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The Spotlight

USWA Local 286 * 5724 Seward , Lincoln, NE. 68507* (402) 434-2970

January, 2000

President - Hugh Bowen * Ucinda Sims - Editor

Next Regular Membership Meeting

Sunday, February 13, 2000, 2:00 p.m.


From the Presidents Desk

Hugh Bowen

As we reported at the January membership meeting, Local negotiations will begin within the next two weeks. We will be concentrating on them for the next month. It we do get an agreement on the local level, we will not be voting on it until Master negotiations are finished and the plan is to have one vote for everything.
Master negotiations will begin in March. The tentative agenda for Master is to begin with local issues and proposals that are brought to Master and then move on to Master issues. Please remember that there is a possibility of the end result of all negotiations to be no changes. Because this is a re-opener It no agreement is reached, our contract will remain as is.
Questions about switching to the Steelworker dues structure were also discussed at the January meeting. The change will be effective July 1,2000. At that time dues will be taken weekly instead of monthly. There is a formula that will be used to determine each member's amount of dues taken. Everyone's will be different and will differ from week to week as well. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Just let us know.
As of January 11, 2000, the sub fund is at 13.64 percent. The last sub fund update paid full benefits for a month because the percentage was above 10%. This will continue on a monthly basis as long as the sub fund remains above the 10%. We will continue to keep you updated as we receive new information.
I would like to encourage everyone to stop by and check out some of the new gifts we have available for your COPE dollars. We now have fire extinguishers and ice scraper sets, just to mention some.

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are ready to have a Happy New Year.


Thoughts from the Vice President

John Shotkoski

If you have been watching the news, you know by now it is that time again. By that, I mean election time. Every election is important, but once every four years we do elect a President of the United States. Equally important as the job itself is the responsibility that comes with that position to select people who are in charge of committees. This is very important when it comes to labor. Leaders and judges who are selected in the NLRB have a big influence on our labor rights. OSHA leaders can affect us in a big way. Civil rights appointees affect everybody. So it is important to pay attention to some of the issues these candidates discuss.
I would like each one of you to take some time and decide what is best for you, and as a working person, what is best for labor.
I would also like to challenge each of you to talk to a neighbor or friend and make sure they are registered and ask them to please vote. If someone does need a registration card, we do have them here at the Union Hall and will send them in if they are filled out properly.
As I have discussed with you many times, it is one of the freedoms we have left in this country. So let's enjoy it.

Have a Happy and prosperous New Year.


News from your Secretary and P&I Rep.

Sally Edwards

Sally Edwards
Pension & Insurance Representative


In The Editors Opinion

Ucinda Sims

From one end of the plant to the other. In every department, in every area, things have taken on the surreal appearance of chaos. It kind of reminds me of a cartoon from years ago that I kept hanging on my refrigerator. It was an Animal Crackers cartoon. It was a single picture of a group of gnu's with two running north, one running east, two going west and one going south. The seventh one was standing in the middle looking puzzled. The caption read, Who organized this stampede anyway? I always think of that cartoon when I get the feeling that nobody is in charge.
That is a very important lesson of life. See the humor in everything. If we lose our ability to laugh, to be able to see the funny side of almost everything, we will just plain lose.
With the start of a new year, a new century and a new millennium, we can each begin with a clean slate and make each resolution count. Finding humor is one such resolution. Another wonderful resolution is to be determined to look at each obstacle in a different light. Chaos at work, financial hard times, changes in daily routines, personal strife: all of these can be obstacles if not seen as an opportunity.
An ancient King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.
Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.
After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand.
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Ucinda Sims, Editor


Community Services Committee

Milt Schmidt

On behalf of the Lincoln Action program, I would like to thank each volunteer that helped with their 1999 Holiday Gift Giving Distribution. Thank you to the following: Dave, Mark, Milt, Bessie, Sharon, Diana, Phil, Jared, Irene, Henrietta, and Gary and Mike and their daughters. I would especially like to thank the volunteers from the Retirees Club and family members who helped. I hope you each had some really wonderful holidays in return for the holidays you helped make wonderful for others.
The Big Brothers and Sisters Bowl-a-then will be
held January 22 at Parkway Lanes. We are a sponsor of this event. You can help us help them.

Milt Schmidt
Community Service Committee Chairman


Retiree’s Corner

Officers of the Retiree's Club

President Jerry Teichmeir, Vice Pres. William Ellsworth,

Secretary MargeLahodny, Tresurer Jim Landstrom,

The Next Retirees Club Meeting
Meet February 14, 2000

Potluck Dinner 5:30 pm, Regular Meeting 6:30 pm
Bring old Valentines for a Valentines display.
Jim Landstrom will start taking 2000 membership.

Many election issues affect seniors and retirees so we will try and keep you up to date in the coming months with information on the candidates position that affect you. Following are statements from the leading candidates for President of the United States regarding the future of health care in our country, especially Medicare. George W Bush (Rep). John McCain (Rep). Bill Bradley (Dem) and Al Gore (Dem).
BUSH: I think it is. I think MEDICABL is the responsibility of the federal government. It's a commitment we've got to keep. The problem with MEDICARE is it's run by 135,000, more or less, page document where all where the government decides everything. They decide how the patient chooses things and how the doctors perform. I think we need to give patients more choice and doctors more flexibility
MCCAIN The MEDICARE trustees report that without reform, the program will be insolvent within 15 years. MEDICARE, like SOCIAL SECURITY, is a sacred contract with our nation s seniors. Honoring this commitment is our solemn obligation. But rather than rallying to reform these programs to assure their long term financial health, Congress and the administration no what ~ do best we point fingers and clay politics
We feed the American people s growing cynicism by treating these programs as props in partisan political theatre. Our tug of war over the surplus is a good example. Democrats want to spend the surplus on bigger government. Republicans claim it all for tax cuts. Each panty cynically strikes its best pose to appeal to favored constituencies. Meanwhile, we lose precious Lime and resources necessary to save SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE, a loss that makes the eventual solution all the more expensive. As President, I will see that at least 70 percent of the surplus is dedicated to shoring up SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE.
BRADLEY: .1 think if you are going to deal with this issue, first you ye got to start with SOCIAL SECURITY as a sacred trust. No one is going to let SOCIAL SECURITY go. Fifty percent of the people on SOCIAL SECURITY, if they didn't have it, would be in poverty. I believe that the most important thing you can do, first. is you take the SOCIAL SECURITY trust fund out of the budget, you put it over on the side. So you set aside $1.9 trillion over the next decade for SOCIAL SECURITY. Arid then what you do is you manage the economy so you have higher levels of economic growth.
GORE: I strongly oppose raising the retirement age...ever. Let me tell you why. You know your logic is that since the life spans are increasing, the retirement age should also increase. But what that misses is that steelworker in Buffalo that you sometimes refer to, who has a hard, physical labor job, and the wear and tear on that person skeleton and muscles is just the same as when average life spans were shorter.
But the fact is that we have to make sacrifices. But in an era of surpluses instead of deficits, here is one way to frame these sacrifices. We now have the largest surpluses in history. I devote $1.8 trillion over the next ten years to the SOCIAL SECURITY trust fund because that is the money in SOCIAL SECURITY. And then after the year 2010 devote all of the interest saved from paying down the debt to the SOCIAL SECURITY trust fund.


www... Research Can Start Here

Politics on the Web

www.vote-smart.org
Vote Smart is a non-profit non-partisan site with information on elections and issues at the national and state level.
www.politics.com
Politics.com hopes to make a profit from selling political advertising by drawing an audience that wants the latest news, gossip, opinion arid poll results.
www.opensecrets.org
Center for Responsive Politics finds out who is giving money to Whom, who is getting soft money and whom the political action committees are betting on.
www.niu.edu/newsplace/whitehouse.html
WhiteHouse 2000 is a collection of political links, including academic sources.

www.democrats.org Democrat National Committee
www.rnc.org Republican National Committee
www.billbradley.com Bill Bradley (Dem)
www.georgewbush.com George W. Bush (Rep)
www.algore2000.com Al Gore (Oem)
www.mccain2000.com John McCain (Rep)


Get Cookin’The new Goodyear Cookbooks are now available. If you would like to have one, they are for sale at the Union Hall. They make great gifts, too. Price is $12.00 each. Come in today and get yours.


Start the New Century with a Win!

The 2000 Nebraska State AFL-CIO Calendar Winner's

Congratulations to the first winners of 2000 in the AFL-C10 calendar raffle.
USWA Local 286
Darrel DeBrie,Terri Hawthorne, Diana Brehm,Gene Mayfield
USWA Local 286 Retirees Club
Jim Landstrom


[Jan, 00 Issue] [Febr, 00 Issue] [March, 00 Issue] [ April, 00 Issue]

[May, 00 Issue] [June, 00 Issue] [July, 00 Issue] [Aug, 00 Issue]

[Sept, 00 Issue] [ Oct, 99 Issue] [Nov, 99 Issue] [Dec, 99 Issue]


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