FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

I’m hopeful everyone had a nice, enjoyable, and safe Memorial Holiday weekend.  I would like to say thank you to those who served and please join me in remembering those who never made it out of the uniform.  I can’t believe June is already here but again what choice do we have, right.  And, how about Mother Nature flexing her muscles with the recent Spring Storm that hit Central Montana.  She really roared in and inflicted a ton of damage to NWE’s system and the Cooperatives lines as well.  Many of our Local 44 members responded to the trouble and worked extremely long hours and days.  NorthWestern Energy, Asplundh Tree, Davey Tree, Potelco, RMC, Mountain Power, Outback Power, Fergus Electric, Beartooth Electric, and ELM Locating members all stepped up and banded together to do their parts to get the lights back on.  It truly takes a “TEAM” effort, everyone from the NWE Mobile Dispatchers taking thousands of customer calls and then organizing those to the NWE GOCC Transmission System Operators coordinating the Transmission system lines as well.  All involved members played a significant role.   In trying times like these, it’s great to see the unity and comradery necessary to get the work done safely.  I know Fergus Electric Cooperative’s system got nailed badly and thankfully they got assistance from Outback Power and Beartooth Electric Cooperative members to restore power to their customers.  Now with all that mess in the rear-view mirror, somewhat anyway, hopefully everyone involved has had a chance to rest up and recharge themselves for the Summertime ahead. 

As work begins to ramp up, I can’t help but to remind all members to consistently check in with their coworkers and put each other’s safety at the forefront day in and day out.  Mental health issues are real, and they are prevalent in our industry.  I encourage every one of you to do daily checks on one another and not be afraid to communicate, and I don’t mean send a text message.  I mean verbally talk to each other.  Hey, what better way to do that is by holding a morning tailboard discussion.  Safety is about many things but cognizant recognition of one’s surroundings and evaluating people’s mental and physical characteristics is very crucial.  Learn to give a darn and believe it or not that behavior usually becomes contagious.  In closing, please try hard to plan the work and then work the plan.

In Unity,

Scott Klungland

406-565-6839

FROM THE ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER

One of the first training courses to check off the list when you enter the Union Hall is a two-week Business Manager Training put on by seasoned members of the International Office. During the first week I attended, our instructor was painting the picture of entering our new positions and how likely we would have forms of stress and discomfort unlike what we have experienced or dealt with up to this point in our careers. For me this was held to be very true.  All the new members who had stepped up in their new roles at their Local Unions were given an overview of the knowledge we would need to obtain in order to effectively navigate these roles as well as advice from seasoned veterans on how to manage the never-ending workload, while still being able to remain mentally and physically strong.  The visual that I return to most in my mind is a story about coffee.  The boiling water is a representation of how the members and employers are both at some point not going to be happy with the direction things are going and the turmoil that can exist.  When the coffee grounds are poured into the water instantly the water changes color then the sugar and maybe some creamer are added and of course these can represent labor disputes, good and bad contracts, etc...  The sugar and the creamer only do so much as when they hit the water they instantly change and mix to the point they can’t be taken out of the water as they are now mixed, and the original product is no longer able to be removed from the water.  During this process of making a cup of coffee that most people would ultimately enjoy drinking, every ingredient has completely changed short of one.  This part of the ingredient is removed once the drink is made.  This part of the ingredient is spat out if it enters a person’s mouth.  This part of the ingredient is the least desirable of all the ingredients once the coffee is made.  The best part of this ingredient though is it has the same texture, the same color and yes it may have changed slightly but it remains mostly the same as when it entered the boiling water even when thrown in the trash!  Hmmmm, now that I think of it, I wonder what tea is like?

Your Brother,

Kyle Hintz

(406) 565-3250 khintz@ibew44.org        

MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZER

Hello everyone, hope all is going well with you and your families.  I spoke on the phone this morning with one of our members about some issues he is having at work and during this conversation he admitted to me that his issues are probably being escalated because of some personal things going on in his life.  I took this comment to heart and started talking to him about some of his private life that he was willing to share.  Obviously, I am not a therapist, but I have had personal problems like everyone has had.  I shared with him that all of us must define that work life balance and draw a very defined line in the dirt for these two things.  In my experience, once I allowed myself to bring work home or home to work nothing good has ever come from it.  The other thing I told him is that I will always be here to talk to him about anything he wants to talk about, and to call me anytime.  The reason I am bringing this up is because I think it is human nature to assume that everybody at work is ok, or that nobody has it as rough as you do. Neither of these things are true.  We all have issues, some more than others, but in my opinion we should all look out for each other and offer that person someone to talk to.  That is called brotherhood, that word doesn’t only mean that we work for the same union, it means that we will be there for each other in times of need and when our brothers or sisters need to talk about something.  The old way of thinking that to be tough and hold it in needs to change.  I am not saying that we need to go out and try to get everyone to talk about their feelings, but I am saying that we need to offer that shoulder if someone reaches for it.

The golf tournament is all but filled up for teams and looking to be a great fun filled event with a ton of people and companies donating and wanting to be part of it.  So, I personally want to thank everyone to date that has put forth the effort to help.

Your Brother,

Boe Shuman

(406) 533-8170 bshuman@ibew44.org

DUES INCREASE REMINDER

The Delegates of the 40^th IBEW International Convention, which was held in May 2022, approved amendments to Article IX of the IBEW Constitution.  Accordingly, there will be a Basic dues increase of $1.00 for “A” members starting after you have paid through June 2024.  The new Basic “A” rate will be $49.00 monthly.  The Basic “BA” rate will increase $1.00, and the new rate will be $28.00 monthly.  Any member that is on dues deduct with your employer; they will not start to deduct the extra dollars until July 2024 no matter when it is due for you.  So please pay attention to the receipt that is mailed to you and pay any difference that you may owe.  Printed at the top middle of the receipt will be a negative balance if you owe money, and it will print a positive balance if you have credit. 

YEARS OF SERVICE

The following is the list of Years of Service Pins for 2024.  We will once again have a pin presentation at the Montana Lineman’s Rodeo on July 20^th at the Townsend, MT Fairgrounds.  Please RSVP to the Hall at 406-723-3203 if you would like to receive your pin at the rodeo.  If you do not RSVP for the rodeo, then your pin will be mailed to the address that is currently on file in the Hall.  If you think you have a pin coming and you are not on the list, please contact the Hall and we will look into it for you.  Thank you for your cooperation and congratulations to all of you.

25 Years                               25 Years (continued)     30 Years                           35 Years                           40 Years                                                                  

Ryan D’Autremont             Wally Peel                         Michael Gillespie             Richard Curry                 William Beckman

Stephen Douglass                Barton Peterson               Pat Kanta                           Duane Mellinger            James Leding

Greg Flesch                           Donald Provence             Lance Kidder                    Charles Romerio             Bryon Stillwagon

James Frazier                        Fred Raunig                      James Leary                     Brian Schweigert             Kerry Thorson

David Friede                         Olin Rindal                       James Lee                         John Zacha 

Joshua Granell                      Boe Shuman                    George Tregear

William Grant                      Loren Skoyen                   Marvin Vaughn

Joshua Keller                        Michael Smith                               

Clifford Maier                      Jeffery Stewart                              

Jason McDonald                  Chris Sullivan

Tom Nielsen                         Donald Weaver

Nolan Parker                        Luke Zuelke

45 Years                               50 Years                           55 Years                           60 Years                           65 Years              

James Babst                       Douglas Amos                  Charles Arbizzani            Robert Bergstrom           Ronald Guisti

Kimball Cook                    Fred Clark                         Bill Banfield                     Frank Campbell

Don Craig                          Mark Dickhausen            Clarence Eide                  William Warnke

Steven Daer                       Chuck Dixon                     Dennis Gibbs

Terry Doble                       Kenneth Ferguson            Neil Horne

Bryan Finkbeiner               John Finn                           James Isaacs

Timothy Glueckert            Robert Florea                    Donald Kude

Leo Haynes                       Gerald Hystad                   Ronald Mitchell

James Krick                       Kenneth Kaufman           Terry Richardson

Calvin Long                       John Kougioulis                Richard Soha

Trace Sweeney                  Dean Lawson                    Larry Steuben

George Tolliver                 Joseph Piazzola                Richard Williamson

John Westby                      William Russell               

John Whitaker                                                                                                                                              

IN MEMORIAM

Local 44 mourns the loss of retired member Larry Weidinger, who passed away on May 8, 2024.  Our sincere condolences go out to his family and friends.  He will be missed by many.

JUNE UNIT MEETINGS

We will be holding one General Unit Meeting in the months of June, July & August, on video, via the Zoom App.  You can easily access Zoom by downloading the app onto your home computer, laptop, iPad, tablet or cell phone.  Please see below and use the login info to access Zoom and attend the meeting.  The call-in number to join by phone is (253) 215-8782.

Executive Board will be scheduled throughout the summer.  Have a good and safe summer!

June 12, 2024              6:00 PM          ID – 875 8203 3284                Passcode – 037230