I have made the difficult decision to cancel all regular monthly Local 49 Union meetings for the month of May. This includes the Minneapolis General Membership meeting. IUOE General President Callahan has given Business Managers across the country the discretion to take this action, and we are not alone in doing so. We will again this month have an Executive Board Meeting, and we will post the minutes of the Executive Board Meeting for April and May in the members-only website so members can see what was acted on. We will also again keep this agenda simple.
In addition, at the next Minneapolis General Membership meeting (which will hopefully be in June), we will be running all business through the membership from April and May. While the stay at home orders are being eased, CDC and state guidelines still have strict bans on gatherings of more than ten people and also requirements to maintain 6 feet of social distancing. This makes having a union meeting indoors difficult.
We will continue to update members on what is happening with the union, with work, and with all other matters via the website, email, and social media. Union halls will continue to be open for day to day business over the phone, and business agents will remain on the job to deal with membership issues (as they have been this whole time).
We ask the membership to continue to work safely on job sites, and we are hearing that things are going well on that front, so keep up the great work. If there are issues regarding safety at work, please contact your business agent, and we will address them. We also ask for your patience in terms of meetings. We desperately want to get back to them, but we also need to be smart and not take unnecessary risks with member’s health.
As always, if you have questions, feel free to give me a call here at the office 612-877-3710 is my direct number.
Take care of yourselves, this will eventually end, and we look forward to getting back to visiting with each other in person.
Jason George
Business Manager
