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The ILEU spends a great deal of time making sure its members are kept up to date with the latest happenings in and around work. Back in the 1950's, 60's, 70's and 80's, we sent a newsletter to each of the members via US Mail. In the early 90's, we built a web page, however, not everyone had a computer or was internet-savvy at that point, so we still mailed an occasional newsletter. Today, some 15 years later, pretty much all of the ILEU's communications to its members uses the internet in some fashion or another.

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Danger, Educated Union Member!

Union Buttons, have been handed out to nearly all members in the past few months. These are one way of us showing solidarity to the Company during the difficult times we have faced lately. If you don't have one yet, please call or email any ILEU Representative, and they'll be happy to get one for you. For those of you who have the buttons, PLEASE WEAR THEM! It shows that our hearts and minds are one! The Union will periodically have new and different buttons made, depending upon the prevailing issues and attitudes displayed around the site. If you have an idea for a button, let any ILEU representative know and we'll give serious consideration to having it made into a Union button!

ILEU Merchandise....

We have t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies (both zipper and pullovers) in stock and ready for you. We have all sizes from Small - 3XL. We can custom order Windbreakers and Hats. Please email Mike McEnerney or give him a call at CL x-3793 to order or purchase.

February 8, 2010

General Membership Meeting... There will be a General Membership Meeting on Friday, February 19, 2010. It will be held at the Beaver Brook Country Club promptly at 5:15 PM. Proposed By-Law Changes will be discussed and voted on. You can view the proposed changes here.

Don't Do It....Ever!
Attend a Meeting Alone, That Is.

The ILEU membership is made up of educated and talented Technicians, Mechanics, Clerical, and various Utility employees. The membership is also fortunate to work for such a top shelf company! Despite the fact that we have a good rapport with the Company, members sometimes find themselves in a position where they are "Called In On The Carpet". NEVER, EVER go into a meeting with management alone if there is any chance that discipline could be administered during or as a result of the meeting.

On the back of your "Union Card" is a small paragraph that reads as follows.....

"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my Union Representative, Officer, or Steward be present at the meeting. Without representation, I choose not to answer any questions." These are known as "Weingarten Rights. They are the labor equivalent of the "Miranda Rights" that you see on TV police dramas. Better to be safe than sorry!

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The current redesign of the Union's web pages has been praised by much of the membership, and along with the addition of ileu.org email addresses for everyone, has been pretty successful with keeping the members fully informed. Based upon member input, it appears that the majority of the rank and file are pleased with updates via email. We will continue sending the emails as always.

Updating the web pages and keeping them up to date is a lot more involved than in previous versions of the ILEU site. The What's New page (current page) with its multi-column, multi-color, multi-font is extremely complex to write and edit. I believe (as your Webmaster) that by and large, this Union's web pages should act as a reference work, i.e., a place where Union members and non-members alike can find basic ILEU information, Union contact information, upcoming events, and the like. I don't think that the Union's web site should contain news, stories, or the sometimes intimate details of the ILEU's day to day operations. Because the Internet is Very, Very Public, I have been sending most of that information to the members via our own email system at ileu.org. A great deal of the ILEU's business is very private and must be kept that way. The email fits that need very effectively.

Many ILEU Members are not religious about checking their email on a regular basis, even though they are sent reminders to their work email address. It is for those folks in particular that our latest implementation, known as RSS will be of benefit. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. The best thing about RSS is the news feed is downloaded to your browser (Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, etc.) in the background without any effort or special knowledge on your part once it is set up. If you would like an explanation of RSS, you can visit Microsoft. There is another explanation at the BBC. The only drawback to the RSS implementation is it must be done from home because the computers at work use Internet Explorer 6, which is many years out of date.

To set up RSS you must be using Internet Explorer 7 or 8, or Firefox version 3 or newer. I prefer Firefox because they have a simpler, more elegant implementation of RSS, although Internet Explorer 8's implementation is very similar. The set up is very simple. There is a Shortcut near the bottom of this article which will allow you to bypass these instructions if they become confusing. To set up Firefox, you will notice a logo RSS Image just like this in the address bar. Click on this icon and a little dialog box will open with a title which says Subscribe with Live Bookmark. You will see the name of the RSS Feed and a folder location. I always choose the Bookmark Toolbar as the folder location. Click on Subscribe and you're done! That's all there is to it! The ILEU's news feed should appear on your Bookmarks Toolbar. A single click on the button will show the various new stories available. Just click on any of the items and you will be automatically taken to the story. You don't even have to visit the ILEU web page once you have subscribed in order to receive the latest news stories or announcments from the Union!

Internet Explorer set up is similar to the set up above. In Internet Explorer 7 or 8, while you are viewing this page, the little RSS icon RSS Image should light up in the Command Bar toolbar. Note that the Command Bar must be visible. (If it's not, right-click an open area in the Internet Explorer's toolbar near the top of the screen (eg. near the menus) and place a checkmark next to Command Bar .) You will notice that the RSS logo is only lit when the page you're visiting offers an RSS News Feed. Click on the down arrow next to the RSS logo and click on the News Feed of your choice (Sometimes, there are more than one). This will open up the feed and allow you to subscribe to it on the resulting page.

Setup Shortcut! Some web pages allow you to click on the logo to subscribe directly.This will allow you to bypass the instructions above. Try it, you'll save yourself some time. Other popular sites which offer RSS feeds are ExxonMobil.com, CNN.com, and BBC.com, to name a few.

If you have difficulty, with either set up, please use the help pages for your browser and search for RSS . If you use browsers other than IE or Firefox, follow their directions for RSS set up if they have an implementation for RSS News Feeds.