November 3rd Business Rep Elections.

At the upcoming regular membership meeting date of November 3rd, 2009, there will be an election for Business Reps' for District 166.
Polls will be open 8:00AM till 6:00PM at the District Hall on November 3rd, 2009.
There are 4 positions open for election and 5 nominees.

The nominees are:

Linda Donahoe
Johnny Walker
Nick Mrdjenovich
Joe Kyles
Robert Miller

Please make time to stop by and vote.

www.savespace.us Letter Campaign

Save Space is a movement started by people on the Space Coast to raise the awareness of the nation, the President, and other elected officials: Space needs to be a priority for America.

As the clock ticks toward the end of the Space Shuttle program, as the President and his advisors review the Augustine Commission recommendations, as Florida's economic engine falters. it is imperative that we make our voices heard by writing letters to the President: Save Our Space Program!

In the coming days Space Florida will also be releasing a letter campaign to address our issues with all branches of our Government. When that campaign is ready, links will be posted here. It would not be a bad idea to share the link to savespace.us with friends and family. The more support America shows for the Space Program, the better the chances NASA will receive the funding it needs to operate correctly.

USA Retirement Photos

The photos are up on the district site. Go to iam166.org and you will find a link to the photos or click http://www.iam166.org/usaweb/ to go directly to the pictures. Thanks again, to Mark Weaver for the pictures. If you need a photographer for portraits or events contact Mark.

Regular Membership Meeting October 6th, 2009.

Regular Membership meeting, October 6th 2009. Meeting starts at 4:30PM at the district hall.

October 4th Retirement Party at Fox Lake Park.

There will be a retirement party for all of our members who elected to take the voluntary layoff. The party will be October 4th starting at noon at Fox Lake Park in Titusville. Details are still in work and will be posted here as soon as everything is set. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. In the coming weeks tickets will be offered in the shops during lunch. There will be water provided but no other beverages, so B.Y.O.B.

Plan to come out, enjoy the food, and spend some time with our retiring members.

Space Coast AFL-CIO Labor Council Activist Training.

The Space Coast AFL-CIO Labor Council will be providing Activist Training on September 26th. The training starts at 10:00AM and food will be provided.
Address for the AFL-CIO Training is 1122 Lake Drive Cocoa, FL. It is at the corner of SR520 and Lake Drive.

For more information, contact Claudie Pouncey at spacecoastaflcio@bellsouth.net

Volusia/Flagler AFL-CIO 8th Annual Labor Day Celebration

The Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the Central Florida AFL-CIO is holding it's 8th annual Labor Day Celebration.

There will be a picnic and BBQ on Monday September 7th starting at 11:00AM. The location is:

Reed Canal Park
2871 Nova Road Entrance
South Daytona.

There will be rides and games for the kids, live music, and great food. The event runs through 2:00PM. Our Local Lodge is invited to attend the celebration, so we hope to see you there! We will have a table so if you attend, stop by and say hello.

Health Care Rally in Orlando

Free Transport from Cocoa

When: Saturday, August 29th – 1:00 PM
Where: Downtown Orlando Rec. Center, 649 W. Livingston Street

Bus transportation will be provided from Space Coast AFL-CIO Hall 1122 Lake Dr Cocoa. THIS IS A TICKET EVENT. RSVP for transport and or tickets spacecoastaflcio@ymail.com by Friday the 28th. There is no charge for riding the bus. Come out and show support for Health Care Reform!


http://spacecoastaflcio.org/

Regular Membership Meeting September 1st, 2009.

271 Taylor Ave. Cape Canaveral, FL 32920-3025

Monthly Membership Meeting for LL2061. Meeting starts at 4:30PM for members with a Steward meeting directly after the membership meeting ends.

Nominations for the Business Rep Election will take place at the September meeting.

July 30, 2009 Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee; Meeting

The Augustine Committee will be meeting for a public meeting on Thursday July 30th in Cocoa Beach.

Date and Time: July 30, 2009 - 8 am - 4 pm EDT
Location Information:
Hilton Cocoa Beach
1550 North Atlantic Avenue
Cocoa Beach, FL

From the official release:

The third public session will be July 30 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Grand Ballroom, 1550 North Atlantic Ave., in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

The agenda is:
8 a.m.: Bob Cabana, director, NASA's Kennedy Space Center
8:30 a.m.: Exploration Beyond Low Earth Orbit subgroup (Ed Crawley, moderator)
11 a.m.: Congressional perspective (presenters TBD)
Noon: Lunch break
1 p.m.: NASA Constellation projects managed at Kennedy
2:30 p.m.: Public comment period
3 - 4 p.m.: Committee public deliberations

Following each meeting, committee chairman Norman Augustine will be available to answer questions from reporters. NASA Television will carry the meetings and news conferences live on the agency's media channel. The events also can be viewed on NASA's Web site.

Anyone interested in attending should know seating is limited. It would be good for the membership to have some seats filled, even by our own family members. The Committee needs to hear how we feel about the direction NASA is headed and what we want concerning Human Space Flight.

We Have a New Home on the Web.

Last night we went live with LL2061.org . Currently all of the pages are not updated but should be within the next few weeks. For news, there is a link from LL2061.org to this blog (for the time being). As soon as possible, we will migrate over to the main site for future postings, and will post here when that time comes.

The new site will offer us options the blog does not have, so that we may communicate with each other in the best possible manner. If you find any errors on LL2061.org, feel free to email iamwebsteward@gmail.com and let us know.

Please Contact Bill Nelson and let him know F-22's should not be cut.

Early next week the Senate is expected to vote on an amendment that will strip funding for seven additional F-22s from the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization, S 1390. We are asking that Senators vote against the amendment--a NO vote on the amendment.


Yes means in favor of the amendment to strip funding and ? means undecided.

Brownback, Sam (KS) ?
Cochran, Thad (MS) ?
Graham, Lindsey (SC) ?
Hagan,Kay (NC) Yes
Landrieu, Mary (LA) ?
Lincoln, Blanche (AR) ?
Nelson, Bill (FL) Yes
Pryor, Mark (AR) ?
Roberts, Pat (KS) ?
Shelby, Richard (AL) ?
Warner, Mark (VA) Yes
Webb, Jim (VA) Yes

If these planes get cut, our Brothers and Sisters on the assembly line will be the first to feel it. Second in line will be the Armed Forces, who have our backs everyday. Our Senator Bill Nelson is voting to cut the funding needed to produce these jets. It is our duty to call or email the Senator and let him know we wish for the funding, so these jets can be built.

Washington, D.C. Office
United States Senate
716 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183

For electronic contact (Email Form) visit this website:
http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/legislation.cfm#

Jerry Copeland

Jerry Copeland, Roads and Grounds, passed away Saturday morning. Details of service arrangements will be posted when determined.  Our thought and prayers go out in Jerry's memory and for his family.

Services for Jeff Simmons

Services for Jeff Simmons, EG&G plumber, will be held Saturday, July 18 at 1 pm at Volusia Memorial of Port Orange, 4815 Clyde Morris Blvd. Port Orange. Our thought and prayers go out in Jeff's memory and for his family.

New Feature, Calendar for LL2061 Events.

Added a calendar to the page, located below the Feedblitz sign-up. Currently it has the dates of the Membership meetings added. If you have an event that needs to be added, feel free to email me at iamwebsteward@gmail.com and I'll get it added.

Joe Tidwell

Brother Joe Tidwell is in the critical care unit at Wuesthoff Hospital. Visiting hours are; 10-12 am, 3-5 pm and 8-9:30 pm. 

Regular Membership Meeting June 2nd 2009

Regular Membership meeting June 2nd 2009 at the District Hall. Meeting starts at 4:30PM.

Hall is located at 271 Taylor Avenue Cape Canaveral, FL 32920.

Regular Membership Meeting Tuesday May 5th 2009

Regular meeting starts at 4:30pm at the District Hall.

Hall is located at 271 Taylor Avenue Cape Canaveral, FL 32920.

Dues Increase Approved

The membership at Tuesday's Local Lodge meeting voted overwhelmingly to accept an Executive Board proposal that would increase dues for LL 2061. This action was viewed as a necessary action to maintain the viability and existence of the Local. The proposal was in response to an increase in monies paid to the International and the depletion of the treasury due to expenses incurred during the USA strike. The increase in payments to the International coupled with a decrease in membership in LL 2061 made it necessary for your Executive Board to take action. 

The increase is pegged at eight dollars ($8.00) per month. This computes to two dollars ($2.00) per week - five cents ($.05) per hour. Three dollars ($3.00) of this increase will go directly to the Lodge's treasury. The Executive Board has been gravely concerned that our ability to provide necessary services to the membership was being restricted and some services would have to be eliminated if this increase was not approved. Our ability to fund contract negotiations, grievance processing and arbitration of grievances,  training (Safety and Health, communications, EAP and Leadership training, and community service), were some of the services that were being curtailed or eliminated.

The dues increase was determined after extensive research and  exhaustive debate by the Executive Board. Many proposals were considered. The Board attempted to produce a proposal that would have the least economic impact on our membership and still allow the Local to maintain and increase the level of service to our members. The Executive Board feels strongly this is a fair and reasonable increase in view of the fact the dues formula has not increased since 1976. We are confident this increase will carry the Local through the foreseeable future.

Should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at 321 446-7092 or contact an Executive Board member.

Lew

Contract Ratification Results

IAM 2061 membership ratified contract proposals today with the following companies;

EG&G
Sierra Lobo
Yang
SC Jones
Indyne
IHA
GCR/CMT

Voting was heavy at ratification meetings held at the Radisson Hotel and the IAM Hall in Cape Canaveral. Your negotiating committees are grateful to the membership for the support and encouragement the membership has offered during these negotiations.

Fraternally,

Your Negotiating Committees