Sep 14, 2017 | Departments, Education, Featured, Home
The 2018 IAM Scholarship Competition is now accepting applications. The competition is open to members of the IAM and their children throughout the United States and Canada under procedures and rules of eligibility explained in this Announcement. The IAM Scholarship Fund, which is used exclusively to make possible these awards, was established by the delegates of the 1960 IAM Grand Lodge Convention.
SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION OVERVIEW
The Scholarship Competition
Scholarships to make possible the attainment of a Bachelor’s degree or a two-year vocational/technical certification are determined in a competition among eligible applicants that is judged by a special Selection Committee.
Amount of the Awards
Awards to members are $2,000 per academic year. They are granted for a specific period from one to four years to enable the member to earn a Bachelor’s degree or a two-year vocational/technical certification.
Awards to Children of Members are: College — $1,000 per academic year. All awards are renewed each year until a Bachelor’s degree is obtained up to a maximum of four years. Vocational/Technical School — $2,000 per year until certification is reached up to a maximum of two years.
ELIGIBILITY FOR COMPETITION
An Eligible Applicant Must Be Either—
- an IAM member; or
- the son, daughter, stepchild or legally adopted child of an IAM member.
A Member Applicant –
- must have two years of continuous good-standing membership through the closing date of the competition which is February 23, 2018;
- may apply either when entering college or vocational/technical school as a freshman or at a higher level with some college credits already completed;
- may apply as a full-time or part-time student; and
- if not a winner, may apply again the following year.
Child of a Member Applicant –
- must have one living parent with two years of continuous good-standing membership through the closing date of February 23, 2018;
- will be eligible if the parent member died after the son or
daughter entered high school, and the parent had two years of “continuous good-standing membership” at the time of death;
- A “continuous good-standing membership” is understood to be a period of membership during which the member continuously paid monthly dues uninterrupted by withdrawal cards;
- must be planning to graduate high school during the winter or by the end of the spring 2018 school year
- must plan to take a regular college or vocational/technical program on a full-time basis, maintaining qualifying grades.
Ineligible Applicants Include –
- applicants who do not intend to work without interruption for a bachelor’s degree or completion of a vocational/technical school certification;
- members’ children who are attending or have already attended college or vocational/technical school;
- children of members on the payroll of the Grand Lodge,
- graduate students; and
- applicants who do not plan to enroll in an accredited college or vocational/technical school.
- retired members
HOW TO APPLY FOR A 2018 IAM SCHOLARSHIP
There are three different Application Packets. Please choose the appropriate link below to apply for an IAM Scholarship. The Application Packet must be completed and postmarked by February 23, 2018.
- Members (college or vocational/technical school)
- Children of members (college)
- Children of members (vocational/technical school)
To be valid, an application must be submitted on the appropriate form. If you do not qualify under the above requirements, please do not send an application. No exceptions can be made to the rules. Application Packets for the 2018 competition may also be obtained by calling our scholarship department at 301-967-4708 or by emailing scholarship@iamaw.org.
Application packets postmarked later than February 23, 2018, will NOT be acknowledged or considered. No exceptions will be permitted even if a third party is responsible for the delay.
IMPORTANT: Complete the application and MAIL TO:
IAM Scholarship Program
9000 Machinists Place, Room 204
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-2687
All Scholarship Applicants are Advised –
- to obtain guidance from their high school teachers and counselors in pursuing a college education or for attending vocational/technical school;
- not to wait until awards are announced before making other plans for financing a college education;
- to apply early for scholarships or awards from several other sources; and
- to make early application for admission to at least three colleges.
The Selection Committee
Award recipients will be chosen by an independent Selection Committee composed of four qualified educators from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
The Selection Procedure
The Committee attempts to select from each IAM territory applicants who have demonstrated learning ability and all-around suitability for college work or for attending vocational/technical school. In reaching this determination, many factors are taken into consideration, including: grades, attitude toward study, personal references, available test scores, the opinion of counselors and teachers and activities outside of school. For member applicants, weight is given to participation in local lodge responsibilities. Canadian students are judged according to Canadian scholastic standards. The IAM scholarship winners and honorable mentions will be announced in the Summer 2018 on the IAM website.
All Award Recipients –
- are responsible for obtaining admission to the college or vocational/technical school of the student’s choice;
- must take a course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent if attending college or the required courses for vocational/technical school; and
- may attend a two-year accredited college and transfer for the last two years.**
The Sponsoring Member and Member Applicants –
- must maintain continuous good-standing membership throughout the life of the award or have been issued an honorary withdrawal card due to a lay-off, plant closing or retirement after the scholarship has been awarded.
** For college scholarship recipients only.
GENERAL INFORMATION
When proper notification is submitted to the Scholarship Committee, the following may be approved: If the recipient enlists in the military, the award will be held in reserve for a period no longer than three years.
If the recipient enters the Peace Corps, the award will be held in reserve for a period no longer than two years.
The recipient must apply for reinstatement of the scholarship within three months after discharge from the military service or Peace Corps and must enroll in college.
A request for temporary suspension for academic reasons may be granted for a period not exceeding one year.
In the case of illness or accident, the award may be held in reserve for a period not to exceed two years. The student would be expected to resume college or vocational/technical work as soon as possible.
The IAM will set aside the total amount in the Scholarship Fund necessary to finance the student through the period of the award. The Program was established in the confident expectation that it will remain indefinitely, as long as donations continue. If unforeseen circumstances should cause the Program to be discontinued, scholarships in effect would be continued for their duration, and all money remaining in the Fund would be used solely for educational purposes.
ALTERNATE RESOURCES
Union Plus Credit Card Scholarships.
Send a postcard with your name, return address, telephone number and union to: Union Plus Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 34800, Wash., DC 20043-4800 or download the application from the Union Privilege web site in early September: www.unionplus.org/scholarships.
AFL-CIO’s Scholarship Guide.
The web site is www.aflcio.org for links to all unions and Federally-funded scholarship programs.
Federal Student Aid Information Center.
Call 1-800-433-3243 for a free copy of “The Student Guide.” The web site is www.StudentAid.ed.gov then link to publications or www.fafsa.ed.gov.
Vocational-Technical Information.
The web site is: http://www.trade-schools.net for information on Voc-tech schools in the U.S. and Canada or www.accsct.org for an alternate U.S. site.
Sep 6, 2017 | Departments, Home
Top, From left: Local 1776 (PHL) President, Richie Howell, Derrick Monk, and AGC Gil Simmons. Bottom, the Irv Sannit Award.
PHILADELPHIA — IAM141 Member Derrick Monk was among those recently recognized by the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania for his community activism.
Derrick was presented with the Irv Sannit Labor Volunteer award at the 2017 Labor Day celebrations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before a crowd of hundreds of labor activists.
The United Way recognizes the contributions of local donors, community activists and volunteers who work to improve educational opportunities for young people, improve financial stability for families, and help care for seniors who would like to live a dignified life in their own homes.
Derrick is the Senior Pastor at the Divine Covenant Outreach Center, and quietly conducts modest bible studies at the Philadelphia Local on Sundays. In late 2008, he and another pastor, Chauncey Phillips, were approached by Local 1776 president Richie Howell and AGC Gil Simmons about putting together a community service program for Philadelphia.
Initially, the goal was to help families deal with the loss of a loved one. “We would visit them at home,” Derrick said, “we would go to the hospital with them. We would speak for them as they were laid to rest.”
Ordained ministers, Derrick and Chauncey would ensure that grieving families would know that they were cared for. “These are our friends. We wanted them and their families to know that we weren’t just coworkers, we are brothers and sisters.”
By the following year the team had created their own non-profit, the Solid Hearts Foundation. The foundation would help provide emergency funds for dislocated members who suddenly found themselves unable to bring in a paycheck. Later, the Foundation added a scholarship program, named in honor of Danny A Schwarz, the legal expert that helped guide them as they built the nonprofit.
“My passion is people,” Derrick said. “If someone needs help paying a bill, or needs help putting a meal on the table, or needs to further their education, I want to be there for that person. I want to help.”
Patrick Eiding, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, praised the work that Derrick has done on behalf of his community before a crowd of unionists at the Labor Day celebrations in Philadelphia. “Derrick Monk does significant work for his local, Local 1776. When we were looking for someone to chair our Community Service Committee, Derrick stepped up. Derrick has been putting his time in for the past six years, plus.” Speaking about the Ivr Stannit award, President Eiding said, “It’s my pleasure to have that award given to him in recognition of his work in the community.”
When asked what made him want to become a community activist in the first place, Derrick simply responded, “It was in my heart.”
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Aug 31, 2017 | Community Service, Departments, EAP, Featured, Home
Airline workers have grown accustomed to working long hours in terrible weather. They are comfortable in high-stress, time-sensitive situations where the margin for error almost does not exist.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that airline workers were often at the forefront of community responses to Harvey. Here are a few of their stories.
Jo Angel Hernandez and his sister look over their mother’s flooded home. Jo helped at least 30 residents save their vehicles as his own apartment flooded
About an hour before daybreak on Monday morning, August 29, the San Jacinto river reached Kingwood, Texas. The floodwaters, which had been partially controlled by a network of Texas bayous, suddenly broke free, and destroyed dozens of homes in a nearby apartment complex.
IAH Ramp Agent, Jo Angel Hernandez and a friend began waking residents, alerting still sleeping families to the danger. They were soon joined by fellow United Ramp Agent and IAM141 member, Nate Kardachi, who also helped them push disabled vehicles through the rising water to safety.
Together, they were able to prevent the destruction of at least 30 cars in their apartment complex. Unfortunately, while helping to save so many of their neighbor’s vehicles, Jo and Nate both lost their own homes to the flood. Jo Hernandez also watched as his mother’s home was inundated in the creeping, relentless water.
Rather than simply ride out the storm, volunteers like Steve Dovi helped rescue their neighbors.
Steve Dovi, a member of Local 811 in Houston, set out to help people.
“Monday was eye opening experience. I saw the kindness of people coming together to help each other out. I spent most of the day helping with water rescue and driving families to local shelters.”
Together with other volunteers, Steve was able to successfully rescue evacuees ranging in age from infants to the elderly.
Flooding is a nearly silent, deceptively slow moving disaster. It is very easy to underestimate the danger posed by flooding. Without help from alert volunteers like Steve, Harvey would have been even more devastating to Texas residents.
Rey Hernandez helped save his community.
Rey Hernandez is member of Local 811, a Ramp Lead and a proud Houstonian… who just happens to own a truck with a 6-inch lift and a boat.
Those elements combine to create someone that isn’t willing to let a flood wipe out his community.
Rey used his boat and his high-profile truck to rescue over 100 people in 3 days and get them to shelter. “I had to help, and 6 feet of water wasn’t going to stop me,” Rey said.
Brother Kevin Bejerano organized his neighbors in a donation drive to help those in need. He is a Member of local 811.
“I’m glad my immediate family wasn’t impacted this time. That wasn’t the case for us in the Tax Day Flood, so I know how it is… and I know how it feels to see your house under water. We can all help. We gathered up some donations between us and my neighbors and headed to George R Brown.”
-Kevin Bejerano
Jorge Revuelta is a United PCE agent at IAH, and a member of local 2198.
On August 28th, Jorge set out from his Woodlands, Texas, home to help his neighbors. At 9:00 Jorge got a call from his son in law telling him that they needed to help out in a nearby neighborhood.
They grabbed their boat and headed out to the flooded streets, facing water more than 7 feet deep.
They first rescued an elderly couple who gave them a bottle of vodka.
Naturally, they accepted the gift…because they didn’t want to be rude.
Throughout the day, Jorge and his son in law saved more than 20 families. Most of the evacuees were elderly people and their pets.
Jorge had joined a small fleet of rescue boats that had formed to help the community escape the rising water. Jorge’s hard work and leadership attracted the attention of television crews, and he was featured on Fox 26 Houston. Firefighters showed up 4 hours after the community had started rescue services.
Jorge recounted that, at the end of the ordeal, he was almost to the point of collapse; seeing so many people lose so much had taken a painful toll on the volunteers.
Jorge was struck by the amazing diversity of the rescuers, saying, “Out there were rich and poor, white, black, Asian and Hispanic, Republican and Democrats… we were all the same on that day.”
80% of the endangered families in that area were saved thanks to help from Jorge and the other volunteers.
Most of the rescued families were on roofs and second floors.
According to early estimates from EAP Regional Coordinator Bahiyyah Wright, at least half a dozen members of Local 2198 and at least another dozen members of Local 811 in Houston
have suffered the total loss of a vehicle or the use of their home – or both. “We expect that the number is much higher, but we haven’t been able to speak with others affected directly,” said IAM141 Trustee, Maria Tusa. “Hopefully, today we will be able to touch base with more members.”
There is currently an ongoing and critical need for emergency assistance in the Houston area. Please visit the IAM Disaster Relief Fund page or an EAP Peer Coordinator to find out how you can help.
We are looking for stories of IAM141 members helping to make the world a better place. If you know of a story that you would like to share with us, please contact the IAM141 Communications Department at info@IAM141.com, or call (224) 239.3496 and tell us about it.
Aug 29, 2017 | Departments, EAP, Home
Eric Price
Houston, TX —
With tropical storm Harvey continuing to bring massive flooding to Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday began suspension of all commercial flights to Houston’s IAH and Hobby Airport (HOU) until at least Noon on Thursday, August 31. This is the longest such closure in the airport’s history. Not since 9/11 has air travel in Houston been so disrupted.
The decision means that the only air travel in and out of the two airports will be humanitarian and emergency flights until further notice. As of Monday, more than 1,700 flights operated by IAM141 members had been cancelled.
In a follow up announcement, United Airlines told employees that, “there is a strong possibility we will have a no-op condition for an extended period of time” although the airline had planned to operate at least a few flights on Tuesday. Those flights began to cancel around noon on Monday, and the company announced that it would cancel all remaining commercial flights until Thursday.
The volume of water on taxiways and severe regional flooding continues to prevent normal airport operations, making it difficult for employees or passengers to get to the airports.
Grievance Committee members are asking that anyone experiencing attendance or pay issues resulting from the outage to contact them as soon as possible. Impacted workers should be paid for missed hours during facility closures, according to IAH Grievance Committee Chairman, Gary Welch.
Regional EAP Peer Coordinator Bahiyyah Wright issued a statement calling on all Texas IAM141 members to remain safe. “If it’s not safe to leave your house, please stay home or in a safe place. Your safety and the safety of your loved ones should be your number one priority.” Wright also encouraged IAM141 members to contact the EAP for help in obtaining needed assistance.
Epic and catastrophic flooding occurred in and around the Houston and Galveston areas and surrounding communities over the weekend. Rainfall amounts since Saturday evening have totaled 15 to up to 30 inches. Additional life-threatening rainfall totals of 15 to 25 inches with isolated higher amounts are possible across the Flash Flood Watch area through Wednesday. If these amounts materialize, the results could be devastating, especially if any of these rains fall where catastrophic flooding has already occurred.
A TSA Agent sits alone at IAH following the cancellation of all commercial aviation in the city.
EAP REPS ARE READY TO HELP IAM141 MEMBERS HIT BY HARVEY
Customer Service:
Robin Haben: (713) 392-4657
Sheryl Holland: (281) 701-2823
Judd Ozeene: (281) 772-6143
Lewis Norton: (832) 655-5758
Ramp:
Pete Tomas: (281) 748-9985
Robert Ferrucci: (281) 736-4213
Aug 27, 2017 | Departments, EAP, Featured, Home
When horrible things happen we want to know that there are people who care, and that someone will be there for us when we need help. The officers of District Lodge 141, as well as the entire International Association of Machinists (IAM), want you to know that you are not alone. Please don’t hesitate to contact a District Lodge 141 officer and let us know how we can help you. Please make a note of the following contact information, in case it is helpful to you.
FEMA
EAP
IAM Disaster Relief
Wishing you hope, safety and strength.
On behalf of the entire DL 141 staff.
Fraternally yours,
Michael G. Klemm
President and Directing General Chairman
IAMAW District Lodge 141
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