TEAM REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 18, 2011
Brothers and Sisters,
The New Member Orientation was held on Wednesday, December 14th. It was informative for all in attendance. Attendance wasn't quite as good as we had hoped but it did grow throughout the day. New members learned how their union functions, the benefits of standing together as one, how dues dollars are distributed, the use of their Weingarten Rights and much more valuable information. The Education Committee will be holding more of these orientations in the future. All members are welcome to attend regardless of seniority because the information shared is valuable for everyone. Thanks to Jerry Urbanec, Nick Richards and Chris Hart from the Education Committee for all the work they put into preparing for this event and also thanks to everyone else that helped. Special thanks to retirees Curt Simmons, Gus Hanson and Jim Minnis for sharing their experiences with the new members.
The Membership Christmas Party was a huge success. Members from all shifts filled the hall throughout the day. Breakfast was served to our third shift members who made such a showing that we had to run to the store for more supplies to feed them. The afternoon and evening crowd kept the hall filled with laughter and solidarity among the brothers and sisters. Congratulations to all the raffle winners, Sterling Johnson, Megan Siekierka, Mark Patton, Nick Richards, Chris Hart, Jayme Gerdovich, Jim Harper, Gene Havelka, Jim Tri, Sue Amundson, Ron Burt, Tom Crossen, Orval Leonberger, Greg Olson and Dusty McCance.
The winning tickets were pulled for the Community Service Committee's Westfield Shopping Center gift card raffle and Committee Chairman Nick Richards presented Ryan Dowd, Executive Director of Hesed House in Aurora, with $800 worth of gift cards for its residents. The winners of the gift card raffle were Steve Owens – 1st prize, Dusty McCance – 2nd prize and Lori Haff-DeLancy – 3rd prize. Thanks to everyone that helped to sell the tickets and especially to everyone that purchased them.
The union hall will close on Friday, December 23rd, for the Christmas vacation shutdown and re-open on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Enjoy this holiday time with your families and friends. We hope to see many of you next year at the January 8th Membership Meeting.
The officers and staff of UAW Local 145 wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
