During the course of 2008 WICA will have four of its chapters re-negotiating their local collective bargaining agreements.

• Local 36 Oregon: Expired April 26th
• Local 73 Arizona: Expires July 31st
• Local 5 Southern California: Expires September 28th
• Local 97 Anchorage Alaska: Expires December 31st

Although final details are still forthcoming on the Local 36 negotiations a three year agreement was reached for $7.55 over the life of the contract. WICA Regional Staff is available for pre-negotiation meetings with your committee to review the current master labor agreement and make recommendations on perspective contract changes, identify regional/national trends, and assist in bargaining preparation. Please note that each of the current master labor agreements are available for your review on the WICA website in the members only section.

Plan now to attend the Seattle Regional Golf Outing this July 11th. This year the tournament will be moving to a new location and will be held at the beautiful Trophy Lake Golf Club in Port Orchard, Washington. Trophy Lake is an absolutely wonderful location and guaranteed to be a memorable event. Please go to www.trophylakegolf.com for a sneak peak of this beautiful course. Please see the registration form and hole sponsor form to register. Stack your foursomes now and mark your calendars for a great event.

The third annual WICA fishing derby was held last week on April 21st and there were four WICA boats in the water. The derby was scheduled to take place on the Willamette River which was closed just days before the event. Participants enjoyed a great but extremely cold day of fishing on the Columbia River. Early reports indicate that four large spring Chinooks were "boated" during the event. Please check here for pictures of this fun filled event. Mark your calendars now for the Fourth Annual Fishing Derby which has been tentatively scheduled for April 17, 2009. It is estimated that there will be excess of 250,000 spring Chinook on the move. Lastly, WICA would like to express its appreciation to Bob Jeffries of EJ Bartells for his leadership and commitment for making this a successful event.

At the end of March leaders from the WICA Labor Committee met with the Western States Conference addressing some of the industries critical needs. The meeting was held in sunny Palm Springs and agenda items being addressed included;
• Local Area Reports (Labor & Management)
• AWI Business Plan: Apprentice Ratio (3-1), Fifteen Percent (15%) Workforce Growth, Organizing
• Employer Sponsored Training Program Support (i.e. foreman training, journeyman upgrading)
• Labor Management Cooperative Trust contributions and review of LMCT purpose
• Standardized Testing/Certification of Craftsman Skills
Stay tuned for a complete review and update!!

The WICA program committee will be meeting several times over the course of the next two months to develop the final agenda for our annual meeting and convention to be held this September in Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Please forward any and all suggestions you may have that will increase the value of this meeting for your company. Specifically, the committee would like your suggestions for;
• Industry education programs
• Labor relations concerns and/or initiatives
• Social events
• Spouse Programs
Make your voice heard NOW!! Also, don’t forget that a US Passport will be required to attend this great event! Additional information may be obtained at http://travel.state.gov/passport

Just a reminder that the WICA annual meeting will be held in beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and time to acquire your passport will be running out soon. As you may already know, it is now required for American citizens to have a passport to travel to Mexico. To avoid last minute delays, please make sure you have a current US passport now, for more information on passports visit http://travel.state.gov/passport.  Don’t delay and miss out on what will surely be a memorable convention. This will be your “ticket” to fun in the sun, and sand!!! The 2008 Annual WICA convention will be held at the fabulous Westin Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico from Sunday, September 14 through Tuesday, September 16, 2008. Think… Mexico, sand, cervesa’s and beach parties!!! This will be the first time WICA travels south of the border and will most definitely be an event to remember. For more information about the resort go to www.westinloscabos.com.  The WICA program committee will be meeting in the next several weeks to start finalizing the agenda, please forward any suggestions and ideas on education topics or group activities to the Tricia at the WICA office, (801)364-0050.