Negotiations for the OM&C Working Agreement are underway.

On December 10, 2009, Consumers Energy announced its intention to lay off 34 union members of the Joint Underground Construction Group.

At the September 12, 2009 meeting of the Michigan State Utility Workers Council, the delegate body approved an amendment to the MSUWC Constitution which restructures how Union dues are calculated.

Utility Workers (UWUA) Secretary-Treasurer Gary Ruffner and Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, write about a meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Ruffner, UWUA President Michael Langford, UWUA Regulatory Affairs Director Carl Wood and Baugh are attending climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, where 40 U.S. union members are part of a 400-member global union movement delegation led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality awarded an air permit to Consumers Energy to build an 830-megawatt, coal-fired plant in Bay County, moving the controversial project one step closer to reality.

On November 12, the Lansing Gas Service and Gas Distribution departments were given resolutions to congratulate them for each having one year with zero lost-time accidents.

Consumers Energy has offered buyouts to nearly all of its 8,000 employees, citing the poor economy and having too many workers with not enough work to go around.

At a Michigan State Utility Workers Council Meeting held at the Traverse City Holiday Inn on September 11, 2009, MSUWC President Pat Dillon honored and presented two recipients with scholarship awards.

The Executive Board would like to thank the membership for their input and cooperation in returning the contract surveys and contract change proposals that were recently mailed by the Council.  This information will be extremely helpful as we enter into contract negotiations.

Letter to the editor of the Jackson Citizen Patriot from Patrick Dillon, MSUWC President