Brothers and Sisters,

I hope this article finds you and yours doing well.  Work in the Central Valley has been very busy in the past two months.  I have talked to several contractors and they have had some projects that are behind schedule or have been pushed back, so work looks good for a while.  If you are not currently working, please put yourself on the out-of-work list. Be aware that the list clears at the beginning of each month, so you need to call the first day of each month to remain on the out-of-work list. During my day-to-day duties I talk with a lot of members and many of them tell me how they don’t have steady work or that they haven’t worked in weeks or months, if you’re not on the list we can’t notify you when there is work.

I would like to thank those of you who took the time to fill out the Wage Survey Sheet that was sent out prior to negotiations.  In the new agreement we will receive $1.50 on August 1, 2022 and $2.50 January 1, 2023.  That’s a total of $4.00 for one year.  The rest of the contract remains the same with the exception of the Designated Days Off (DDO’s).  The DDO’s are as follows;

                                                                      ARTICLE 11

                                                    HOLIDAYS & DESIGNATED DAYS OFF

 1. Holidays are defined as follows: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after and Christmas Day. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, it shall be observed the following Monday. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, same shall be observed on the preceding Friday. No work under any circumstances shall be permitted on Labor Day.

2. DESIGNATED DAYS OFF – In addition to the foregoing recognized holidays, there shall be six (6) Designated Days Off per year as designated below: (a) September 2, 2022, November 11, 2022, December 23, 2022, April 7, 2023, May 26, 2023 and June 16, 2023.

 Apprentices, please make sure that you attend your scheduled week of training.  I have received several emails from the JATC about apprentices being dropped from the program for not attending.  If you’re employer tells you that they need you the week of your scheduled training please call me.  I would like to see more apprentices at our local union meetings.  As an apprentice you are starting a career as a union tradesman and one of your responsibilities as a union member is to attend union meetings.  Help with making local decisions, electing officers, voting on where to put wage increases and be involved with the future of your local. The new STARS and SCT schedules are out and available in all DC# 16 union halls and on the website at www.dc16iupat.org.

As always you can reach me at (916)407-8279

Fraternally,

Randy Rojas
Business Representative
DC16/LU1237