We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is.
The USW International has made it mandatory to cancel all meetings due to the COVID-19 virus. There will be no meeting for the month af April. We will update as soon as the USW gives us approval to start holding meetings again.
The USW International has made it mandatory to cancel all meetings due to the COVID-19 virus. There will be no meeting for the month af April. We will update as soon as the USW gives us approval to start holding meetings again.
The USW International has made it mandatory to cancel all meetings due to the COVID-19 virus. There will be no meeting for the month af April. We will update as soon as the USW gives us approval to start holding meetings again.
“The idea that has been for years, is that contractors do what they are asked to do and not to ask questions. That idea needs to change and we plan to keep working on this change.”
“The idea that has been for years, is that contractors do what they are asked to do and not to ask questions. That idea needs to change and we plan to keep working on this change.”
“These positions make bringing safety issues and concerns forward easier for a lot of people,” Bourgeois said. “Maybe employees don’t feel comfortable bringing their concerns to company safety members, or they feel like nothing will happen if they do because it was brought up many times. So that’s where we step in, we have built relationships with the employees in the field over many years. Employees trust and feel comfortable talking to us. At the end of the day we all, contractors and company employees (USW members), need to safely return home to our loved ones.”
“These positions make bringing safety issues and concerns forward easier for a lot of people,” Bourgeois said. “Maybe employees don’t feel comfortable bringing their concerns to company safety members, or they feel like nothing will happen if they do because it was brought up many times. So that’s where we step in, we have built relationships with the employees in the field over many years. Employees trust and feel comfortable talking to us. At the end of the day we all, contractors and company employees (USW members), need to safely return home to our loved ones.”
In the fall of 2019, Operations, Maintenance, Safety and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local Union 13-750 worked together to safely execute a ram pump job on the H-Oil unit.
What is a ram pump job?
A ram pump is a manually-operated hydraulic pump which uses diesel-type material to assist in unplugging piping, tubing or other connections plugged from process operations. The ram pump equipment hooks up to process equipment through a threaded connection to use hydraulic pressure to free up plugged equipment. The ram pump equipment pumps small amounts of fluid into the plugged piping/tubing which pressures up the line and attempts to clear obstruction from the process equipment. Ram pumping is periodically done on H-Oil, as H-Oil is a heavy oil conversion unit.
The task to be performed consisted of using the ram pump equipment to unplug an instrument tap located at the top deck of the Train 200H-Oil Reactor. This instrument tap supplies a reading to a transmitter which reads a differential pressure across a grid bed in the reactor. This pressure differential transmitter is a key monitoring point to assist with forecasting the safe operation of the Reactor. This instrument tap and tubing runs from the top to the bottom of the reactor and operates at a high pressure and temperature. The task of ram pumping at the top of the Reactor presents many hazards to be addressed prior to beginning permitted work. During pre-job walks conducted by the field operators and maintenance crafts, they identified high temperature, high pressure, zero energy and egress routes as hazards associated with the task. These hazards raised concerns with the field operators and maintenance crafts during the job site walk visit. Operations, Maintenance and the safety representatives from Local 13-750, which include members of the Triangle of Prevention (TOP), Process Safety Management (PSM) and Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) initiatives, escalated the concerns observed by the team in the field to H-Oil supervision. During the conversation between Local 13-750 safety representatives and H-Oil supervision, it was agreed to perform a formal Job Safety Analysis (JSA) to help with identifying the hazards for each job step to ensure a proper mitigation was in place for each identified hazard.
A formal JSA requires everyone involved in a job to be involved in writing the formal JSA, including operators, safety representatives, craftsmen, maintenance supervisors and staff support. This includes the operator writing and issuing the permit, and the craftsperson performing the work. Once everyone is present in the meeting, the group breaks down the job step by step, where hazards are recognized and identified for each step. Once a hazard has been identified at a step, the group does not move on to the next step until that hazard has a mitigation assigned to it. Even the...
Communications are ongoing regarding the issues with the closure of the Main Gate. However, we have made some progress. We have a commitment from management to extend the Main Gate times. Beginning May 8th the Main Gate will be open from 5:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed from 7:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. and on weekends. I realize this may not seem like a big change, but based on gate swipe times, this will allow an additional 600 Employees in and 1,200 Employees out to avoid the bottleneck at the gate during the busiest shift changes. The Company has also agreed to keep 2 lanes open at the East Gate to help with traffic flow. We will continue to meet with the Company regarding the issues which arise during other shift changes.
Grievances have been filed for violations of our incentive plans in areas that have been affected by reduced operations. If you have questions regarding your incentive plan please contact your Zone Griever or the Incentive Committee Chairman.
GM will be reopening their facilities beginning May 18th and Ford has opened 1 facility on April 20th to produce ventilators. However, as of today there are no start up dates for the remaining Ford Motor Co. facilities. Some of the smaller UAW plants have also started up. As more information becomes available, we will be sure to keep you posted.
According to the Roadmap to reopen Indiana, if you are unable to maintain 6 feet of social distancing you must wear a face mask. Masks may be obtained from your Supervisor or Safety Reps. Employees are allowed to bring and wear non-company issued facial coverings provided they do not pose a significant safety risk and do not have offensive graphics or print. Sometime next week management will have the capability to take temperatures of those who are concerned about their temperature.
We hope the Governor’s plan to reopen Indiana is implemented in a safe and successful manner. Please continue to practice good hygiene and social distancing. Once again, thank you for your continued patience during this pandemic. Stay safe and healthy.
In Solidarity, Pete Trinidad Sr. USW Local 6787 President
Local 10-5852 members at the Bettis Atomic Laboratory in West Mifflin, Pa., boosted their health and safety program through new contract language, management participation in the USW’s health and safety conference and training through the USW Tony Mazzocchi Center (TMC).
The four-year contract, which members ratified last fall, includes wage increases in each year of the deal, as well as a ratification bonus, salary adjustments for some job classes and improvement to benefits.
One of the most significant improvements to the contract language covers health and safety. Both parties completely rewrote the health and safety language to address workers’ safety concerns and recognize the joint labor-management health and safety committee.
“Thanks to District 10 and TMC, we are full steam ahead with the USW safety program,” said Local 10-5852 President Dennis Luczak. “Health and safety before the contract was about management making the rules and having all the safety input. Now, we have a monthly joint labor-management safety meeting where we can take our safety concerns.”
He said that contractor management now sees the value in the USW’s health and safety resources. Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC runs the laboratory for the U.S. government-owned research and development facility.
“Our environmental, safety and health managers spoke so highly of all the USW members they met at the union’s health and safety conference last September,” Luczak said.
TMC safety training
The Bettis lab designs and develops nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. It is part of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, a joint U.S. Navy-Department of Energy program. At the West Mifflin site, which is located about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, engineers design everything from reactors to aircraft carriers. The lab was one of the leaders in creating the nuclear navy.
“We still have on our site the first design of nuclear reactors for the residential sector,” Luczak said.
He said the total number of employees is over 2,500 and is growing. Local 10-5852 has 104 members who work in operations and maintenance.
The local underwent safety training last fall. The first day was for union-only training, and focused on improving communication and creating an effective health and safety committee. On the second day, the joint health and safety committee met and learned how to conduct hazard mapping from worker-trainers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The local also plans to send members to the nuclear health and safety representative training that TMC will conduct later this year.
Luczak said he sees a positive change concerning the joint health and safety committee.
“Members know that their safety concerns don’t fall on deaf ears. The committee gets them a result as soon as possible. In addition to the safety committee members, the...
