Recently, Kathy Ferguson and Victor Acosta, District 141 and Paul Schultz and Stephanie Starks District 142 responded to the Orlando Night club shooting. We had many members affected – the team spent time with the members who were directly affected and also those members who knew people that had been there. Thanks to Kathy, Victor, Paul and Stephanie, we were able to address the needs of those who wanted immediate help and follow up with the folks who will utilize continuing services.
The July EAP Helping Hands monthly newsletter is about caregiving this month. To read this edition and past editons visit: Helping Hands
Fourteen new IAM CREST Associate Instructors from Districts 141 and 142 completed a train-the-trainer program on transporting dangerous goods in the airline industry.
Approximately 6,300 TCU-IAM airline and railroad workers will receive training in transporting hazardous materials thanks to a nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant also includes training for TWU airline workers.
The grant is the largest ever for IAM CREST, the Corporation for Reemployment and Safety Training, and will teach 90 members how to train thousands more workers on the hazards of storing, shipping, loading and unloading dangerous goods in the airline and railroad industries.
IAM members should contact their Local or District Safety and Health Committees to be considered to become trainers.
“The health and safety of our members is always paramount,” said IAM Safety and Health Director Jim Reid. “It’s incumbent upon us and employers to make sure our members have the proper training to go to work and return home safely every day. This grant will help us work to achieve that.”
Since 2008, IAM CREST has been the beneficiary of a DOT Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration grant to provide airline workers with training from IAM CREST instructors. In 2014, the grant was expanded to include railroad workers. The latest grant supports existing training through employers not in duplication of those efforts.
The number of retirees in the IAM doubled over the past decade and continues to grow.
Excellent Retiree benefit and services programs can be found on the IAM Grand Lodge goiam.org web site. They are designed to fill Medicare gaps, provide benefits that Medicare doesn’t cover and replace healthcare coverage withdrawn or reduced by employers.
The present Medicare benefit mix includes: Dental, Vision & Hearing Plan Medicare Supplement Insurance Long Term Care Insurance Medicare D Plans Medicare Advantage Plans Discount Mail Service Prescriptions.
The IAM Grand Lodge Community Services and Retirees Department works with the Alliance for Retired Americans and other seniors’ groups to ensure a good retirement for our members.
Support the Guide Dogs of America, the IAMAW DL141 Charity of choice! Shop Here
Joseph W. Jones, Sr., was refused a guide dog because of his age – he was fifty seven – but he would not accept defeat. He researched the Guide Dog Movement and with the help of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, established his own school, one that would provide guide dogs free of charge to visually impaired people regardless of their age.
Support your Union Brothers and Sisters :
When you stay at unionized hotels, you support your fellow union members and companies that are legally obligated to treat workers fairly.
From the 9,000 ILWU Local 142 members who work in hotels and resorts on Hawaii Island, Maui, Lanai, Kauai and Oahu – mahalo for supporting union hotels!
Use this guide to find a Union Hotel where UNITE HERE members are employed. You’ll be supporting good Union Jobs, and will find a friendly face to greet you on your journey.
FMLA is a federal law sponsored by labor Unions. It protects certain workers from discipline when using time away from work to care for their own serious medical condition, or that of an immediate family member. FMLA is associated with EAP, the difference being that FMLA is a law protecting Members and EAP is a program for assisting Members who are experiencing difficult times. An EAP coordinator can assist you with applying for FMLA.
Here’s the most important thing to know about FMLA.
If you have a dependability problem which is legitimately caused by your own serious medical condition (or a family member), then request FMLA.
It really comes down to just that.
Please do not make the mistake of unnecessarily subjecting yourself to company discipline for dependability. FMLA requires specific things. For example, a worker must have worked 1250 or more hours in the preceding twelve month period. FMLA also has some loopholes, which United Airlines attempts to abuse. For example, your doctor must insert language into your paper work protecting your regular days off from counting towards FMLA.
Sound complicated?
It can be. A qualified EAP will assist you with understanding FMLA, and will even coordinate with your health care provider. Don’t allow United Airlines, or US Airways, or any company to abuse you. Instead, call the EAP Main Number for information and help.
(650) 876-3625 Main Office
Bryan Hutchinson, District 141 Director of EAP
bryanrhutch@aol.com
(303) 348-4080
Basic facts about the Family Medical Leave Act
THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA) STATES THAT IF YOU:
Have worked for the same company for at least 12 months (does not need to be consecutive), and you
Have worked at least 1,250 hours in the past year, and you
Work for a company with at least 50 employees who work within 75 miles of your work site.
THEN YOU ARE ENTITLED TO:
Take a total of 12 weeks off work without pay.
Keep any health insurance coverage you had during the time you are off.
Get your old job back, or an equivalent position with equal pay, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment following FMLA leave.
EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE FMLA
You must give notice of the need for leave from your job:
Employees do not have to specifically request “FMLA Leave” or even mention FMLA. Employees must simply give enough information or put the employer on notice that the reason the employee is requesting leave may be FMLA qualifying.
Employers can ask employees to provide “written notice” of need for leave, but employers cannot deny FMLA leave if the employee fails to comply with a written request requirement as long as the employee has given timely verbal or other notice.
When the need for leave is foreseeable, employees must give 30 days notice. When the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees must give notice “as soon as practicable,” but usually within one or two days of the need for leave arising.
Provide Certification of the Medical Need for Leave
The FMLA allows employers to require employees to provide medical certification of the need for leave for the employee’s own serious health condition or for a family member’s serious health condition. Employers may not seek more information from the employee in the medical certification than what is allowed in the Department of Labor’s model form. Employers cannot require a diagnosis and should not require employees to sign an authorization allowing the release of all medical information to the employer. An employer’s doctor may contact an employee’s doctor only for the clarification of information.
Should an employer have questions regarding an employee’s medical certification, the employer may require the employee to receive a second and/or third medical opinion. An employer cannot require an employee who has provided a certification of a need for intermittent leave to provide a new certification each time the employee uses leave. An employer generally should not request recertification when an employee is using leave more often than every 30 days.
Comply with Fitness-for-Duty Certification Requirements
An employer may require employees scheduled to return from FMLA leave to certify that they are medically fit for duty. A fitness-for-duty examination or certification must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Source: A Reference Guide To the Family and Medical Leave Act, IAM Women’s Department.
