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Deceased Brothers and Sisters Since the last newsletter, we have suffered the loss of four Local 587 retirees: Brother Peter “Sonny” Proto joined Local 587 in 1968 as a tester, retiring in July, 2001. He passed away at the age of 70 on February 19. Sister Mary Stevens passed away on March 15 at the age of 85. Joining Local 587 in 1968, Mary worked as an inspector before retiring in 1992. Sister Kathleen P. (Gama) Miller, 59, passed away on April 2. Kathy joined Local 587 in 1968 and worked as an assembler/inspector until 2002. Brother Robert “Seaweed” Aguiar died on April 6 at the age of 72. He joined Local 587 in 1967 and worked as a machinist before retiring in March 2001. Sonny, Mary, Kathy and Seaweed will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families.     Brother Allen Retires On February 1, family and friends gathered at Tweet’s in Bristol, RI to wish Brother Ed Allen well in his retirement. Ed, who joined Local 587 in 2000, worked as an assembler in Aegis before moving on to his most recent position as a materials specialist. All his friends at Local 587 wish him a long and healthy retirement. For more pictures from his party, visit http://www.local587.com/history/year/2008/     Harley Raffle! District Lodge 98 is holding a fundraising raffle and the prize is a 2008 Harley Davidson FLHX Street Glide105th Anniversary Edition. The drawing date is June 2, 2008 at noon at the District Office in York, PA (winner need not be present). You must be 18 or older to win. $5 per ticket or 5 for $20 A limited supply of tickets has been sent to us in care of Paul Turgeon. If interested, please let us know by May 23. Cancelled Meetings Local 587 meetings are cancelled for the months of June, July and August due to vacation schedules. If a need arises, a special meeting will be called per order of President David Estrella. The next scheduled meeting after May 18 will be on September 14, when we will hold nominations for Local 587 Officers. Donations During the May Meeting, the membership approved a $100 donation to benefit the Cranston Arc. The sponsorship will go toward a Tee Sign in the Cranston Arc 14th Annual Golf Tournament. Proceeds from the annual golf tournament directly benefit the programs and services utilized by approximately 400 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. For more information, visit them on the web at www.cranstonarc.org IAM Eastern Conference Brother Jerry Burke and I went to Groton, CT for the  2008 New England Conference of Machinists. There, IAM President Tom Buffenbarger spoke on several issues such as IAM Dues Restructuring, Improved Efficiencies in Operations at the International Level, Advancements in Communications other and issues that we should be watching closely. A top issue is the proposal to raise dues to 2% across the IAM. This will be taken up at length at the Grand Lodge Convention in Orlando, FL in September 2008 and voted on by the delegates. The Grand Lodge proposal is necessitated by decreasing membership over the past several years. Despite efforts to cut expenses via voluntary Grand Lodge salary freezes, thinning out the jobs at the top by attrition and making the processes throughout the IAM more efficient the Grand Lodge still needs to raise more revenue. President Buffenbarger points out that the current dues structure has been in place since the mid 70s and is no longer effective. He also noted that they are looking forward to getting counter proposals for consideration at the Convention in September. President Buffenbarger also went in depth on issues concerning jobs in the US. One such issue is the awarding of a $40 Billion tanker contract the European company Airbus and Northrop Grumman, sending an estimated 30-40,000 jobs overseas instead of awarding the contract to Boeing, which has been supplying tankers to the Air Force for nearly half a century. Buffenbarger used this example to illustrate the interconnectivity of labor in the US by pointing out that, although Boeing lost the contract, many other domestic companies that supply Boeing with parts will also feel the hardship. He also spoke about the importance of the individual’s effectiveness in contacting his congressmen. The Airbus issue and others, such as the current Northwest/Delta Airline merger can be researched more in-depth on the IAM website www.goiam.org. The site also has links within most articles, making it easy for visitors to write to their congressmen. These communications can be in the form of e-mail (some with editable text), or for printing out and mailing through the Post Office.   MNPL Support Please consider donating to the Machinists Non-Partisan Political League. The MNPL supports Democratic, Republican, or Independent candidates who stand for economic justice, security in the workplace and equality for every member.   If you want to help, you can make a one-time or weekly donation through payroll deductions. To authorize MNPL payroll deductions, stop by the union office or download the form online at www.local587.com/resources.htm in PDF format. Just complete the form and hand it to Lori Banks in Human Resources to enable your support.