The Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City

Kansas City is fortunate to be among 16 U.S. communities that are part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-supported Aligning Forces for Quality health care project. Each of these communities is focused on making changes that enhance the quality-right care at the right time-of health care. This week several KC representatives visited the Aligning Forces project in Massachusetts, which has the additional challenge--and great benefit--of doing their work in the context of that state's health care reform of 2006. That reform has succeeded in covering 98% of the population and is now focusing on changing delivery methods, payment reform and wellness to address quality and cost. Engaging patients and employers is a key challenge both KC and Massachusetts face and both have innovative approaches underway.
We must have brought luck to the Royals as they split with the red-hot Red Sox while we were there. We thank Barbra Rabson and Barbara Lambiaso and the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners for their hospitality.
Please contact the LMC if you are interested in the Aligning Forces project.

2011 LMC Golf Tournament a Success

The 2011 LMC Golf Tournament featured 76 golfers, numerous prizes and a near hole-in-one at Oakwood Country Club July 18.

 Photos from the tournament are now available in a photo album to the left; more will be added later.  Participation increased from last year.

Winning foursomes included CIGNA, first place; Turner Construction Co., second place; Plumbers Local 8, third place; Doug Albers, longest drive; Tim Murdock, nearest-to-the-pin.  Raffle ticket buyers also were rewarded with several gift cards from M&I Bank and shirt and golf balls sets from Scout Investment Advisors.  All golfers and volunteers enjoyed pulled pork smoked by Robbie Makinen, Jackson County.

The LMC thanks the following sponsors and volunteers:

Eagle Sponsors--Black & Veatch, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, Bricklayers Local 15,CIGNA, Humana, J.E. Dunn Construction Co., Mechanical Contractors Association and Pipefitters Local 533.

Refreshment Cart--Teamsters Local 541

Hole Sponsors--Aetna Labor Division-John Tuerk, Jean Peters Baker for Jackson County Prosecutor, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Scout Investment Advisors, The Segal Company, SMACNA-KC, United Labor Credit Union.

In-Kind: Teamsters Local 838 and Signatory Bottlers and Distributors, CIGNA, Robbie Makinen, M&I Bank, Scout Investment Advisors, Turner Construction Co.

Volunteers--Angie Brown, Janice Dickey, Lyle Farrand, Dawn Godard, Mary Jacobi, Jon Lewis, Helen Linquist, Jen Monahan, Robbie Makinen, Janice Taylor.

Rocky Kloth, Carpenters District Council, came within less than two inches of making a hole-in-one on the 16th hole, which would have won him $20,000.  Check out the photos of how close he came.

The LMC Craig Whitaker Memorial Golf Tournament had a successful 2011 event today. 76 golfers weathered the heat thanks to plenty of liquid refreshments donated by Teamsters Local 838 and its signatory bottlers and distributors, to a nice breeze and to the many old shade trees lining the Oakwood Country Club course.
The winning teams were CIGNA, first place; Turner Construction Co., second place; and Plumbers Local 8, third place. Doug Albers won longest drive and Tim Murdock nearest-to-the-pin.
Full details, including photos, sponsor and volunteer lists, will follow soon.

Construction Committee Hears from Jackson County Prosecutor

Construction Industry Steering Team Summary of Minutes

8 a.m., Thursday, July 14, 2011, Mark One Electric Co., Inc.

Attending: Terry Akins, Sam Alpert, Jack Bainbridge, Rosana Privitera-Biondo, KC Borden, Jim Delaney, Sang Duong,  Don Greenwell, Scott Hoisington, Steve Janasz,  Ron Johnson, Dennis Joyce, Mike Kotubey, Dave Kendrick, Bob Looman, Payne Mendenhall, Herb Millard, Craig Mullens, Dan Osman, Barbara Schilling,  Lonnie Scott, John Tompson, Tom Whittaker, Colleen White, Keith Winn, Jean Peters-Baker, Bob Jacobi.

•Introductions and thanks to Rosie Biondo and Mark One for hosting.

•The Hon. Jean Peters-Baker, Jackson County Prosecutor, spoke and emphasized her office is open to input from the group and is committed to enforcement of prevailing wage.  She and Colleen White announced that the remaining two prevailing wage cases from the Jackson County Sports Complex renovations have been settled, resulting in a two-year debarrment from public projects for the offending contractors.  The prosecutor can be contacted at [email protected] or (816) 881-3367.

•The subcommittee meeting with key elected officials met with KCMO Councilwoman Jan Marcason, and reported a very productive discussion.  Councilman Ed Ford, chair of economic development committee, will be next (9 a.m. Friday, July 22).

•Likely issues on the KCMO ballot in November include a regional KC Zoo tax; repeal of the zoning for the planned Plaza office building; and restrictions on the use of the new Honeywell plant being built.•Committee members are urged to continue to apply for KCMO boards and commissions, and report to Bob Jacobi what you have applied for.

•The Missouri legislature may be in special session during the September veto session to address economic development, disaster funding and the St. Louis police department.

•The three-percent withhold on federal contracts continue to be a threat; the LMC will again issue communications opposing the requirement.

•NICE is working this summer to refine the Crayons-to-CAD curriculum working with teachers and to research options for high school programs.

•The Carpenters District Council and others praised the high quality of two recent projects:  the Performing Arts Center and the Livestrong Soccer Stadium.  “Every tradesperson on those jobs should be proud of the quality of work” noted Jim Delaney. The Carpenters also noted that informational banners-not pickets-will be used to inform the public of the practices of Crossland Construction Co.

•Colleen White was congratulated for being named as one of 25 Women Who Mean Business by the Kansas City Business Journal and for earning the national Crystal Vision Award from NAWIC.

•The Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors will be invited to attend future committee meetings.

•The Council for Promoting American Business is successfully raising funds for an updating of the 2004 prevailing wage study, and additional states may be included.  Contributions are being sought with a similar budget to the earlier study and using the same team of UMKC researchers.  Some Missouri legislators are attempting to forgo prevailing wage on projects resulting from the Joplin tornado.  Contact Rep. Shane Shoeller, chair of the House disaster recovery committee, to express opposition.

•Funding and now contractor training programs are available for residential energy retrofit projects.  A July 28 event at UCM’s Lee’s Summit campus will explain the pilot program.•The next meeting will be 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8 at Mark One Electric Co., Inc., 909 Troost.  There will not be an August meeting.

Upcoming Events
  *LMC Golf Tournament, July 18, Oakwood Country Club 

 *KC CREW Luncheon on Vision Metcalf, 11:30 a.m., July 19, Carriage Hills CC 

 *LMC Board of Directors meeting, July 21, Rockhurst University 

 *Energy Retrofit Program Pilot Event, July 28, 9 a.m.-noon, UCM Lee’s Summit campus, 850     NW Chipman Road Door 54.

  *Mayor’s Forum (KCMO & KCK): Pursuit of Innovation through Civil Discourse, 4-6 p.m.,    Aug. 9, Rockhurst University. 

 *Building Trades Golf Tournament, Aug. 18, Eagles Landing Golf Club 

 *Dave Peterson Memorial Golf Tournament, Aug. 28 

 *KC Crew Golf Tournament, Aug. 30, Falcon Ridge 

 *SIOR Development Day, Sept 15, 5-7:30 p.m., Downtown Marriott 

 *ASA Golf Tournament, Sept. 27, Loch Lloyd
For more information on the above events please contact the sponsoring organization or the LMC.

In addition to other elected officials previously listed, Missouri State Rep. Mike McGhee attended this year's Mid-America Labor/Management Conference.

We are pleased to announce that the Carpenters District Council of St. Louis has joined the LMC. The Carpenters have already been active participating in the LMC's Construction Industry Committee and will have two foursomes in the Craig Whitaker Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday. Please welcome them to the LMC.

Contact Information

Keith Winn, Coordinator
Carpenters District Council of St. Louis
625 W 39th Street Ste 201
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 931-3414; fax 931-0675; [email protected]
Other contacts Dennis Joyce and Joe Hudson.

The LMC Craig Whitaker Memorial Golf Tournament is rapidly filling up as tee-off approaches. The Monday, July 18 event at Oakwood Country Club is the 14th annual. For more information, to sign up to sponsor, play, donate or volunteer contact the LMC.

The 2nd day of the Mid-America Labor/Management Conference found more using Twitter to follow the speakers and workshops, concluding a full day of content with a lively dinner and the announcement that the 2012 conference would run July 15-18, as July 4 falls on a Wednesday. Highlights included:
•The importance of Missouri's non-partisan court plan to the rule of law and fair treatment for companies and workers was explained by Phil Hess, president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (and a Rockhurst University grad) and John Boyd, Boyd Kenter law firm and counsel to the Missouri AFL-CIO. They cited examples of expensive judicial elections where the perception, and sometimes reality, is that court decisions go to the highest bidder.
•Richard Fairfax, OSHA deputy assistant director, previewed key agency activities including new and revised standards, requests for information for possible new standards, the direction of emphasis areas, the latest statistics on inspections and fines, the impact of increased fines and other measures in the serious violator program.
•The new National Labor Relations Board website makes filing and especially research far easier than ever, as Mary Taves and Trecia Moore (also a Rockhurst University grad) demonstrated.
•Arbitration guidance was provided by Judy Ancel, Institute for Labor Studies at UMKC.
•Canadian General Counsel Georges Rioux explored the close economic ties between the US and Canada and the tremendous US job-creating potential of accessing Canadian oil particularly if the proposed Keystone Excel pipeline is developed.
•Firefighters and the department in Pattonville, Mo. and emergency workers and the St. Charles Couny Ambulance District have developed strong working relationships that have improved efficiency, helped address budget cuts and enhance service to the public. A new collective bargaining contract between the city of St. Louis provides potential for improvements there especially if the city takes over the police from state control as pending legislation seeks.
•Kansas workers' compensation law now more closely follows that of Missouri, though court decisions are just now addressing what many of the changes in MIssouri's 2005 law really mean.
The conference also noted it sponsors who make it possible including Westar Energy, Integrated Solutions Group, Hewlett Packard, Brotherhood Bank, Missouri AFL-CIO, Illinois AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 304, March of Dimes, Heavy Constructors Association, Kansas Gas Service, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Missouri Petroleum Council, Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, National Labor Relations Board, Summit Lake Winery, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City, Scout Invesment Advisors, Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters, United Labor Credit Union/Custom Specialties.

The Mid-America Labor/Management Conference got off to a strong start this morning. Registration of 193 is the largest since 2002. The conference can also be followed on Twitter: @MALMC2011 tage $malmconf.

Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill opened the conference via Skype--a change in Senate schedule meant she had to be in D.C. instead of the lake. Sen. McCaskill lamented the state of DC politics and called for reasonable compromises that would both close the deficit and help create jobs via targeted investments in infrastructure and education. She lauded the conference attendees as the "best of Missouri" for their work as labor-management cooperation is critical for "a well-paid, trained work force which is the backbone of the middle class." Government must pay attention to the purchasing power of the middle class, Claire noted, and to do so requires working together.
A similar call for reasonable compromise came in the second session where speakers emphasized the need for legislation to ensure environmental improvement while maintaining adequate power as electric producers transition to a broader mix including coal, hydro, nuclear, solar, wind and natural gas sources. Jerry Hunter, head of utilities for the IBEW, and Tony Jacobs, special assistant to the president of the Boilermakers, emphasized that current scheduled regulations under the 1990 Clean Air Act are pressuring utilities to cut capacity before alternatives will be in place. They also noted that labor and utilities are working together to generate compromise legislation in Congress as well as working with EPA to develop realistic regulations. Mark Ruelle, president and CFO of Westar Energy, and Mark Birk, vice president of generation for Ameren Missouri, agreed on that point and noted that only by working together can utilities deliver for customers and shareholders and unions for their workers.
Jobs and economic development was the focus for Robbie Makinen, Jackson County economic development director. He said that too often economic development efforts lack the input of labor and of schools, and that he and Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders are working to remedy that. He also revealed a new web site that feature vast amounts of information on all real estate in Jackson County, making it much easier to research properties both residential and commercial for economic development. He asked for feedback on how to improve the website, which though not yet live is already under consideration for several international awards.
The conference has adjourned for the golf tournament and other activities and will resume Thursday morning.

The Construction Industry Committee meets at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 14 at Mark One Electric Co., Inc., 909 Troost.