24
July 2004
Good
Morning!
I
finally wrote my first article for the Union
newspaper as Chairman, and wrote it so that
there would be some useful information for you
to use. Some of it is redundant, but I do that
because I’ve found through the years that
people may find some information important to
them today when it wasn’t a week ago. So for
educational purposes, I harp and nag often
because I know it works.
Central
Spares. Work continues on this project and
progress is very good. I believe that we’ll
be finished in a week or two. Not everyone
will be happy, but I believe for the long
term, it will be representing the majority
interests and that is what we are supposed to
do.
Found
out Friday that ISG kept all of our medical
records after Bethlehem
told us that we could fill out a request form
for copies that would be given to us within a
year or whatever. You can go to the Clinic and
fill out another form to get copies of your
medical records.
Contract
books. I’ve been told that they are at the
printer and that we might see them within ten
days. The sooner the better. The other stuff
that we’ve had floating around is driving
everyone crazy.
Profit
sharing is supposed to be announced by ISG on
the 29th. I have no clue yet as to
the amount to expect.
The
latest Plant Wide job postings probably
won’t be posted until the 30th.
43 jobs were posted and about 23 bid for the
vacancy’s. The reason that the successful
bidders list hasn’t been posted is that
there are no people available to fill the
vacancy’s if a person moves. The Company is
getting a list of Interplant transfers
together to do this and it will take to the
end of the month. For those of you who bid for
jobs in the Plant, your 30 day decision period
won’t commence until the day the successful
bidders list is posted. Please remember too
that if you bid to another department and stay
past the 30 day period, you will lose your Red
Circle Rate. If you go back, your Red
Circle will remain intact and you won’t be
able to bid to that area again for 12 months,
but you can bid to another area again. If you
stay in your new department, you’re there
for 12 months before you can bid again.
I’ve
been sending you updates on the Iron Ore
Negotiations because if there is a strike, the
whole steel industry along the lake will be
impacted. I’ve been staying in close contact
with then miners and sharing there updates
with all of our Basic Steel Plants in the
country. I do this because I remember the
affect the 1974 Coal Strike had on us. This
could be a crisis for the whole steel
industry. When the miners get riled, they
don’t play well with others. Something that
we can easily relate to.
I
attended a meeting at the Caster on the new
Mold Level equipment the Company is proposing
is install. It uses radioactive materials to
measure the mold levels. Something similar to
that used in other areas of our Plant. I
wanted to make sure that the proper
precautions were being made known. Since it is
governed under the Nuclear Regulation
Committee (NRC) there are certain standards to
be followed to make sure that no one is in
danger. The Caster employees are heavily
involved in this project and I am convinced
that there is nothing to worry about with them
monitoring it.
Take
care, and be safe.
Frank
