Local 309 Membership Update: Aug. 9, 2024

Brothers and Sisters,

Here is what was covered at this month’s Union meeting:

  • We’re not going to be having the 10/12/2024 event at Maple Lane Farms. With what the price is going to be, coupled with the very short amount of time we have to plan, we’re going to move the event to the Union Hall. It’ll be a watch party for the Vols game and we will have inflatables, corn hole, tent w/tables, and a couple of food trucks. This will still be the date for the drawing.
  • The company has informed us that Indeavor is going away in every capacity. The bargaining committee will be meeting with them early next week to work on transitioning back to Workbrain. I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of this Union and the solidarity that you showed against this system!!! 
  • This past Friday (8/1/24) we presented the check to Alcoa Baseball for their new fence. This was a very big deal and I have had a huge amount of people reach out to me concerning this and how great it is. Thank you all.
  • This past Tuesday (8/6/24) the NextGen group got together and built a ramp for a shut in senior citizen. They did this in by working with the Blount Count Community Action Agency. Thank you to everyone that was involved in this project.
  • Coming up next week our Women of Steel will be distrubuting hygein bags to the middle schools in Blount County. Great work ladies and thank you to everyone that is helping make this happen.
  • We’ve got a new round of Mini-Arbitrations scheduled and they are: 9/13, 9/20, and 10/1. These all will be over Non-notification for contracting out. 
  • The company covered all the lost wages for the OSHA training that we had at the Union Hall last month.
  • HVAC has recently went out at the Union Hall. The repairs to the unit are going to be $7500. The unit is around 10 years old, so we will be having the company checking the rest of the unit to be sure that it’s still worth investing this level of money in. 
  • There has been 8 FSIPs at our facility in the last 24 hours. 

The company has told Mike Bivens that they will be conducting safety stand downs over the next several shift due to this elevated amount of incidents that have occurred. If by the time that you read this and you’ve been in the plant on shift you should have been in one of these. If by chance you’ve not, please reach out to your department or plant chair ASAP! 

As you can see from what all the Union has been involved in over the past few weeks, we’re really focusing on getting out and giving back in our community. If you want to be a part of this please don’t hesitate to reach out any of the following folks: the Bargaining Committee, NextGen Chair (Zack Peabody, 865-816-8013), Veterans of Steel Chair (Brian McConnell, 865-995-8218), Women of Steel Chair (Michelle James, 865-850-6684).

Again, thank you for all that you do and stay safe!