05/16/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 5/16/2000 and that the responsible contracting piece comes next. She thanks Mr. Ross for sharing those same concerns and hopes that when they come back to deal with the responsible contracting piece, the ABC will be on their side. Duke Benevento, 381 Darby's Run, Bay Village: • Previously lived at 27845 Lorain Road. Graduate of North Olmsted High School, a union built school that is still standing. Member of NECA, National Electrical Contractors Association, and owner of Herbst Electrical. There are members here tonight from NECA, from Cleveland Building Trades Association, the business manager of Local 38 and a group of concerned residents. He wasn't going to speak until Mr. Ross starting talking about the ABC apprenticeship program. One of his duties as a member of NECA is to be a member of JATC, Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. They have about a two and a half million dollar project that is paralleled by none in the State of Ohio. There are approximately 260 electrical apprentices in the progam going to school days, journeymen are going nights. They have a residential program, a teledata program. Apprentices graduate as a bona fide wireman after five years of an apprenticeship with 8,000 hours of on-the job training. He challenges Mr. Ross to get up and tell what his apprenticeship program is and if his journeymen are even qualified to pass his second year apprentice tests. Al Moore, 6154 Surrey Drive: • Local 38 member and also a small contractor for 14 years. He usually employs between 4 and 12 electricians. He wasn't going to speak until Alan Ross spoke. What really "frosts" him about what Mr. Ross talked about was the word "competitive." He puts in a lot of long, hard days and he bids almost exclusively against non-union contractors (people that Alan Ross represents). He has never met any non-union construction workers that have been through an apprenticeship program. Most of the contractors on the jobs are usually non-unions because he has a small shop. He has never met any of those people--they have usually learned the hard way. He is fortunate, lives here in Bretton Ridge. Able to do that because he is a Local 38 member and earns a decent wage and so do his employees. They've got a pension, 401-K, hospitalization paid for. Mr. Ross can't say that for his "boys." He doesn't have any trouble finding residential electricians to work for him--has more applications than he can handle. They want the wage and the hospitalization--they want to live the American dream. There is no secret to what Mr. Ross does--cutting wages to turn aprofit--it has gone on since the beginning of times. Thanks for Council's effort on this matter to create a level, fair playing field. They're competitive--over 2,000 of them out there, Local 38 electricians working everyday. Lots of them on overtime. This has gone on for a long, long time. If you want quality, fairness, a responsible employer, this is the right way to go. Edward Dietz, 5494 Porter Road: • Resident for over 10 years, member of Local 120 for 45 years. The statement Mr. Ross made that there have never been any complaints to OSHA about safety on jobs or wages is wrong. He has talked to non-union people that have come from out of state working for out of state general contractors and they said, if they bring any 13