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June President’s Report

Jun 2, 2022 | President, President's Corner, Recent News

Brothers and Sisters,

Article XX Sec. 4 of the I.B.E.W. Constitution states the Obligation: “I,        name        , in the presence of members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, promise and agree to conform to and abide by the Constitution and laws of the I.B.E.W. and its L.U.’s. I will further the purposes for which the I.B.E.W. is instituted. I will bear true allegiance to it and will not sacrifice its interest in any manner.”

Obligation. This word carries responsibility. Every Sister and Brother takes the Obligation when they join Local 520. The lofty goals of the I.B.E.W. are affirmed in the first few pages of the Constitution with the Declaration and the Objects. Since we agreed “to conform to and abide by the Constitution”, it’s our duty to strive to achieve these goals. We are also held accountable for upholding our Collective Bargaining Agreement and Bylaws. This is no small task that I know we are more than capable of handling.

I want to stress our Obligation and thereby responsibility we have to each other. Over 40 years ago Local 520 Sisters and Brothers had the foresight and compassion to make the changes needed to create the Death Benefit Fund. They sacrificed and made sure that any Local 520 member in good standing had a Death Benefit with enough money to help pay for a funeral. It’s such a simple notion, each of us chipping in to help pay for the burial of their loved one, that’s meant so much. Sharing the cost of a funeral is the least we can do for families in their time of grief.

Our Death Benefit Fund helped to pay for the funerals of 452 of our Sisters and Brothers. We united to help 452 families in their time of need.

Then, due to a minority of Local 520 members not living up to their responsibilities and not living up to their Obligation, our Death Benefit Fund ran out of money. A tradition that ran for over 40 years was gone. Thankfully, we had great caring Sisters and Brothers who stepped up and paid ahead on Death Benefits – some paid as many as 68 Death Benefits forward. This allowed us to help fund the last few funerals and take care of the families because when an I.B.E.W. Local 520 member in good standing passes away, the beneficiary can pick up the Death Benefit check immediately.

Sadly, we still have Local 520 members who have not lived up to their Obligation and still owe Death Benefits. If your name is on the list and you have not paid up to DB 452, please be responsible and pay. Sisters and Brothers dug deep into their pockets to take care of grieving families for you. We also had dedicated members who made the necessary changes to our Bylaws and saved the Death Benefit. The fund is gone; however, we have a $10,000 Death Benefit thanks to good Sisters and Brothers on the Bylaws Committee and at the Union meeting.

Any member who has not paid up to Death Benefit 452 is in violation of the Local 520 Bylaws at the time and will be charged if the arrearage is not paid.

The hard-working Sisters and Brothers on the Trial Board have conducted over 250 hearings in 7 months. We still have around 150 active members listed in this Trailblazer, all of which are in violation of failure to pay Death Benefits within 30 days. Failure to pay DB 452 is a transgression that is more than 90 days past that 30-day window.

If you recognize someone on this list, please reach out to them and ask if they need assistance paying. Please make that phone call and remind that person of their responsibility to grieving families and the Sisters and Brothers who covered their payment for them. Please provide aid for each other because that is what we do – we help each other and will continue assisting “each other in sickness or distress.”

In Solidarity,  Kasey Lansangan