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ISSue No. 218NeWSLetteRMARCH-APRIL 2019LOCAL No. 68 UNION MEETINGSThe next Union meeting in Houston will be held on May 9, 2019 at 6:00 pm at 502 Link Road inHouston, Texas.*Please turn cell phones off, or on vibrate and remove all hats before Union meetings begin.*PLUMBERS LOCAL UNION NO. 68 OFFICER NOMINATIONS / ELECTIONSOn May 9, 2019 at the regular scheduled union meeting, nominations for officers will be held. Section 121 of the United AssociationConstitution states that no member shall be eligible to be nominated for office in any Local Union unless he shall be a Journeymanmember and shall have been a member of the United Association and the Local Union in good standing for at least a period of two (2)years immediately prior to the election. Any journeyman member who owes or has paid a reinstatement fee within a period of two (2)years immediately prior to the date of election shall not be eligible to be nominated for office in any Local Union.Persons nominating candidates for office must be journeyman members or apprentice members who have successfully completed theirthird apprenticeship year at the time of making such nomination. In addition, such persons must be in good standing at the time ofmaking such nomination.Election days and locations are as follows:Thursday, June 6, 2019Friday, June 7, 2019Saturday, June 8, 2019Saturday, June 8, 2019Saturday, June 8, 2019Saturday, June 8, 20194:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Houston Union Hall4:00 pm to 8:00 pm - Houston Union Hall8:00 am to 5:00 pm - Houston Union Hall8:00 am to 12:00 pm - 4841 Leopard St. - Corpus Union Hall8:00 am to 12:00 pm - 695 Chamberlain St - Beaumont Union Hall8:00 am to 12:00 pm - 3232 Briarcrest Drive, Room 108 in BryanHOT DOG NITEPlumbers Local 68’s AnnualHot Dog Nite was held at theunion meeting on April 11th.Those in attendance enjoyedJames Coney Island hot dogs,chips and drinks.Plumbers Local Union #68 Newsletterwww.plu68.comMarch-April 2019

CONTRACT CHANGES EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2019The Rio Grande Valley Contract was voted on and passed by the membership to accept the following:Rename the Collective Bargaining Agreement from Rio Grande Valley to Coastal BendARtICLe IV – eCoNoMIC PACKAGeJOURNEYMAN: 1.00 per hour Cash Wage increase .10 per hour to Working Assessment .40 per hour to Insurance ( .20 for Provisional classification) .05 per hour to Apprentice Training FundApprentices hourly cash wage shall be based on a percentage of the cash wage paid to Journeyman, which are as follows:1st Period change from 55% to 60%2nd Period change from 61% to 65%3rd Period change from 66% to 70%WAGE OPENERS To be effective 4/1/2020,4th Period change from 72% to 75%5th Period change from 78% to 80%4/1/2021,4/1/2022ARtICLe XIX - teRRItoRIAL JuRIDICtIoNSection 34 –Rename 34 (a)Add Section 34 (b) –The following counties may be removed from this agreement for the purpose of forming a new contractual agreement: Brooks,Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Star, Willacy and Zapata. The Union will give the signatory contractors of the CoastalBend Agreement thirty days notice prior to the implementation of the new agreement comprised of the previously listed counties.ARtICLe XXVI - DuRAtIoNFour-year agreement, effective April 1, 2019 and continue until March 31, 2023CITY ELECTIONSThe following candidates have been endorsed by the Committee on Political Education for the upcoming city elections.eLeCtIoN DAY IS SAtuRDAY, MAY 4, 2019City of PasadenaDistrict A – Felipe VillarrealDistrict B – Bruce LeamonDistrict C – Don HarrisonDistrict D – Sammy CasadosDistrict E – Cody Ray WheelerDistrict F – Phil CaytenDistrict G – Cary BassDistrict H – Thomas SchoenbeinCity of DickinsonPosition 2 – Sean SkipworthPosition 6 – William King IIIDickinson ISDDistrict 5 – Rhonda HartCollege of the MainlandPosition 4 – Dawn KingPlumbers Local Union #68 NewsletterCity of StaffordMayor – AJ HonorePosition 1 – Alice ChenStafford MSDAt-Large – Ash HamiraniAt-Large – Greg HolsappleCity of SugarlandDistrict 1 – Mohammad “Jazz” AijazDistrict 2 – Nabila MansoorFort Bend ISDPosition 3 – Jim RicePosition 5 – Allison DrewPosition 7 – Ferrel BonnerPearland ISDPosition 5 – Dona Kim MurpheyPosition 6 – Joseph SayPosition 7 – Al LloydCity of BeaumontMayor - Becky AmesWard 1 -Taylor NeildWard 2 – Jefferson FisherAt-Large – William R. Sam, Sr.Port of BeaumontAt-Large – Joseph “Tulue” Egland, Sr.City of NederlandMayor – Jeff OrtizWard 4 – David GuillotLamar CISDDistrict 4 – Sofia SheikhDistrict 7 – Alex HuntPage 2March-April 2019

RAFFLE WINNERSCongratulations to those members who won a Plumbers Local Union 68 Knife, Rockets, Dynamo, Sabercats, UH Basketball, or Rodeo ticketsat the March union meeting in Houston are: Ivan Torres, Andrew Martinez, Aaron Rodriguez, Carlos Rodriguez, Deric Perry, HaleyErnsting, Rodolfo Cantu, Johnny Benitez, Felix Nieves, Charles Stanley, Gerardo Hernandez, Ismael Hernandez, Agustin Ibarra, CesarLorenzo, Lillian Ramirez, Jason Maldonaldo, Joshua Vasquez, Tommy Gray, Benjamin Rubio, Victor Garcia, Manuel Gutierrez, AlexisMartinez, John Mata, Broderick Grissett, Ricardo Molina, Jorge Galvan, and Keith Coffin.Congratulations to those members who won a Plumbers Local Union 68 Knife or t-shirt at the March union meeting in Corpus Christiwere: Chris Craddock, Elisa Caballero, James McMinn, Aaron Ortiz, Kevin Holder, Mark Davidson, Jesus Prezas, Eli Salazar andAlbert Valent.Congratulations to those members who won Astros tickets, Dynamo tickets, Sabercats tickets, or a PLU 68 knife were: Tony Renfro,Wilbert Cernosek, Luis Godinez, Enid Thomas, Ricardo Ponce, Tam Mai, Tommy Gray, Kyle Ernsting, David Gillis, Joseph Bell,Mark Obregon, Brian Phipps, Rigoberto Zuniga, Victor Garcia, Ricardo Molina, Hector Ojeda, Deric Perry, Manuel Gutierrez, andJim Dixon.Plumbers Local Union #68 NewsletterPage 3March-April 2019

NEW INITIATESCongratulations to the newest members of Plumbers Local 68 who were initiated in March. Those initiates were Journeymen:Donald Flippo and Jack Washington. Apprentice initiates were: Nicholas Becerra, Samuel Delacruz, Joshua Flores, CarlosMendez, Quindarin Taylor and Cory Witkowski.Congratulations to the newest members of Plumbers Local Union 68 who were initiated in March at the Corpus Christi quarterlymeeting. Journeyman initiate was: Jesse Jones. Apprentice initiates were Andrew Hinojosa and Loren Wicke.Congratulations to the newest members of Plumbers Local 68 who were initiated in April. Those initiates were Journeymen VincentLenford and Lorenzo Luna. Apprentice initiates were Joseph Bell and Otto Yavita-Arteaga.FROM THE DESK OF BUSINESS AGENT CHATO WOODARDIf you are interested in Plumbing Service, please contact BusinessAgent, Brother Chato Woodard at (713) 869-3592. It will help ifyou have a resume to submit to him with the experience you haveso he is able to forward it to any service contractors that arelooking to hire. This applies to both Journey Workers andApprentices.FROM THE DESK OF BUSINESS AGENT JEFFREY LABROSKIIf you are a member out of work and you live in the Bryan/College Station area, please contact Brother Jeffrey LaBroski at 713-8693592 or ski@plu68.com.2019 ANNUAL SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT – HOUSTONWe will be hosting our annual Saltwater Fishing Tournament starting Friday, May 3, 2019 with weigh in and lunch served onSaturday, May 4, 2019. It will be held in San Leon, Texas.Plumbers Local Union #68 NewsletterPage 4March-April 2019

CITY OF HOUSTON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS BOARD VACANCIESBelow you will find information regarding the different committeesthat need to be filled within the city of Houston. If you are interested,need more further information or wanting an application, COPEChairman, Brother Rick Lord can be reached at the union hall (713)869-3592.Houston Clean City Committee: (Looking for about 5 individuals)POSITIONS:Positions 1 & 2: filled by professional engineers registered bythe State of texas who are actively engaged in the design ofplumbing ul.org/Positions 3 & 4: filled by duly licensed master plumbers.Houston Recovery Center: (Looking for 1 person)Position 5: filled by a degreed engineer who is in the employof a local gas utility 131b5903a652/boards/14210Position 6: filled by a member at large.Commission on Disabilities: (Looking for 3 31b5903a652/boards/14089The majority of TIRZs will be filled in the coming months. For these,COH prefers individuals who live in the TIRZ, followed by peoplewho own land or businesses in the TIRZ. COH then considersindividuals who live right next to the odev/tirz.htmlMore information on City of Houston Boards & Commissions isavailable on their webpage www.houstontx.gov/boards.NOTE: If applying for any of these positions, please notify theHCLA BCC by email to www.gcaflcio.org/officeCity of Houston Plumbers Code Review Board Vacancies2-27-19Positions 2,3,5, and 6 will be available for new members.MEMBERS:6 members appointed by the Mayor and approved by CityCouncil and 1 member designated [as a] City Departmentrepresentative.Position 7: Chief Plumbing Inspector for the City of Houston.TERM: The terms of office for the appointees to Positions Nos. 1, 3,and 5 shall expire on the second day of January of odd-numberedyears, and the terms of office for the appointees to Positions Nos. 2,4, and 6 shall expire on the second day of January of even numberedyears; however, each member shall continue in office until his/herrespective successor shall have been appointed and qualified.CHAIRPERSON: Appointed by the Mayor.QUORUM: A majority of the members.COMPENSATION: Each member of the Board shall receive 50.00for each meeting he/she attends at which a quorum is present;provided, however, those members who are employees of thisjurisdiction will be paid only for those meetings they attend that areneither held during nor continue beyond their regular working hours.Members shall not be compensated for more than three meetings inany one calendar month.More information on City of Houston Boards & Commissions isavailable on their webpage www.houstontx.gov/boards.NOTE: If applying for any of these positions, please notify theHCLA BCC by email to www.gcaflcio.org/officePLUMBERS LOCAL UNION NO. 68 SCHOLARSHIPSChairman Brother Jeff LaBroski and your Community Improvement Committee are pleased to announce the 2019 Scholarshipapplications will be available starting Monday, April 29, 2019 and will be due back by 4:30 pm Friday, June 21, 2019. Scholarshipapplications will be available for pick up only at the Houston Union Hall or you can call 713-869-3592 and request to have an applicationmailed to you. To be eligible for a scholarship you must be a:*Eligibility will follow Plumbers Local Union 68 Health and Welfare Fund plan rules when referring to spouses and dependents.Dependent child of member*Current MemberSpouse of Member*PAYING YOUR DUESMembers can now pay union dues online by logging in to themembers only section at www.plu68.com. If you have not used thesite before, you must register to have access to the credit cardportal. The payment system is for dues only and you must be ingood standing. If you have become delinquent (owing 4 or moremonths), you will not be able to make a payment online.Plumbers Local Union #68 NewsletterIn accordance with the By-Laws, payments for the current monthcan be made until 4:30 pm on the last day of the month. The creditcard portal will then be shut down for processing. Call theFinancial Secretary office at the union hall if you have questionsor website issues.Page 5March-April 2019