Brothers and Sisters, I hope this finds you well.

Over the past two weeks, I attended the World renowned Surfaces Convention at Mandalay Bay and last week the Finishing Industries Forum, also called FIF.

Surfaces is a great event, they have a journeyman competition and IUPAT has an apprentice one, I can tell you right now that the apprentice is getting better every year, members got over $1,500 worth of tools, plus cash prize for the four places. DC16 proudly got the first place, a 5^th year apprentice who’s working at the Bay Area, second place went to DC36, the first female apprentice that competed, the results were tight and the fact that they spent almost 3 days being watched by many people is a win for everybody.

I was able to meet with two turf companies that will eventually train more apprentices and be able to gain more market share here in Vegas. 

At FIF, we had amazing speakers that gave us a forecast of what’s coming with the Trump administration, I can also tell you right now that it’s not looking good, more than ever, we must stick together; employers, members and union staff, to figure this out, to be able to find a way to protect what we fought for and continue to push for more labor laws that will protect us all.

I hope to see you guys next Tuesday for our meeting, we will have T-shirts ready for you.

Stay active, stay in touch, stay safe!

If you need help from me, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

My phone number is: (702) 403-0700

Email: gustavo@dc16.us