The Woodworkers Department was created in May, 1994 when the International Woodworkers of America - U.S. (IWA) affiliated with the IAM. The mission of the department is to promote and expand activities of Natural Resource Industry-based locals. The department plays an important role in the development of public policy regarding the management of National and State forests harvest level so our members can earn a good family wage and keep our rural communities alive and well.
William V. Street, Jr., Director
Marilyn Jones, Administrative Secretary
9000 Machinists Place
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
With the mill only running one shift and not even a full week, the Maintenance guys, who never use our break room, have started hanging out. Bored I guess, most the PM’s are done, they just sit there waiting for the whistle to summon them to a break down, so it seems.
October 26, 2009 - Harvest festivals abound this time of year. Horns-of-plenty filled with fruit appear out of nowhere, much like zucchini in Sawtown. In fact one of our more enterprising members has printed up bumper stickers that read, “Friends don’t give friends zucchini”. They are selling like hot cakes around town. You really need to live in Sawtown to understand how every spring forgetful gardeners plant that second and occasionally, third zucchini plant. Then comes September, while most of the garden has rotted because of yet another cold wet summer and lack of sunshine. Then in late September and early October there is usually a time of about 18 glorious days of sun. Kids are in school wondering why the good weather waited and overnight every squash plant has a 6 inch zucchini. The next day it is 12 inches long and by weeks end it is measured in kilotons. Then it is when gardeners make a mental note to only plant one zucchini plant next year.
September 1, 2009 - Starbucks has several coffee shops inGeneva, Switzerland. Given the lines in front of the stores most of the time it appears that they are doing quite well. The Francophone Swiss clearly enjoy a good cup of sweetened Joe.
June 25, 2009 - The wheels of my suitcase roll across the tile entry way which at this particular moment is an exit way as another trip begins. There is no Willie Nelson singing in my head, "On the road again" nor is there any Tom Petty telling me that we, "Won't back down". No, as I back the car out of the drive and aim for the airport, it's Paul Simon talking about going to "Graceland". Which is close enough, since the destination is Hot Springs, actually a little place, not even a town, outside of Hot Springs.
April 14, 2009 - On February 5, 1637, at a tulip auction in Alkmaar, of the United Provinces (now referred to as the Netherlands), Wouter Winkel's tulip collection sold for 90,000 guilders. To place that in context a carpenter that year could expect to earn about 250 guilders, a merchant about 1,500 guilders, and a wealthy merchant about 5,200 guilders. Four barrels of beer cost 32 guilders and 1,000 pounds of cheese about 120 guilders. By any measure this was a huge sum of money. One week later, in another auction in Haarlem of the United Provinces just a few miles away, the price for tulips was zero. Thus began one of the more famous market crashes of western civilization.*
March 31, 2009 - Striking members of Local W369 in Moncure, North Carolina, will return to work at Moncure Plywood with their contract and their dignity intact after ratifying a new three-year contract that preserves seniority rights and sharply restricts the amount of forced overtime employees can be required to work.
December 15, 2008 - After the Treasurer gave the financial report at the monthly union meeting there was not a sound in the house. Nothing was stirring not even a mouse, which is pretty unusual for a group of workers many of whom learned to whisper in a sawmill (don’t even try talking to the planner operators). Slowly the shock began to subside and the silence was broken by a steward who said, “So it’s gone, eh?”
October 20, 2008 - Presidential candidate, John McCain, a war hero on the same caliber as John Kerry, both of whom put themselves in harm’s way to defend this country doesn’t understand how to protect our national security or the role of government. He seems to believe that the only role of government is to defend US national security and the only way to defend the US national security is to be willing to shed US blood around the world.
