The National UWUA hosted the third national Power for America Training Conference October 18-20, and the participation of members of the Michigan State Utility Workers Council ensured the Conference's success.

On October 2^nd, 2017, the joint MSUWC and Consumers Energy Safety Culture Team led off the training at the 2017 Incident Prevention Utility Safety Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  The conference included 30+ educational sessions presented by the utility industry’s leading safety and operations experts, and was attended by over 550 employees from electric and gas utilities, communication and cable providers, municipalities, and contractors.  The SCT presented on Normalization of Deviance, Situational Awareness and Expanded Tailboard Imaging to a capacity crowd of over 250.  Following the presentation, attendees waited in line to speak with one or more of the six SCT union members, those members include: Dan Pfeffer L-388, Doug Hill L-129, Nate Waters L-105, Greg Ball L-144, Steve Sienko L- 104, and Dean Smith L-124.

Click here for more photos from this conference.

On September 18^th and 19^th, 2017, two MSUWC members, Melissa Bateman, Local 107 Steward, and Brooke Lauber, Local 129 Financial Secretary, facilitated the Clerical Workshop at the 2017 Inter-Union Gas Conference. The annual Gas Conference, which is attended by members and representatives from the Utility Workers Union of America, United Steelworkers, IBEW, UA, ICWU/UFCW, and UNIFOR, was hosted in 2017 by the IBEW in Portland, Oregon. UWUA National Region IV Representative, Jim Gennett, who served on the Gas Conference’s planning committee, relied on the MSUWC leadership of Melissa and Brooke when planning the Clerical Workshop.  Once again, the Clerical Workshop was a highlight of the conference with call center representative from the U.S. and Canada sharing their experiences and industry trends affecting call centers.  The conversation focused predominantly on the decreased focus on customer service by utility companies.  Other topics discussed included performance standards, service levels, staffing levels, contractors, and ergonomics.  The MSUWC is extremely proud of Melissa and Brooke and the leadership they provide.

Click here for more pictures from this workshop.

The regular Council Meeting of the MSUWC was held at the Grand Traverse Resort on September 9, 2017.  Click here for images from that meeting.

A fundraiser for the campaign of Gretchen Whitmer for Governor was held at the Grand Traverse Resort on Septmeber 8, 2017.  Click here for images.

The Muskegon, Michigan Labor Day Parade was hosted by Locals 103 and 388 with members from the Michigan State Utility Workers Council and Locals 103, 107, 123, 124, 150, and 388.  Click here for pictures from the event.

At a Michigan State Utility Workers Council Meeting held on May 13, 2017, five blind drawings were conducted for the 2017 Marshall M. Hicks Scholarships.

Click here for pictures of the Safety Awards that were presented to the Locals that had one or more headquarters with no lost-time accidents during 2016.

At its January 2017 delegate meeting the Michigan State Utility Workers Council announced its endorsement of Gretchen Whitmer for Governor of the State of Michigan.  The one hundred and twenty delegates and members in attendance were surprised on Saturday morning when President Patrick Dillon introduced Gretchen Whitmer.

After a very well received 2015 workshop, two MSUWC members, Mellisa Bateman, Local 107 Steward, and Brooke Lauber, Local 129 Financial Secretary, were asked, once again, to facilitate the Clerical Workshop at the 2016 Inter-Union Gas Conference.