Welcome to Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 669
PROVIDING QUALITY FIRE PROTECTION INSTALLERS SINCE 1915

Breaking News

Message of the Business Manager

                                     No Regulations needed?
                                                   Please!

Now we can see the full circle of the deregulation lie. We have watched De-reg destroy every industry sector where it was set loose. A very real weapon of mass destruction. Why? Imagine the busiest intersection you know without stoplights or speed limits, auto fill tanks without overflow protection or shut-off switches. The other side of this coin is we were supposed to believe that when the captains of those sunken financial ships went to their boardrooms they turned into good shepherds…Not quite exactly. Today, after all these failures and wringing of hands on television the guy climbing the beanstalk through the clouds is more believable. If I seem a bit warm under the collar it’s because I have just sat through a SIS Fund Trustees meeting and listened to a procession of well-dressed losers tell us about how it wasn’t their fault, nobody saw it coming and they knew how it was for our Members. That was where it broke and I told him that he didn’t know anything about how it is for our Members. He no longer is a money manager for the SIS Fund. None of that erases the red ink that has replaced many retirement plans. The American Nation was Enron-ed by De-Reg. Never again, Brothers and Sisters, can we be sweet talked into that sitting-duck by the consorts of crooks. Why do we put a 200 psi test on our work and these empty suits and walking heads who fleeced our country’s finances are placed above us without a moral compass? This has been proven to be backwards. A revered investment manager on a number of funds talked about a few laws that controlled short-selling being removed just a year ago. It didn’t take long after that. The law prevented shorting on the down tick, that stocks could only be shorted on the uptick. By that change, the added pressure was to make stocks fail and since they were already headed down, it worked, lots did. Coupled with the efficiency of program trading by computer and soul-less folks operating them speeded up by a faster processor Rod Serling could not have written a better sci-fi script for disaster. Is there any good news? Yes, there are no cuts in benefits. Our NASI Pension Fund is probably the strongest there is due to our extreme diversification and we are feeling the market.

                                             By-Laws changes

These are the Articles in the Local Union 669 Constitution and By-Laws that either need to be changed to fit the needs of 669 in the present and future or have had motions or proposals for change. There are also Articles that need to be brought in line with the UA Constitution;Article 5, Section 7 is one such Article. The UA Constitution specifies the position of Assistant Business Manager where we have Regional Representatives. It makes sense to stay in line with the UA Constitution. At the next round of meetings,we will discuss with you proposals on Articles 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14 and 21. It seems time to restate that some of these proposals are as a result of motions made at the second round of meetings this year;others are survival issues for 669. Article 12 directs how and where 669 can store and invest our General Funds. At this time that needs to be changed in favor of more conservative diversification.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Keep Putting 669 First.
John D. Bodine, Sr.
Business Manager
Local Union 669
America’s Sprinkler Local
JohnB@Sprinklerfitters669.org