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Update from Andy Buck
The Governmental Affairs Department will be focused on continued member engagement, voter registration, candidate recruitment, candidate education, lobbying activities, door-to-door voter contact, phone banking, building and maintaining relationships with current and future elected officials and state agencies, continuing work on Governor Evers' Worker Misclassification Task Force, attending local school board, city council and state meetings, continuing to work with the AFL-CIO, Blue-Green Alliance, Climate Jobs Wisconsin and Wisconsin Partners to name a few.
In January of 2020, DC7 had approximately 380 unregistered voters within our ranks. With help of DC7 staff and brothers John Behlke and Ray Davis, I am happy to report that as of today we have only 113 unregistered members. With elections in Wisconsin and Michigan being won by such small margins, this effort can make a significant impact. We either have a candidate who supports us, or one that aims to hurt our organization. Thank you to everyone who helped our members exercise their right to vote.
Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be facing a tough re-election in 2022. Whitmer has a history of being pro-union and her record reflects that. Whitmer re-instated Michigan's prevailing wage last year. Twelve different Republican candidates are lining up to try to defeat Whitmer in the August 2nd primary and the general election on November 8th.
Wisconsin has some critical races to our state and country this year. Governor Evers will likely face Rebecca Kleefisch in the November 8th election. Kleefisch is former Governor Walker's Lieutenant Governor. Kleefisch is openly anti-union in her comments, but more importantly how she voted as a State Representative. Rebecca Kleefisch is now the head spokesperson for the ABC; I hope I do not need to say any more.
Wisconsin's Attorney General Josh Kaul will be up for re-election in November as well. Kaul made promises to crack down on cheating construction contractors who intentionally misclassify their workforce and cost Wisconsin taxpayers and responsible contractors millions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, Kaul has not brought anything forward to this point. We are monitoring this very closely, stay tuned.
All ninety-nine Wisconsin Assembly seats and seventeen State Senate seats will be up in November, and we will continue to educate and help those candidates who help us, regardless of political party.
All politics are local, and DC7 will be engaged at local levels throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. The filing deadline to be on the April 5th ballot was Tuesday, January 4th. We will know in the next week who is in and who is out. All seventy-two Wisconsin county board positions will be up in April, as well as schoolboards, city council, mayors and we will be involved with many Wisconsin partners in candidate interviews, questionnaires and discussions around endorsements.
On the national level, Senator Ron Johnson will face a Democratic opponent on November 8th. DC7 has had most of the frontrunner candidates tour the training center and speak to our delegates. Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin's State Treasurer and candidate for US Senate was supposed to attend the January Delegate Meeting but was rescheduled due to the weather.
The Democratic candidates will have a primary election on August 9th to decide who will face Senator Johnson.
Senator Johnson has been to our Fitchburg training center and spoke with our apprentices. Senator Johnson does not have a pro-worker voting record and did not support the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Deal, did not support the PRO-ACT, and in his comments to DC7 leadership is not particularly supportive of labor unions.
DC7 will also be active in the eight United States congressional races with a focus on the re-election of IUPAT DC7 member Mark Pocan back into Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District.
With billions of dollars coming to Wisconsin, through the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Deal and American Rescue Plan Act, we will be keeping a close eye on these investments. We have not seen this type of infrastructure investment in our lifetime. The Governmental Affairs Department has been tasked with participating in groups such as Blue-Green Alliance and Climate Jobs Wisconsin to make sure our members and contractors can win this work. We have been advocating for registered apprenticeship utilization to make sure we are not only training the next generation of workers but creating a level playing field for Wisconsin workers and responsible contractors. Taxpayers win when we use a responsible business model to spend our hard-earned dollars, instead of using the cheapest, low road out-of-town contractors.
Wisconsin 2022 Election Dates:
2-15-22 Spring Primary Election
4-5-22 Spring General Election
8-9-22 Fall Primary Election
11-8-22 Fall General Election
Michigan Election Dates:
8-2-22 Fall Primary Election
11-8-22 Fall General Elections
Milestone Anniversaries
Congratulations to all the DC7 members who have milestone anniversaries this month.
5 years:
Jacob Cartwright
Nathan Klopatek
Jacob Rink
Germane Clark
Willie Morrison
Jose Rios
Jeff Osgood
Mose White
Lance Liegl
10 years:
Denis Diaz
15 years:
Alex Soumphonphakdy
Ryan Roth
Jesse Brabant
20 years:
Corey Carpenter
Gregory Weiland
25 years:
Richard Verran
Timothy Armatoski
Apprentice Completions
Local 781 – Painters
Alexander Andraski – 5/6/20
Anthony Lowe – 5/22/20
Michael Gonzales – 6/23/20
Juan Arrieta – 7/11/20
Manuel Guardado – 7/11/20
Ivan Mendez – 7/11/20
Rafael Marmolejo – 7/28/20
David Elieff-Valdez – 9/1/20
James Raguse – 12/23/20
Christopher Brookins – 1/4/21
Efrain Martin – 1/21/21
Daven Garcia – 1/15/21
Jacob Kemp – 1/28/21
Steven St. Charles – 2/9/21
Zoe Grant – 3/4/21
Kurt Ross – 5/18/21
Zak Powers – 5/28/21
Alexyn Krueger – 7/2/21
Dan Sibila – 7/2/21
Timothy Reilly, Jr. – 8/9/21
Eduardo Guzior – 11/1/21
Local 108 – Painters
Dustin Morrison – 11/22/21
Local 802 – Finishers
Joshua Powers – 4/9/20
Local 802 – Painters
Guillermo Hernandez – 2/3/20
Alison Wille – 4/3/20
Joseph Ferry – 8/3/20
Kevin Stanford – 8/26/20
Sergio Hernandez – 12/14/20
Jaymie Ripp-Bauer – 1/22/21
Ana Mehrhoff – 2/10/21
Tyler VanSlate – 3/1/21
Mark Harris – 3/3/21
Steven Statz – 4/9/21
Local 108 – Painters
Jacob LaMarche – 4/27/20
Richard Yeiter, Jr. – 11/2/21
Local 781 – Finishers
Triavis Squires – 1/13/20
Adam Williamson – 2/5/20
Ross Merritt – 10/9/20
Kallie Krestly – 7/14/21
Laid Off?
Members, if you're out of work, please let us know! We will put you on a list and find you a job.
How to get on the list:
1) Visit our website: http://www.iupatdc7.com/members/out-of-work
2) Call 262-662-1827 and choose option 2 for the Out of Work List
3) Call your Business Rep
IUPAT DC7 Retiree Club
The IUPAT DC7 Retiree Club meetings begin at 11:30 am on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Lunch is served at noon. Desserts are greatly appreciated!
February 15, 2022: Valentine's Day (pizza & amore)
March 15, 2022: St. Paddy's Day (corned beef & cabbage)
April 19, 2022: Easter Extravaganza (ham dinner)
May 17, 2022: Springtime (beef & gravy sandwiches)
June 21, 2022: School's Out (chicken & trimmings)
July 19, 2022: 4th of July Picnic (sausage sizzle & ice cream social)
August 16, 2022: State Fair Day (corn on the cob & hamburgers)
September 20, 2022: Labor Day Celebration (build your own subs)
October 18, 2022: Halloween Fright
November 15, 2022: Happy Thanksgiving (roast turkey dinner)