The Wisconsin Laborer Fall 2000

Real difference between candidates on building trade issues
By Mike Ryan
On June 1 of this year, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced that its national board of directors voted unanimously to endorse Texas Governor George Bush for President. I mention this not because the endorsement in and of itself comes as a surprise, or is at all news worthy. I mention it simply to illustrate the deep and profound differences that exist between Al Gore and Governor Bush when it comes to building trades issues.
In case you missed it, ABC is a business owners group that for the past fifty years has relentlessly attacked the gains made by, and the protections offered to, union construction workers.
From its inception, ABC has been at the forefront in efforts to repeal federal and state prevailing wage laws. Repeal of the federal Davis-Bacon Act remains one of the group’s top priorities.
More recently, ABC fought to permit low-wage "helpers" on public works projects, to prohibit project agreements on public work, to outlaw the organizing tactic of "salting," and to make it more difficult for workers to issue wage and hour and health and safety complaints against contractors. They even opposed the Patient Bill of Rights that would have simply made health care organizations more accountable for their actions.
We all know this is an election year. ABC, like most membership organizations, will endorse candidates for public office who support its agenda. They understand, as do we, the stakes are too high to sit this election out. We both know that these elections will impact our members for many years to come.
For union laborers, ABC’s decidedly anti-union agenda provides a useful perspective from which to judge the Presidential race.
Let’s take prevailing wage. Prevailing wage – the Davis-Bacon Act – is the only thing preventing low-wage contractors from undermining area wage and benefit standards on public works projects. Prevailing wage also sustains worker training and apprenticeship programs that in turn sustain the construction industry.
Al Gore supports Prevailing wage law – George Bush does not.
Now let’s look at Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). PLAs ensure every contractor on a project pays wages, extends benefits and follows work rules that protect every worker on the site.
Al Gore supports PLAs – George Bush wants them outlawed.
And, what about "helpers." "Helpers" do the work of laborers, but typically receive low wages, no health or pension benefits and no access to training opportunities. Thanks to the Clinton-Gore administration, "helpers" with few exceptions, are now prohibited from performing work on Davis-Bacon projects. In other words, members of our union no longer run the risk of loosing work on public projects to low-paid helpers.
Al Gore worked with the US Department of Labor to protect our jurisdiction by restricting the use of "helpers." George Bush wants to let employers use "helpers" to do our work.
Let’s take organizing. In America workers should have the right to join a union and employers should not be able to discriminate against workers simply because they belong to a union or are committed union organizers.
Al Gore believes unions are good for America – he wants to make it easier for workers to join unions. George Bush believes the ABC and wants to give business owners the right to not hire or even fire suspected union organizers.
As ABC’s endorsement illustrates, when it comes to building trades issues, there is a tremendous difference between Al Gore and George Bush. For union building trades workers the difference is even greater. So much so, that ABC noted in a recent ad to its members listing reasons not to support Al Gore, that Gore had an 88% pro-AFL-CIO voting record as a US Senator, that he has vowed "to veto ‘in a flash’ any anti-union legislation that passed his desk," and the following quote made by Gore at the Iowa Democratic Convention: "I am pro-labor, pro-union and pro-collective bargaining. You can write it down, and I can guaran-damn-tee-it."
Obviously, none of us is defined by what we do. We are individuals, guided through life by our own experience and action.
When you go to the polls November 7, I only ask that in addition to all the other issues that guide your vote, that you also consider where candidates stand on issues that impact our union, our work, and ultimately our ability to provide for ourselves and our families.

Voting in Wisconsin is easy
There are few states that make it easier for its citizens to vote than Wisconsin. Beyond meeting the basic qualifications of being a US citizen, there are few restrictions short of not going to the polls that prevent anyone from voting.
Eligibility
To be eligible to vote, a person must be 18 years of age, a resident of the state, and live in the district ten days prior to the election day. If you move within the state during the last ten days before the election, you may vote in your former district or by absentee ballot.
Registering to vote
In order to vote, you must be registered. There are a number of ways to register, including at the polls on election day.
In Person – Register at the municipal clerks office during regular office hours until 5 pm on the day before the election.
By Mail – A voter may write or call the clerk and ask for a voter registration form be sent in the mail. The form is completed, witnessed (signed) by two voters from the same ward or district and mailed back to the clerk.
As part of a voter registration drive – Municipal clerks and other community groups sometimes will conduct registration drives at public locations at various times throughout the year.
At other places before election day – In some municipalities, you may register at fire stations, libraries, community centers or other locations.
At your polling place on election day – If you miss the voter registration deadline, you may register at your polling place on election day and then vote. Proof of residence in the ward or district is needed, such as a Wisconsin Driver’s License or identification with your address, such as a utility bill or postal change of address card. If you do not have written proof, a qualified voter from your municipality can serve as your witness to verify your address.
In general, polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. Please call your local municipal clerks office for the location of your polling place.

Labor History
"Don’t mourn – organize!
The legacy of Joe Hill
He has been mention along with Bob Dylan as being one of the most influential protest song writers of the twentieth century. He has influenced such great performers as Woody Guthrie and John Lennon. He was immortalized in song by Joan Baez at Woodstock.
In the ten short years he roamed America, organizing workers and writing songs about and for working people, his music became synonymous with the struggle of labor over capital.
He was known as Joe Hill, and in the early decades of this past century, hundreds of thousands of workers across America not only knew his songs, but carried them daily, printed in the pages of The Little Red Song Book; a publication of the International Workers of the World.
Born Joel Emanuel Hagglund in Sweden, Hill was forced to work at 8 years old to support his family after his father died. At about the same time he took an interest in music, learning to play the piano, the violin and the guitar to relieve some of the adversity.
In 1905 he came to America like millions of other immigrants, crossing the Atlantic in the steerage compartment of huge liners, abandoned at Ellis Island with no money, few possessions, yet filled with hope of a better life.
And, like thousands of other immigrants, discriminated against, exploited by employers, forced to take the most demeaning and back-breaking work to survive, Hill’s hope slowly faded to despair.
Hill began wondering the country. Working odd jobs as a field hand, a miner or a dockworker, he managed to eke-out a meager and homeless existence. He wrote poems and songs based on his journeys and quickly developed an affinity for the poor and downtrodden he met along the way.
It was during his travels that he was first introduced to the union movement and the IWW. The IWW, which advocated a new economic order featuring "one big union" of workers controlling capital, was much more appealing to Hill than the American Federation of Labor, which operated within the system, organizing workers around crafts and was at times openly hostile to immigrants.
Hill began organizing for the IWW and he used his music to strike a chord with a forgotten segment of American society.
"A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once," Hill is reported to have once written to a friend. "But a song is learned by the heart and repeated over and over."
As Hill’s music spread, mysteriously, so did Hill "sightings." On more than one occasion he had been reported to have organized workers at the same time in cities at opposite ends of the country.
But, sometime in 1913, Joe Hill made his way to Salt Lake City, Utah, and it is here that the real mystery of Joe Hill is forever sustained.
On the night of January 10, 1914, two masked men murdered a Salt Lake City store owner and his son, in what police and others believed to be an act of revenge against the former law enforcement officer. The victim had feared the attack, providing police a suspect’s name days before the murder.
Rather than investigate their lead, officers arrest Joe Hill after he is treated by a local physician for a suspicious gun-shot wound.
After a poorly conducted trial, that permitted leading questioning and accepted contradictory testimony of witnesses, repeatedly prevented defense rebuttal and was based entirely on weak circumstantial evidence, Joe Hill was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
To many, Hill’s conviction was a sham – an exercise of power designed to threaten and silence the labor movement. But, while the trial record clearly shows Hill suffered from a poor defense and an unsympathetic judge, it is also absent any attempt by Hill to even name the witnesses who might have corroborated his story that he was shot in a woman’s room by a jealous suitor.
Was Joe Hill a murderer, or was he a martyr to the cause? In the eighty-five years after his execution the question remains unanswered.
What we do know is, in the waning hours before his scheduled execution, thousands around the world pleaded for his life, including then President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. And, even the Governor of Utah, the only person who could have halted the execution, made a last ditch, unsuccessful effort to allow Hill to save his own life, by simply providing an alibi in his own defense. Hill remained silent.
Over the years, Joe Hill, in a sense, has become larger than life. Immortalized in story and song, his spirit forever captured in three simple words penned in his cell on death row hours before his life was ended by a state of Utah firing squad.
"Don’t mourn – organize!" Hill wrote, and the phrase remains to this day a rallying call to workers around the world seeking economic justice and dignity at work.

#113 honors members for years of service
Laborers’ Local #113 honored members for years of service at the local’s annual dinner in August. Attending this years event were (front row, left to right) Donald Goetz; Thomas O’Rourke; Cyril Schmid; Carmello Caputa; Victor Miller; Melvin Pordon; David Nawrocke; James Kohlbeck; and Gilbert Heintz. (middle row) Howard Cooper; Secretary Treasurer Nacarci Feaster; Thomas Sadowske; Malcolm Simaon, Jr.; Robert Henke; Michael Kovatsh; Norman Ostrowski; and Robert Green. (back row) Sergeant-at-Arms Scott Baake; Laborers’ District Council Business Manager Mike Ryan; Recording Secretary John Schmitt; Organizer Michael Wilburn; LIUNA Vice-President and Regional Manager Terry Healy; Business Manager Charles Fecteau; President James Annis; and Auditor Earnest Mitchell. (Photo by Russ Leaman.)

#113 Labor Day
Some rain and overcast skies did not dampen the turnout for Milwaukee Laborfest 2000, as over 300 Laborer Local #113 members and family members joined thousands of other union members in the city’s annual Labor Day march to the lakefront.

#113 awards scholarships
Laborers’ Local #113 awarded scholarships to (left-to-right) Melissa Hein, daughter of Jason Hein; Tara Schmitt, daughter of John Schmitt; Sara Eibl, daughter of John Eibl; Kasie Bree, daughter of Harold Bree, Jr. Also receiving a scholarship but not pictured was Jennifer Fischer, daughter of Reuben Fisher, Jr. (Photo by Russ Leaman.)

Niebuhr retires, Fisher named Business Manager
Robert Niebuhr, Business Manager of Laborers’ Local #464 in Madison, retired in July ending a career that spanned four decades. The Executive Board elected Tom Fisher as Niebuhr’s successor.
Niebuhr first joined the Laborers’ in 1965 and became a Field Rep for the Local in 1981. He was elected Business Manager in 1984 and from 1986 to 1995, he served as Secretary Treasurer of the District Council. Niebuhr also served as a Trustee to the LECET program and Laborers’ Pension Fund.
In addition to his union responsibilities, Niebuhr was a member and past-President of the City of Madison Public Works committee and is credited for engineering the passage of one of the most comprehensive prevailing wage ordinances in the country for the city of Madison in 1997.
Before his election as Business Manager, Fisher served as local Recording Secretary, delegate to the District Council, and worked as Assistant Business Manager at the District Council.

Points of Light Foundation recognizes #1407 for service to community
Laborer’s Local #1407 in Wisconsin Rapids was recognized September 7 as the Daily Point of Light by the Points of Light Foundation for its volunteer and community service activity.
"They have provided assistance for the young as well as the old when needed," said the Foundation in its daily statement. "They mobilize the community and make a difference."
In recognizing the Local, the Foundation noted that the Laborer’s Hall has become known as the "Home of Labor" for many donated Union affiliated functions. The Senior Citizens meet monthly at the hall, they have various Boys & Girls Club drawings, a truck drawing and a Neukirchen Benefit - named for a woman who was injured in an automobile accident and became disabled.
The Laborer’s Hall also places a tree on the premises the first week of November. This tree is special and has ornaments with names of children of families who are displaced union workers. Volunteers take the ornaments and purchase a gift or gifts for the children or families.
Share and Care is also recognized by the community as a way to show the less fortunate that the community does care. The Hall is used for the packaging of the food that goes out to those who are in need.
In addition, the Laborers donate the Hall for drug testing and asbestos screening. It is also donated so that training sessions can be held on topics such as asbestos, forklift, scaffolding and confined space.
Local Business Manager Loren Bloyd, who has helped organize many of the community focused events and activities over the years, was surprised and honored when he received a call from the Foundation crediting the Local’s work.
"We’ve always felt being a union meant being a part of the community," said Bloyd. "We know the work we do is important and it’s nice to know others feel the same."
Founded in May 1990, the Points of Light Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to engage more people more effectively in volunteer community service to help solve serious social problems. Each day the Foundation acknowledges an individual or group for their volunteer and community service activities.

ABC anti-union campaign big loser at Lambeau
Brown County residents rejected the Associated Builders and Contractors’ anti-union "PR" campaign, as voters approved a referendum to fund the renovation of Lambeau Field in September.
The controversial measure to implement a one-half of one percent sales tax to fund the stadium renovation passed by a 53% to 47% margin, despite two months of misleading TV, radio, print and billboard ads designed by ABC to sour voters on a project labor agreement (PLA) proposed to govern the work.
Laborers’ Local #539 in Green Bay, took the lead, along with the area Building and Construction Trades Council, in responding to ABC’s campaign which used irrelevant statistics and misrepresentation to distort the impact a PLA would have on the local labor market.
In letters to members, local Business Manager Conrad Umentum and other local leaders, set the record straight, refuting some of the ABC’s more outrageous claims.
For example, in its "PR" ads and materials ABC charged that PLA’s "discriminate" against workers and essentially prohibit "80% of workers who choose to work non-union" from working on the project.
"For all the talk about ‘discriminating’ against non-union workers, the fact is a PLA won’t prevent anyone from bidding work on the stadium," Umentum wrote in a letter to members. "Contractors, not workers, choose to bid work based on many practical as well as personal reasons. In the end, it’s a business decision and contractors make those decisions – on behalf of workers – every day."
Umentum also took exception to ABC’s claim of 80% of construction workers "choosing" not to work union, which he described as more a function of fantasy than fact.
He noted that data from Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development showed union workers performed over 75% of all non-residential building and heavy construction in Brown County in 1999 and added that none of the remaining 25% non-union workers would be prohibited from working under a PLA on the Lambeau project, as long as their contractors bid and win the work like anyone else.
"It is sad that the ABC would use misleading statements and irrelevant facts to misrepresent a PLA’s impact on local workers," Umentum wrote. "But, then again, this isn’t about workers. This is about the state chapter of a national organization exploiting a local referendum to further its narrow self interests."
According to published reports, the ABC anti-PLA "PR" campaign was part of a nation, multi-million dollar effort to "educate the public" about project labor agreements. ABC has recently announced plans for a similar "education" effort in the Washington DC area over a proposed PLA for work on the Wilson Street Bridge.
In addition to anti-PLA "PR" campaigns, the flat-out outlawing of PLAs on public works projects remains a top legislative priority at ABC, with candidate support for such legislative change a part of its candidate endorsement criteria.

Laborers comment on Prevailing Wage enforcement report
In August, Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council Business Manager Mike Ryan appeared before the state legislature’s Joint Audit Committee to comment on the Legislative Audit Bureau’s evaluation of the state’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and Department of Transportation (DOT) enforcement of prevailing wage law.
The Audit, which was released in April of this year, identified serious deficiencies in the Departments’ ability to administer and enforce the state’s prevailing wage law, ranging from a failure to resolve complaints in a timely fashion to not invoking available penalty options against violators.
At the committee’s request, Ryan submitted the following summary of his remarks for the record.
In general, we agree with the findings of the audit. We feel it identifies many of the problems we have experienced over the years as we have represented our members or assisted other workers and contractors with enforcement/compliance issues.
For example, it has been our sense for some time that the Department of Workforce Development lacks the resources to effectively administer this law. We believe that the audit confirms this by documenting the tremendous and unacceptably long delay between the filing and resolution of claims.
It has been our sense that the law offers little in the way of deterring contractors from violating the law. We believe that the audit clearly documents the pattern of the department of not penalizing or debarring contractors despite the severity or willfulness of the violation.
It has also been our sense that certain administrative procedures adopted by the department have not recognized, or taken advantage of, mechanisms already in place in the industry, that may provide a more accurate and efficient means of collecting prevailing wage survey data. We believe the audit rightly documents the need to ease contractor reporting.
But, while we agree that the audit identifies many of the Departments’ problems, we feel the recommendations offered by LAB fall short of fully addressing these issues.
For example, we agree with LAB recommendation to ease contractor reporting. Making better use of available technology is a worthwhile suggestion. In fact, we have already developed a computer program that automates the reporting process for our signatory contractors in an effort to facilitate their participation in the survey. But, while we believe this program has contributed to a steady rise in the number of signatory contractors completing the survey, the problem remains for them one of time and resources.
This is the busiest time of the year for construction and it is very difficult for contractors to complete surveys. Whether one is using the internet, a computer program or filing the survey out by hand, the question still remains, "can I afford to complete the survey, or not?"
During the last survey period, contractors signatory with the Laborers reported over 9 million hours of work in Wisconsin. These same contractors reported slightly less than 3 million of those hours on the prevailing wage survey. During the current reporting period of June 1, 1999 – May 31, 2000, signatory contractors with the Laborers reported over 9.6 million hours. It remains to be seen how many of these hours will be reported back to the state.
I mention this because if we are serious about easing the reporting burden on contractors we shouldn’t focus on better using new technology, we should focus on better using the information they already report.
We must find a way to allow third party "Jointly Administered" benefit funds to report work under the survey. These funds already collect wage and hour data on all hours worked directly from the contractor. These benefit funds must comply with strict federal regulations and are routinely audited. These are hours worked under a collective bargaining agreement that include specific wage and fringe rates. The state already collects labor agreements for the purposes of administering prevailing wage law and only recognizes those agreements it has on file.
Federal Davis-Bacon law recognizes how time consuming reporting is on employers and allows for third parties to submit survey data. In those instances where wages and hours are not only reported and verifiable, but also governed by existing employment law, the state should make for similar allowances.
The audit also raised the issue of preventive enforcement. LAB noted that DOT collected and reviewed contractor payroll records in an effort to identify problems early, but stopped short of recommending that DWD institute a similar program. They instead recommended DWD collect certified payrolls from only those contractors found in violation of law.
While positive, it is nevertheless a step taken after-the-fact, and does nothing to address the significant time delay identified in the audit between the filing and resolution of a claim. As importantly, given the fact the measure is implemented after a violation is determined, it is hardly a deterrent.
For years we have recommended the collection of payroll records from all contractors performing work under state prevailing wage law for the very purpose of deterring contractors from willfully violating the law and to help identify mistakes before they become severe.
The Department has opposed the collection of these records primarily because it lacks the staff to review and space to store the records. We, on the other hand, feel the creation of such a clearing-house will enhance the Department’s ability to administer the law, given its limited resources, by providing individual workers and other third parties access to payroll records to more fully determine if filing a formal complaint is even warranted.
In the very least, LAB should have recommended a clarification in the statutes of a process DWD already encourages individuals and third parties to follow as a primary step in determining prevailing wage compliance – and that is, to access and inspect payroll records under the state’s open records law, to better determine if, and to what extent, a violation has occurred before filing a formal complaint with the department.
Thank you, again, for this opportunity to comment on the enforcement of prevailing wage laws audit.
Audit quotes: "While DWD and DOT recover unpaid wages for workers, the agencies rarely apply other statutory actions against contractors that violate the law, such as recovering damages for workers or debarring repeat violators from public works contracts." LAB, "Enforcement of Prevailing Wage Laws"
"We reviewed [DWD’s] complaint investigation process and found that complaint investigations are often lengthy. For example, the average investigation took 304 days to complete in 1998; however, five took longer than two years to complete." LAB, "Enforcement of Prevailing Wage Laws"

Haggerty takes over as LECET Director
In June of this year the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council appointed Mike Haggerty to the position of Wisconsin LECET Director.
Haggerty brings more than twenty years of experience in the construction industry to this position. He served as the Business Manager of the Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ Local Union in Western Wisconsin for ten years. During the last five of those years, he was the Business Manager of the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Building & Construction Trades Council.
In 1994, Mike began investigating prevailing wage compliance in Wisconsin for the Operating Engineers’ fair contracting organization where he acquired extensive knowledge of prevailing wage laws and further insight into the trade unions in the construction industry. Through that affiliation he was also active in the National Alliance for Fair Contracting.
While serving as the Business Manager of the La Crosse Building & Construction Trades Council, Haggerty represented the trades on the Boards of Trustees for both the American Red Cross and the United Way in La Crosse. He was also the president of the local labor news publication, the Union Herald. In those capacities Mike supported Labor – Management agreements and trusts at every opportunity.
The Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council are happy to have Haggerty on staff and hope that you will take the opportunity to welcome him to Wisconsin LECET when he appears at your general membership meetings.

Directors meeting covers "Best Value Contracting"
by Mike Haggerty, LECET Director
The Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund directors and the Laborers’-Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust directors held a joint conference in Toronto Ontario September 5& 6, 2000. Mixed among the reports of the several directors of the Health & Safety funds and those of the LECET programs was open and frank discussion on the improvement of the construction industry market share for the building & construction trades unions and their respective signatory contractors.
Gerald Waites was the keynote speaker on the second day of the conference. He discussed the concept of the responsible contractor and the practice of Best Value Contracting. Mr. Waites explained that under those bidding practices that award construction contracts to the "lowest responsible bidder", the award is based solely on the lowest bid received by a responsible contractor. The responsible contractor has generally been defined as that contractor who will finish the project the way it was designed and has no history of major legal infractions within the industry.
Under the Best Value Contracting concept, each contractor who bids on a project is rated not only on the bid amount but also on the quality of past projects, safety record, staff productivity and training, available equipment and a variety of other categories pertinent to the completion of the project to be bid.
In practicing Best Value Contracting (BVC), project owners are addressing their chief concerns: quality, schedule, safety and cost efficiency. This practice also allows the owner to choose a bidder whose previous job performances are free of any construction standards violations.
According to Mr. Waites, bidding through the BVC procedure benefits the project owner and the responsible contractor. Since the BVC concept shifts the project owner’s focus from the initial bid price to the total, overall and true costs of the project, BVC is a market recovery boon to those contractors who are signatory to the Laborers and the other building trades unions in Wisconsin.
Signatory contractors in Wisconsin have demonstrated exemplary safety records in an industry that is statistically and literally one of the most dangerous in which to work. The unions from which these contractors draw their work force provide well-trained employees through apprenticeship programs that have been applauded as some of the best in the nation. BVC rewards these high safety and performance standards and holds non-performing bidders accountable for their deficiency in these standards.
BVC serves the construction unions and their signatory contractors well. When it is applied to public works construction projects, BVC also serves the taxpayer well because it provides a bidding vehicle that ensures quality and cost-effectiveness.
Thanks again to the following Laborers who staffed the Laborers Booth during the Wisconsin State Fair in August.
Jim Annis	Steve Bacco	Don Baake
Joel Bechitsao	Keith Brock	Dan Burke
Aaron Couillard	Bill Dunn	Nacarci Feaster
Tom Fisher	Mary Free	Al Friedl
Jim Grant	Louis Green	Mike Haggerty
Danielle Clark-Hernandez	John Klein	Tom Klein
John Krauss	Russ Leaman	Carl Markgraf
John Mathews	Jack Metzger	Earnest Mitchell
Steve Reimer	Tracy Reimer	Wendy Reimer
John Schmitt	Mike Wilburn	Bob Zillman

Health and Safety
Tobacco use: How does it affect Laborers
By Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America
Smoking rates for construction workers are even higher than for blue collar workers. About 48% of construction laborers in the U.S. smoke compared to 39% of all blue collar workers and 24% of white collar workers.
These numbers are alarming especially because so many laborers are exposed to hazardous materials and substances on the worksite that can make the consequences of smoking much worse. For example, if exposed to asbestos alone, the risk of lung cancer is multiplied by 5 times. If exposed to cigarette smoke alone, the risk of lung cancer is multiplied by 11 times. But, the risk of lung cancer for laborers who smoke and are exposed to asbestos is multiplied by 53 times – this is referred to as a synergistic effect.
In addition to asbestos, welding materials, coal, grain, silica, petrochemicals, aromatic amines, pesticides, cotton dust and ionizing radiation are just some of the materials that can cause this synergistic effect.
Smoking along with drinking alcoholic beverages can cause cancer. Alcohol acts as a primer for tobacco carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) making the risks for oral cancer and cancers of the throat and esophagus even greater. The cancer risk increases as the amount of alcohol increases.
The health and fitness of a laborer is very important for a continuing career in construction. With diseases affecting the heart and lung and their capabilities construction laborers who smoke will have a shorter career than non-smoking laborers.
Smokers are also more likely to be injured on the construction site. There is always a risk of fire and explosion when smoking around flammable materials found on the site. Smokers are also more likely to have injuries because of eye irritation, coughing, or having one hand occupied. These can all have an impact on the working life of a laborer.
Quitting tips
Getting ready to quit:
Set a date for quiting.
Notice when and why you smoke.
Change your smoking routines.
Smoke only in certain places.
Have a craving? Wait a few minutes.
Buy one pack at a time or switch brands.
On the day you quit:
Get rid of all your cigarettes.
Change your morning routine.
Have a craving? Do something else.
Carry other things to put in your mouth.
Reward yourself for not smoking.
Staying quit:
Don’t worry if you are sleepier or more short-tempered than usual; these feelings will pass.
Try to exercise more.
Consider the positive things about quiting.
Keep busy.
Eat regular meals.
Start a money jar with the money you save.
Tell others that you quit.
If you slip and smoke, don’t be discouraged – try again. Many former smokers tried to stop several times before they finally succeeded.
For more information contact the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America (202) 628-5465.

Smoking related facts for Laborers
Smoking causes 20% of heart disease deaths – which is the leading cause of death among laborers.
90% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking – laborers run a 20% higher risk of dying from lung cancer than others due to the combination of worksite exposures and smoking.
Tobacco causes 30% of cancer deaths in general – Laborers are at an increased risk of lung cancer as well as cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx.
Smoking causes 80% of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Smokers have a greater risk of impotence than non-smokers.

Training Center
Instructors sharpen skills through IDP
by Al Friedl, Training Director
Wisconsin Laborers’ Training Center instructors participated in the Laborers’ AGC 8^th Instructors Development Program (IDP) held in Miami, Florida June 3-9.
Instructors Mike John, Mike Wilburn, Ron Tremain and Jack Metzger attended classes that were held at Miami University.
IDP allows LIUNA Training Fund instructors to expand their technical and professional skills and knowledge through participation in classes, seminars and educational and training experiences.
The Program’s Technical courses focus on trade-specific knowledge, while the professional courses cover teaching methods and instructional management skills.
Industry and educational experts present the courses by integrating lectures, discussions and hands-on exercises. The Program is designed to lead instructors through a multi-year certification process. After earning a total of 300 credit hours, successfully completing the required professional and technical courses and developing a portfolio of instructional projects over a five-six year period, an instructor earns the title of "Certified Instructor of LIUNA Journey-workers and Apprentices." By providing instructors with this training, LIUNA craft Laborers become more skilled, productive and safe on the job.
Not only does the IDP allow instructors to sharpen their skills, but it also provides a forum for shaping ideas, and for expanding and updating technical knowledge.
The IDP is guided by the Instructor Certification Committee, which is made up of training directors, instructors, and labor-management leaders. The committee selects and processes input from the training funds, reviews records and portfolios and oversees the program.
The Wisconsin Laborers’ Training Center hopes to have all instructors complete the certification program so we may continue to provide a safe a productive work force.
Satellite Center
The Southeast Wisconsin Laborers’ Satellite Training Center has been operating for about a year and has already provided training to over two hundred laborers at the site and over 300 laborers off-site. In addition, nearly fifty laborers have received first aid/CPR certification through training available through the Satellite facility.
Many area contractors have acknowledged the value of regionally based training and the results it is having on a better trained, safer and more productive workforce.
Typically, classes at the Center are offered in the evening during the week and during the day on weekends. The Center has already issued a tentative schedule of classes for early 2001, with plans for new classes, including cutting torch and blasting, underway. For more information on the Southeast Wisconsin Laborers’ Satellite Training Center, or to arrange plans to tour the facility, please call the Center at 414-389-0734.

Ask your lawyer
by Thomas J. Flanagan
Thomas J. Flanagan is an attorney with the law firm of Previant, Goldberg, Uelmen, Gratz, Miller & Brueggeman, S.C. Union members may call the law firm for a free consultation regarding all personal injury matters. In the Milwaukee area please call 414/271-4500, Green Bay 920/863-3500 or Waukesha at 262/549-6300 or call our statewide toll free number 800/841-5232.
What is a Will?
A will is a written document that provides for the disposition of an individual's property at the time of his or her death. It is sometimes referred to as a Last Will and Testament. The person who makes the will is called the testator. A person who dies with a valid will is said to have died testate. A person who dies with no will, or with a will that is not valid, is said to have died intestate.
A will may also contain requests regarding the testator's children, including their care, well-being and economic support.
What is Probate?
Probate is the court procedure that establishes the legal transfer of a deceased's property and carries out the terms of his or her will, if any. Wisconsin has different types of procedures, including formal and informal probate, depending on the value and complexity of the estate. These different types of probate are used to effectively close the deceased's formal affairs and distribute his or her property either according to a will or in compliance with the laws of intestate succession (distribution of property of someone who dies without a will).
In Wisconsin probate proceedings, the will is filed in the circuit court in the county where the deceased lived. One of the initial steps is to file a petition to have a personal representative (executor) appointed. The personal representative is usually the individual named to this position in the will. If there is not a will, this position is usually filled by a close family member capable of handling the task.
A complete inventory and valuation of the deceased's property is prepared and filed with the court. The personal representative then proceeds to pay all debts he or she believes are justly owed and eventually sells and distributes any remaining property to the deceased's heirs, family members or others as provided in the will or by the laws of intestacy.
Although the personal representative has the responsibility of seeing that the terms of the will are carried out and the deceased's estate is opened, managed and closed according to state law, meet personal representatives hire an attorney to assist with the probate process.