We have been advised that Verizon has been negligent in their handling of the M.S.A. hard hats worn to provide protection against injury. These hard hats have a maximum lifetime warranty of 5 years. Verizon did not document the in-service date (the date the hard hat was removed from its plastic bag) in 2000 when they first were issued and until recently did not start doing so. If you personally know that you had your hard hat 5 years or more, request a new hard hat from your supervisor and be sure that your supervisor documents the in-service date for the company records.

The Local has received copies of the CWA/AVAYA Contract and they are available for distribution to our members. The Local will make arrangements to distribute copies to our members but we know that many of our AVAYA members are spread out and report directly to customer locations. If you contact the Local, we will make sure you get a copy.

The Psychiatric Institute of Washington is required under the D.C. Codes to establish a substance abuse program. The code requires random drug testing of all employees who serve D.C. contracts and have direct contact with children. Local 2336 will be meeting with the management of PIW to insure that any program developed protects the rights of our members while meeting the requirements of the D.C. Codes.

The Union and Share Group Incorporated conducted its first Common Interest Forum (CIF) meeting for 2007 on Tuesday, January 30^th. The meeting was attended by Bonnie Barrett, Cortez Avery, Stuart Philip, Mike Harris, Will Patterson and Don Capparelli.

The focus of the discussion in this CIF meeting was "low fundraiser performance." This issue is of great concern by both parties, and will require a follow-up meeting to complete the discussion. That follow-up meeting will take place before the end of this month.

James Cleveland Owens was born on September 12, 1913, in Danville, Alabama, the son of a family of sharecroppers. As a child, he labored in the fields until his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. While attending the Fairmont Junior High School in Cleveland, he set the world record of 9.4 seconds in the 100-yard dash. In 1930, Owens enrolled at Ohio State University. He had no scholarship, but he did have a job. This income was doubly important because he married his childhood sweetheart, Ruth Solomon, in 1931, when he was 18 and she 16. Three daughters, Gloria, Beverly and Marlene, were born to the couple.

Owens continued his track competitions. In 1935, he turned in what critics called the "greatest performance ever seen in a single day in the history of tract athletics" when he set a world record in the broad jump, tied his own world record in the 100-yard dash and set two more world records in the 220-yard dash and the 220-yard low hurdles.

Jesse Owens entered the 1936 World Olympics in Berlin. The atmosphere at the Olympics was tense because Adolph Hitler had proclaimed that Germans were the "master" race. Owens was more than up to the challenge. In the 100-meter dash, he tied the world record at 10.3 seconds; in the 200-meter dash, he shattered the Olympic record in 20.7 seconds; and then, along with his teammates, he won the 400-meter relay. In the broad jump, Owens was pitted against Luz Long of Germany, who was touted by Hitler as the "White Hope." Owens defeated the German in a record-breaking 26 feet, 5 inches. While the German competitor displayed sportsmanlike behavior by congratulating Owens, his leader, Adolph Hitler, refused to make the presentation.

In 1944, Owens changed his career direction and moved to Chicago, where he began working with youngsters on the Illinois Youth Commission. He gave unselfishly of his time and talents declaring, "If I…..can help a young person to be a better person today, then I owe it to him to share my experience.

In 1955, Jesse Owens toured India as a goodwill ambassador for the United States. Later, he founded his own public relations firm and nurtured that successful business until poor health forced him into retirement and a move to warmer weather in Tucson, Arizona. After his death, March 30, 1980, Arizona’s flags were flown at half-mast and his body was flown to Chicago for a hero’s funeral.