Haynor retires from WMCA

Ed Haynor, who has acted as consultant for the West Michigan Construction Alliance for the past nine years, retired effective June 30.

Haynor had retired as an administrator for the Newaygo County Intermediate School District when he was brought aboard the WMCA, initially to approach local school districts about the value of “responsible contracting” on behalf of building trades unions and their contractors.

Responsible contracting, Haynor pointed out, allows public entities to select construction professionals and construction contractors based on qualification criteria in addition to bid, rather than bid price alone.

“Since inception our marketing efforts at the WMCA were expanded,” Haynor wrote in a farewell letter to construction colleagues last week. “A website was developed, contractor directories were published and communications were established among customers and construction professionals whereby marketing union construction contractors and their workforces to public and private owners became commonplace. In these times of anti-union, anti-worker and an anti-infrastructure investment environment, it’s not easy being anything union, but if union contractors want to be viable, they must be visible and promote themselves in the marketplace.

“The WMCA gives all union contractors and labor unions across all crafts a low cost way of marketing themselves.”

Haynor’s replacement is Iron Workers Local 340 Business Manager Hugh Coward.

“Ed Haynor didn’t come out of the trades, but there’s no doubt his heart has been with union labor,” said Michigan Building and Construction Secretary-Treasurer Patrick Devlin. “His experience in education brought a wealth of talent to the table, and he proved to be a great communicator to people in the trades, and the educational and business communities. We wish him the best in his retirement.”

Now’s a good time to register to vote

If you haven’t done so already, time is running short to check a major item off your to-do list: register to vote.

The deadline to register is Monday, July 9. Registering by July 9 gets you in line to vote in the Aug. 7 primary, the Nov. 6 general election, and every election thereafter.

Here is what you need to know registering.

To register to vote you must be:

• a U.S. citizen;

• at least 18 years of age by election day;

• a resident of Michigan and the city or township where you are applying to register to vote.

Where. You can register to vote for federal, state, and local elections by mail; at your county, city, or township clerk’s office; or by visiting any Secretary of State branch office.

A mail-in voter registration form is available at the Michigan Secretary of State’s website. www.michigan.gov/sos and then click on “Forms” at the top of the page.

When. You must register at least 30 days before the election. This gives the clerk time to process the forms and send you a Voter Identification Card. You must also re-register to vote whenever you move to a new city or township.

First-time voters: If you have never voted in Michigan and register to vote by mail, you must appear in person to vote in the first election in which you wish to participate. This requirement does not apply if (1) you personally hand deliver the mail registration form to your county, city or township clerk’s office instead of mailing the form (2) you are 60 years of age or more (3) you are disabled or (4) you are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

Then vote in the Aug. 7, 2012 primary. There are a number of vital races on the primary ballot this year. For example, two friends of the building trades are running for state representative positions, and both have competition in the primary. Patrick “Shorty” Gleason (of Iron Workers Local 25) is running in the primary for the 48th House District seat in Genesee County.

In the U.P.’s 109th House District that includes Marquette, Tony Retaskie (IBEW Local 1070), executive director for the Upper Peninsula Construction Council, also has a primary challenger.