives and
the annihilation of the heart of a small town, cost the industry $1.5-billion (or would have, if industry had to pay all the
costs);
That new Transport Canada regulations on tank-car construction that phase in over 10 long years will cost the rail
industry a tad more than $1-billion;
Therefore, if the regulations prevent 3.8 “average” spills per year for the next 20 years, or one “high-consequence
incident” like Lac-Mégantic, then, by golly, the industry is going to come out ahead.
There are still limited spots available in this tournament
Steelworker Local 7135 Announcements
We are very proud to announce the retirement of
Brother Victor Willams. Brother Willams has been a
proud member of our local for 20 years, and has worked
in the Paint and Blast as a Technician. On behalf of the
Executive personnel, and our members, we wish him
well in his new endeavors, and the best of luck in his
future.
This breakdown is available in a regulatory impact analysis prepared by Transport Canada. The report categorically
states that Canada will experience more derailments, explosions and spills involving crude oil, because the business of
transporting crude by rail is booming.
The boom is also why Transport Canada, simultaneously with the U.S. Department of Transport, is phasing in its new
tank-car regulations over 10 years. There are 80,000 of the notoriously unsafe tank cars that crashed in Lac-Mégantic
still in service in the U.S. and Canada, and they will continue to carry crude until they are phased out in May 2017.
By 2025, after more phase-outs of older designs, all tank cars carrying crude oil will meet the latest crash standards.
The U.S. will also require enhanced brakes on tank cars by 2021, a regulation Canada is not matching at this point.
What does this mean for Canadians? It means that they have to share the cost of making the rail industry safer over
the next 10 years. Their share will likely be paid in environmental damage, evacuations and possibly worse.
Is it a fair trade-off? No. The slow progress of the regulations only benefits industry. Transport Canada and its U.S.
counterpart should have demanded quicker change.
We sadly announce the passing of Brother Rick
Millan. Brother Millan passed away suddenly on May
18th, 2015. Brother Millan worked in the Pipefitting
department of National steel Car for the past 4 years,
and was a proud Steelworker for over 20 years.
Brother Millan will be missed by his coworkers, and
on behalf of our executive and members, we wish his
family, friends and loved ones our sympathies.
PENSION UPDATE
We have received our latest Quarterly Pension report as per our collective, and are reporting
these payments as being received, and verified from through CIBC Mellon.
Please keep in mind that this is only a quarterly report, and not the plan report. This report
covers the payments made for the quarterly period of December 2015 to February 2015 only.
MONTH
CURRENT SERVICE COST
SPECIAL PAYMENTS
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
DECEMBER
$471,599.00
$500,000.00
$971,599.00
JANUARY
$473,828.00
$500,000.00
$973,828.00
FEBRUARY
$474,210.00
$500,000.00
$974,210.00
CURRENT SERVICE COST TOTAL
SPECIAL PAYMENTS TOTAL
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS
$ 1,419,637.00
$1,500,000.00
$2,919,637.00
We are reporting that all negotiated payments for this Hourly Employee Pension Plan are
current, and up to date.
Instead, they have told the rail industry that there is an acceptable amount of loss and mayhem that will be borne by
everyone else. And that’s not good enough.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the railway companies have said they cannot afford
to upgrade their rolling stock quickly, much of which is old. In fact, the railways do not own the vast majority of the
stock.
RAILWAY FACTOIDS
Railroad tracks.
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the
US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who
built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. Why did ‘they’ use that gauge then? Because the
people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that
wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing,
the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the
wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including
England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots
formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots
were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard
railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder ‘What horse’s ass came up with this?,
you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends
of two war horses. (Two horses’ asses.)
Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the
main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The
engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by
train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the
mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the
railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of
what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by
the width of a horse’s ass. And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important?
The 3rd Annual Steve Mesic Memorial Ride
Brother Mesic was a well-respected member of our Local for 20 years, and worked
at National Steel Car as a locomotive operator. He was a wonderful man with a great
sense of humor and a big heart. Those who knew him, knew that he was always
ready to lend a hand and was fiercely loyal to those he cared about. He was well
known within the Greater Hamilton area, especially within the Croatian, health and
fitness and motorcycle enthusiast communities.
Hazards Of Summer Heat
The human body is usually good at maintaining its ideal temperature of 37°C. At any time of year and in
various circumstances, the body produces heat from muscle use and prevents overheating by sweating. In
extreme temperatures however, when the air is as hot, or hotter than the body, the cooling mechanisms don't
work. When the body can no longer cool itself properly, a number of heat-related health problems may occur.
Heat stroke and heat exhaustion are the most serious health illnesses caused by hot environments, and a real
danger to people who work outside in the summer. Without immediate medical attention, heat stroke can be
fatal. In previous years, people have died at work of heat stroke in occupations ranging from agriculture
workers to football players. Heat exhaustion and fainting are other less harmful heat-related health risks that
can cause temporary illness.
Know the warning signs
Heat stroke victims usually don't recognize their own symptoms. Their survival therefore depends on their coworkers' abilities to detect symptoms and seek first aid and medical help immediately.
While the symptoms vary from person to person, they include dry, hot skin (due to failure to sweat), a body
temperature often exceeding 41°C, and complete or partial loss of consciousness.
Signs of heat exhaustion (caused by loss of body water through excessive sweating) include heavy sweating,
weakness, dizziness, visual disturbances, intense thirst, nausea, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle
cramps, breathlessness, palpitations, tingling and numbness of the hands and feet.
How to prevent health problems from overheating
Avoid sun exposure. Move some tasks indoors or into the shade. When that's not possible, erect a
temporary shelter. Take frequent breaks in a cool or well-ventilated area to get out of the sun and heat.
Don't be afraid to sweat. Sweating is the body's most effective cooling mechanism. The cooling occurs as
sweat evaporates. In some cases a fan can be used to move cool air into a room and help keep body
temperatures down.
Become acclimatized. Don't take on strenuous activities too soon if you're not accustomed to the heat. It
can take six to seven days for the body to fully adapt (or acclimatize) to a new thermal environment. Ease
into your tasks gradually, taking frequent breaks from the heat as needed. It is advisable to assign about half
of the normal workload to new employees or those back from vacations or illnesses on the first day of work
and gradually increase day by day.
Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water - frequently (equivalent of about one litre every hour) - in hot weather
conditions whether you feel thirsty or not to replace the fluid loss. Avoid consuming caffeine and alcohol,
which can dehydrate you.
Clothing. For protection from the sun and heat when working outside, cover up as much as possible with
loose-fitting clothes made of a light fabric that "breathes". When you work in the sun without a shirt or hat,
the sun dries your sweat too quickly and prevents it from cooling the body. Clothes give sweat a chance to
cool the body, and help protect the skin from the sun's harmful rays.
Emergency Action Plan. An emergency plan should include procedures for providing affected workers with
first aid and medical care. Workplaces where heat stress can occur should monitor conditions and ensure that
workers get specified rest periods dependent on the measured heat levels. The Threshold Limit Values for
Heat Stress and Strain, produced by the ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists)
offers guidelines to determine when the weather should have no effect on outdoor workers, when caution
should be exercised and when work should be discontinued.
Brother Mesic was tragically shot and killed by the Hamilton Police on June 7th, 2013.
His passing was entirely too soon and has left many unanswered questions.
This annual memorial ride will be held rain or shine, on June 20 th, 2015, and will
start at Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton Ontario, in the parking lot closest to the Lincoln
M. Alexander Parkway.
Registration will begin at 10:30 am and kickstands up at 12:00 noon.
The Rally will end up at the Suck Bang Blow Restaurant and bar in Stoney Creek, and there will be live entertainment
provided by “The Whole Dam Family” and Blake Halliday. There will also be a best burnout Contest, and venders on
site.
There will also be good food and cold drinks all at a reasonable prices. A guest appearance by Jeff Joslin, former UFC
fighter, and many more events for the day.
This ride is free, however, donations for those with mental illnesses, and Brother Mesics son would be accepted and
appreciated, and all types of vehicles all welcome, so come out and support a great cause.
USW Local 7135 is a proud sponsor /supporter of this event, and invite our members to join us at this ride.
Lotto-649 Elimination Draw
Here is how it works:
1. You pick 6 numbers between 1-49 and pay $5.00.
2. Draw begins on the 2nd Wednesday in July and ends as soon as someone has all their selected numbers drawn.
3. Whatever the numbers are that are drawn will be used to cross out your numbers. The 1st person who has all their numbers
crossed out will be the winner.
4. We will use the numbers drawn on both Wednesday and Saturday nights, Bonus number included. REMINDER YOU ARE NOT
ACTUALLY PURCHASING A LOTTO TICKET FOR THE DRAW! Just using the numbers drawn to try and eliminate yours.
5. Please feel free to enter as many times as you like. Share it with others too.
Please send me your 6 numbers at joe.paquette@usw7135.ca. or see your shop Steward. We will be distributing an excel sheet
with everyone's numbers once the due date has passed, and this can be followed on our website.
In the event that 2 or more people happen to have their remaining numbers eliminated in the same draw they will split the pot
accordingly. The prize is 50% of the proceeds collected. Monies Raised is going to support the USW Local 7135 SOCIAL
COMMITTEE, and will be used to fund family events for our members.
These registration sheets will be given to all Shop Stewards soon.
Good Luck and thanks again for your support.
2nd Annual Mike Cirino Memorial Charity Perch Derby
Bayfront Park in Hamilton.
Thank you to everyone who came out to fish, volunteers, sponsors, donors and
everyone who supported us. Thanks to your support, we raised $ 1,746.00 to go to
Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. We really want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of
your members who donated to the cause, as this event would not have been
possible without you.
The weather was gorgeous and we had over 200 people come out to fish! There
were those who fished along the edge of the lake, and many who went out in
boats. The winning perch came in at 0.6 lbs for the Adult division for the big grand
prize of $1,000, caught by Christie Theobald. The Winning perch from the
Children’s division also came in at 0.6 lbs, caught by Bailey Forest. Fishing was
very tough and only 2 fish were weighted in! We also had a 50/50 draw and many
raffle prizes, so make sure you join us again next year! The raffle prize table
included gift cards, fishing rods, fishing nets, fishing knives and other fishing gear.
Every child went home with a prize.
Thank you Local 7135 for your support.
Bill’s Bait and Tackle
Event Sponsors
Tim Hortons
United Steelworkers 7135
Locke Street Bagel Mobile
Odyssey Hair Salon
Nicole Lord
Rita Italiano
Mr. Heater
Triple S Sporting Goods
Phenix Tackle
Father’s Day Sale
Blue Fox fillet
Knives $9.99
Polarized Glasses
-$9.99
Rapala Lures
$5.99
Breathable
Waders $99.99
Noodle Rods $49.99
Matrix Reel $59.99
Brothers and Sisters, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as a new USW Local 7135
compensation representative, and to let you know that I am in the office on Thursdays & Fridays.
If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact our local union office. It is important to our local,
that all our members be treated with dignity and respect. When dealing with Compensation issues you have
a right to be represented by a Union Compensation Representative. Try not to deal with issues by yourself, as
often times, information will be misunderstood or improperly reported. We are here to help and assist our
members through these difficult and stressful times.
As you are aware, we have moved our offices to 1031 Barton Street East on the second floor. If you have any
trouble with stairs, please contact us prior to you coming in, as we have conference rooms available for us
on the main floor by appointment only.
To the Brothers and Sisters who have any unresolved issues please contact us. Time limits on appeals must
be met. Please do not assume anything, always make sure that your claim is being dealt with.
Paul Mathieson
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Go to www.usw7135.ca and click on Login.
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7. You have now arrived in the membership area of our website.
USW Local 7135 has two teams
entered into this tournament, and
we look forward to participating in
this great event that will raise well
needed
money
for
the
lung
association of Canada. Our teams
are called the Steelworker chiefs,
and the schedule for this event will
be online by June 10th. Come on out
and support your USW Ball Hockey
teams & the Lung Association