Operating Engineers 324

Operating Engineers 324 is giving away FOUR (4) tickets to OE324 members in good standing to 3 more United Shore Professional Baseball League games! The games are played at Jimmy John's Field at 7171 Auburn Rd, Utica, MI 48317, and are a great time for baseball fans and the family alike.

To enter, email your name, registration number, and up to three preferred dates to [email protected] by noon, July 18. Winners will be notified Friday.

Sunday, July 21 – 1:05 pm (Shark Week Day)
Thursday, August 8 – 7:05 pm (Motorcycle Night)
Wednesday, August 21 – 7:05 pm (Classic Car Night)

The USPBL was launched in 2016 and have had 45 players signed up by Major League organizations, the most notable one being pitcher Randy Dobnak with the Minnesota Twins! The USPBL is a four-team independent league consisting of the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers, Eastside Diamond Hoppers, Utica Unicorns and Westside Woolly Mammoths.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - The 2024 Solidarity Motorcycle Ride and Car/Bike Show is scheduled for Sunday, August 25! Register now and join your OE324 Brothers and Sisters on a motorcycle ride from Detroit to Howell, or to showcase your vintage ride at the OE324 Construction Career Center. Entry is $25, and members, family and friends are welcome to join us. Participants get coffee and donuts in Detroit and an event T-shirt, followed by lunch in Howell.

Proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project, Detroit Goodfellows, and the IUOE Local 324 Retiree Club.

Sign up today, and join us in showing we're !

The July OE324 General Membership Meeting is this Wednesday, July 17 at the OE324 Construction Career Center at 275 E. Highland Rd, Howell, MI 48855 at 8:00 PM.

The meeting will be broadcast to Freeland, Gladstone, Grand Rapids, Grayling, and Sault Ste. Marie. The Sault Ste. Marie meeting broadcast will be held at the Kewadin Casino, 2186 Shunk Road, Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783, in the Lower Tahquamenon Falls Room .

We look forward to seeing you there!

Operating Engineers Local 324 Journeyman & Apprentice Training Fund · 275 E Highland Rd, Howell, MI 48843 ★★★★★ · Training centre

Operating Engineers 324 is giving away EIGHT (8) tickets to OE324 members in good standing to the 7h Annual Greater Detroit Union Sportsmen's Alliance Conservation Dinner on Friday, August 23, 2024!

To enter, email your name and registration number to [email protected] by noon, July 15. Winners will be selected at random the afternoon of July 15, and notified Tuesday, July 16th.

Each winner receives a ticket to the event including dinner, as well as enters them for the chance to win prizes at the event including a Henry Classic Lever Action .22 or 40-qt. Orca cooler! The dinner is Friday, August 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm, and is held at the IBEW Local 58 Hall in Detroit.

The Union Sportsmen's Alliance mission is to unite the union community through conservation to preserve North America's outdoor heritage.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: On Saturday, July 13, Operating Engineers 324 is proud to once again sponsor and host the American Cancer Society Construction vs Cancer Big Dig fundraiser at the OE324 Construction Career Center in Howell.

Sign up to volunteer!

Equipment Operator Volunteers: https://tinyurl.com/yeet44w5

Non Equipment Volunteers: https://tinyurl.com/28pwnu4d

This event is amazing and gives families the opportunity to have their children operate Heavy Equipment, as well as welcomes pediatric cancer survivors to climb in and enjoy a day as an Operating Engineer! This event raises money for the fight against cancer, and we are grateful, along with many of our contractors and partners, to be able to help.

This event has been so successful that the tickets are sold out, but we are looking for volunteers to help with the event, both with equipment and for the facility.
If you are interested, please sign up at the link below for your desired time and thank you in advance for your assistance with this.

Fill | 2024 Big Dig Volunteer Signup - Equipment Operators Please complete the below form for CERTIFIED EQUIPMENT OPERATORS

Happy 4th of July, from your brothers and sisters at .

Yesterday, Operating Engineers from Operating Engineers 324 and International Union Of Operating Engineers, Local 793 met at the center roadway deck of the new connecting Detroit and Windsor for a ceremonial handshake and celebration of the two spans meeting.

Construction of the bridge began in fall 2018 and the bridge deck was simultaneously built out from both sides of the river to meet in the middle.

The bridge crosses the Detroit River with twin 722-foot towers, and is 1½ miles long with a bridge deck 0.53 miles long — the longest main span of a cable-stayed bridge in North America.

The project has also included road improvements leading to the bridge on both American and Canadian sides, as well as a massive new Port of Entry complex on the American side.

Hundreds of Operating Engineers have worked on the project shaping the skyline of the Detroit/Windsor area for generations to come.

The bridge, approaches, and POE work continues, with an estimated completion in the Fall of 2025!

Please note that there was a misprint in the print version of the Summer 2024 Engineers' News.

The August 2024 General Membership Meeting is 12:00 noon on Sunday, August 11 at the Northern Michigan Construction Career Center, 802 Clark Dr., Gladstone, MI

Thank you.

802 Clark Dr · 802 Clark Dr, Gladstone, MI 49837 802 Clark Dr, Gladstone, MI 49837

Operating Engineers 324 will be accepting applications for the OE324 Stationary Engineer and HVAC Technician Apprenticeship programs online beginning July 15, 2024!

Visit https://www.oe324.org/stationary for requirements and for more details!

Next Tuesday, June 25, the OE324 JATF is offering an Industrial and Rough Terrain Forklift Certification class at 8:00 am at the Construction Career Center in Howell.

Please call 517-546-9610 to register your spot!

Operating Engineers Local 324 Journeyman & Apprentice Training Fund · 275 E Highland Rd, Howell, MI 48843 ★★★★★ · Training centre

The June OE324 General Membership Meeting is this Wednesday, June 19, at 8:00 PM at the Operating Engineers 324 Grand Rapids West Michigan Construction Career Center at 900 40th Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI. The meeting will be broadcast to Detroit, Freeland, Gladstone, Grayling, and Sault Ste. Marie. The Sault Ste. Marie meeting broadcast will be held at the Kewadin Casino, 2186 Shunk Road, Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783, in the Grand Island Room.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Operating Engineers 324 - West Michigan Construction Career Center · 900 40th St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 Apprenticeship center

Happy Father's Day, to all of the fathers, dads, pops, grandfathers, padres, husbands, brothers, father figures, and friends we are lucky enough to know. And a special shout-out to those members who are fathers themselves - enjoy your day!

Friday, August 2nd is Operating Engineers 324 Night At The Races at the Tri-City Motor Speedway! Show your union card and get $5 off your ticket, and join for a night of fast racing and family fun!

On Saturday, June 22, the Michigan Labor History Society is holding it's FREE annual meeting at the Operating Engineers 324 Stationary Engineer Career Center at 1550 Howard St. in Detroit. A Labor History Bus Tour leaves at 1:00 pm, followed by a talk with Journalist Kim Kelly, author of "Fight Like Hell - The Untold History of American Labor" at 4:00. You can register now at https://tinyurl.com/4rr9j3xt

This looks to be a great event, so sign up and learn about the rich history of labor in Detroit!

Operating Engineers 324 is giving away EIGHT tickets to OE324 members in good standing to the Inaugural Roofers Ann Arbor Conservation Dinner on Tuesday, June 25, 2024!

To enter, email your name and registration number to [email protected] by noon, June 5. Winners will be selected at random the afternoon of June 6, and notified Friday, June 7.

Each winner receives a ticket to the event including dinner, as well as enters them for the chance to win prizes at the event including a Savage Axis II, Barnett Whitetail Hunter STR crossbow, or 40-qt. Orca cooler! The dinner is Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 5:30 pm, and is held at UA Local 190 in Ann Arbor.

The Union Sportsmen's Alliance mission is to unite the union community through conservation to preserve North America's outdoor heritage.

honors those who sacrificed and gave all for our country, and celebrate this day with solemn remembrance, thanks, and peace.

Last Friday, representatives of the Stationary Engineer Career Center met with Mount Clemens High School HVAC instructor Larry Ireland and his class. They discussed the unique program and opportunities in the skilled trades of Stationary Engineer and HVAC Technician.

Ireland’s program is open to all Macomb County High School students, and provides both hands on and classroom instruction. Students even shadow contractors that perform work in the building as well as district maintenance staff (of which Ireland is one).

We left impressed with all of the work that Ireland has done, as well as of the support that the Mount Clemens Community School District and Macomb County has provided in setting up the HVAC program. More importantly, we look forward to building a relationship with this and future HVAC programs in High Schools to help the next generation of stationary engineers find their future in OE324!

The May General Membership Meeting will be held this Wednesday, May 15, at the OE324 Stationary Ed Center at 1550 Howard, Detroit, MI at 6:00pm. The meeting will be broadcast to Freeland, Gladstone, Grand Rapids, Grayling, and Sault Ste. Marie. The Sault Ste. Marie meeting broadcast will be held at the Kewadin Casino, 2186 Shunk Road, Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783, in the Grand Island Room.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Operating Engineers 324 Stationary Engineer Education Center · 1550 Howard St, Detroit, MI 48216 ★★★★★ · Training centre

Happy Mother's Day, to all of the moms, grandmothers, wives, sisters and friends we are lucky enough to know. And a special thank you to those members who are mothers themselves - enjoy your day!

Last Saturday, held the inaugural "OE324 Day" at the Sam T. Hart Construction Career Center in Howell. By combining the annual Family Day and Retiree Picnic (Howell), we were able to have a bigger event that welcomed hundreds of Operating Engineers 324 members, retirees, and their families out for a full day of fun, fellowship, and enjoyment. We had equipment available for members and retirees alike to share a bit of hands-on experience of what OE324 members do everyday to build Michigan's infrastructure, a health fair, many vendors from our Fringe Benefits and the Midwest Coalition of Labor, a picnic where everyone could break bread together and celebrate anniversaries, a raffle with dozens of prizes, and more! It was a record attendance, and a great time was had by all!

Registration is open now for our Stationary Engineer General Building Maintenance class, designed to increase maintenance knowledge and skills. This course starts May 28, is 11-weeks, and meets on Tuesdays from 6-10 pm to cover electrical wiring, proper use of electrical testers and meters (volt, amp, ohm and watt), lighting systems, basic plumbing and piping, drywall, motors, starter circuits and other areas of interest. Call 313-532-5345 for registration or more information!

Registration for Summer semester is open now as well, so reserve your spot today!

“I was a groundskeeper without any mechanical background before joining the apprenticeship,” said Ashley Moll, Operating Engineers 324 Stationary Engineer Apprentice who is currently working at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, “but I wanted to learn a trade and have a good paying job where I wasn’t stuck behind a desk. This apprenticeship has been invaluable to me. Classroom education, paired with hands-on experience has taught me so much. I feel far more confident than I ever have with just schoolwork alone. My coworkers are eager to share their knowledge as well, and I highly recommend a registered apprenticeship to anyone considering it. It has been so worth it!”

“I saw heavy equipment and knew that working on them would always keep my interest,” said Operating Engineers 324 Technician Apprentice Karl O’Bryant, currently in the second year of his Registered Apprenticeship with Hoffman Brothers in Battle Creek. “Since the first day of my apprenticeship, I’ve just been learning like crazy – everything I can, about the systems that powers these big machines, and how to keep them running. I get paid to learn things and gain knowledge. I get to do something I love, learn everything I can about it, and make a great living, thanks to Registered Apprenticeship.”

90-Million-Dollar-Investment-Propels-Expansion-of-Registered-Apprenticeship-Programs MiSTEM convenes a statewide network of leaders in education, business and local communities to empower the next generation of innovators.

Last Thursday concluded the 2024 Michigan Construction Career Days, put together by M.A.S.C.I. Thanks to the hard work of dozens of volunteers, a record number of schools, exhibitors, and sponsors, and so many great partners (not to mention the best weather we have had in years), a RECORD NUMBER of 7-12 grade students were inspired by the Construction Industry and the careers offered within.

Thank you to every single person who helped make this years event the best ever, and lets start looking forward to next year's event!

Yesterday was day one of the 2024 Michigan Construction Career Days, put together by M.A.S.C.I, hosted at the Construction Career Center, and featuring a record number of exhibitors, contractors, trades, colleges and government organizations, all giving 7-12 grade students a HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITY to learn about the Construction Industry and the many amazing careers within it! With dozens of sponsors there and perfect weather, two thousand students came through in the first day alone. Governor Gretchen Whitmer showed up as well, and spoke with instructors, students, and even a few pieces of equipment! Day two promises to be even better, and we are proud to showcase our industry and trade, as well as join so many partners to do so!

Once more, we honor those who lost their lives on the job, and continue to dedicate ourselves to fighting to make sure every worker returns home safely at the end of their day.

Last Saturday, participants and their guests competed in the 2024 Operating Engineers 324 Walleye Fishing Tournament in Detroit! We had a record number of participants, and raised money for the OE324 Retiree Club and the United Way of Saginaw's "Project Independence"! Thank you to everyone who came out, braved the choppy waters, or just enjoyed a fish fry and fellowship, and a special thank you to our sponsors for this year's event!

HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR OE324 Day - Saturday, May 4?
https://shorturl.at/dDIX6!

We've combined Family Day and the Retiree Picnic and Health Awareness Fair to create a new OE324 DAY with food, fellowship, and fun for the whole family, and you can even show them the equipment we work on every day...and have them try it out! Equipment is available from 8:00 am to 11:30, lunch is at noon, and there will be raffles, giveaways and photos! RSVP now to save your spot, and download the waiver for equipment!

2024 OE 324 Day - Family Day & Retiree Picnic There's food and fun for the whole family, and you can even show them the equipment we work on every day...and have them try it out! Volunteers will be there to help member families operate some of the equipment we use on job sites and in training throughout Michigan. 8:00 am - 2:00 pm: Health Aware...

"“GFL has consistently refused to treat us, their employees, with dignity or respect”, said GFL driver Ernie Schiffer. “That is why we organized. Since then, GFL has actually made things worse by withholding our promised cost-of-living wage increase with inflation squeezing us tighter. We are fighting for better working conditions and fair wages because the work we do is vital and makes GFL a lot of profit. The public should know just how little respect GFL has for its American workers.”"

Employees at Green for Life, North America’s fourth-largest waste company that serves communities in metro Detroit, are raising awareness about the company’s refusal to pay their workers fair wages and benefits, create a better work environment, and engaging in unfair practices. GFL’s 150 employees at Wayne are union members of Operating Engineers 324, which has been trying to negotiate with GFL in good faith to reach a contract that raises worker wages and benefits – currently below the industry standard – and improves workplace safety.

“People and customers deserve to know the hardworking men and women at Green For Life are significantly undercompensated, even as they do some of the most difficult, essential, and potentially dangerous work in their communities,” said Douglas Stockwell, OE324 Business Manager. “GFL workers and this union are simply asking for fair treatment from their employer, which reports billions of dollars in revenue and can surely afford to pay their employees a fair wage and benefits.”

Ontario-based GFL has made little progress in negotiations, including using delay tactics, even as it pressures workers through rule changes and threats to wages and even continued employment. GFL employees are currently engaged in a banner action to make the public and GFL customers aware of their labor dispute against GFL’s actions and tactics in mistreating their employees so consumers can make informed decisions about their waste management needs.

GFL driver Alontayi Henley said: “GFL employees work hard every day to help the company succeed and keep their customers satisfied. We have been able to do this despite constant challenges from management, unfair treatment, and a lack of respect. We are trying to raise awareness with the public that GFL is not treating employees with the dignity and fairness we deserve. We are asking that GFL treat us like assets to the company, and negotiate to get us a contract that addresses these issues: a safer work environment, fair wages and benefits, and the back pay we’ve earned.”

The National Labor Relations Board has issued an unfair labor practice complaint charging GFL with violations of the National Labor Relations Act, including withholding workers’ wages, discharging 24 employees, refusing to bargain in good faith and using other punitive measures against its own employees, such as withholding cost-of-living wage adjustments. The wages and backpay from discharges equal nearly $1.2 million.

GFL has facilities throughout Canada and in more than half of U.S. states. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, GFL’s stock has doubled in value since 2020. The company reported revenue of $8 billion in 2023 and completed acquisitions of smaller waste management companies in 2023 that generated $355 million.

OE324 represents 15,000 workers that include heavy equipment operators, technicians, stationary engineers and workers in the waste management industry, among others. GFL employees voted overwhelmingly to join OE324 in 2022, despite a union busting effort from GFL estimated to cost the company more than $250,000. GFL’s operations in Canada are largely unionized.

Workers and union begin bannering action to inform public about unfair treatment and labor practices by GFL Metro Detroit waste company treats employees like trash Workers and union begin bannering action to inform public about unfair treatment and labor practices WAYNE, Michigan – Employees at Green for…