McGuire Dental: ILWU Local 13 Dentist

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The new kind of unionism born of the 1934 maritime strike was not confined to the docks. The warehouse workers, with their close ties to the waterfront that in the early days of the union came from working near the docks and handling cargo brought on and off the ships by longshoremen, also helped build the ILWU and they too shared in its achievements.

Today the Warehouse Division of the ILWU is a dynamic section of the union, tested and fortified by rank-and-file sacrifices and victories. Its members, men and women of all races and beliefs, are employed in public warehouses, coffee and spice warehouses, liquor and bottling plants, laboratories, open pit mines, hospitals, sugar refineries and chemical plants, flour and feed mills, food processing establishments and grocery and hardware warehouses. Some work in large establishments, others in companies with but a handful of employees.

Warehousing involves the storage, processing and distribution of goods, as well as some manufacturing. Though warehouse workers suffered low wages, high job insecurity and frequent speed-ups, the old AFL craft unions never considered organizing the men and women who earned a precarious living in the distribution centers up and down the West Coast. But under the impetus of the successful 1934 maritime strike, the warehousemen organized. In August 1934 new members of Weighers, Warehousemen's and
Cereal Workers Union Local 38-44 (later to become ILWU Local 6 in the San Francisco Bay Area) re-activated the local's ILA charter, which had been inactive since 1923, and immediately started a vigorous organizing campaign.

In addition to ILWU Local 6, there is our San Pedro or Los Angeles Port ILWU Local 13.  At McGuire Dental, our proximity to San Pedro Long Beach, we support our local ILWU Local 13.  One of our first ILWU Local 13 patients was Joe.  He initially came in as an emergency.  Apparently, he had a cracked tooth from a work related accident and rushed in.  He has been a loyal patient of ours for over 10 years now.  We also provide his entire family with their dental needs.  He has even referred us to other ILWU Local 13 coworkers and longshoremen of San Pedro.  Please visit us at McGuire Dental or visit us at our website, Click HERE. 

eHow Difference Between Hot- & Cold-Rolled Steel

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Hot rolled and cold rolled steel differ in three major aspects: rolling temperature, thickness and physical properties. Coil or sheet steel is initially hot reduced from slabs, either to a finished product or to produce strip steel for further processing. Cold rolled steel begins with a hot rolled strip product that, through the rolling process, is further reduced in thickness, a process that also changes the physical properties (primarily the crystalline structure) of the product.

      Rolling Temperatures
   1. Hot-rolling requires temperatures of 1,652 degrees to 2,012 degrees Fahrenheit (900 to 1,100 degrees Celsius), while cold-rolled steel is rolled at room temperature.

      Steel coming off the finishing stand at the hot mill is cooled by water spray and coiled at temperatures of 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius) and 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit (760 degrees Celsius). The hot-rolled steel is then cooled to room temperature. Once at ambient temperature, the steel can be cold reduced or cold rolled.

      Product Thicknesses:
   2. Coiling steel
      Lathe Turning Stainless Steel image by Stana from Fotolia.com
      Coiling steel
      Typically, hot rolling begins with a standard 10-inch (250 mm) thick slab, either directly from a continuous caster or reheated to the desired temperature. The steel moves through a series of mill stands that reduce the slab to a hot roll strip with thicknesses ranging from 0.071 inches (1.80 mm) to 0.350 inches (8.89 mm).

      Cold rolling through a second series of mills further reduces the hot rolled steel to a cold rolled product with a thickness range from .0126 inches (.32 mm) to .157 inches (3.99 mm).
      Physical Properties
   3. Ball bearings are used to test steel hardness.
      steel balls image by Igor Shootov from Fotolia.com
      Ball bearings are used to test steel hardness.
      Steel's physical structure varies by product; heating and cooling change the molecular structure of the metal. Steel coming off the hot mill will be softer and more ductile than material further processed through a cold mill.

      Ductility, measured by elongation testing, determines the amount of material deformation that occurs before the material fractures. Elongation (in 2 inches) for hot rolled is from 39 to 43 percent, while cold rolled ranges from 40 to 46 percent.
      Other Differences
   4. Because it is softer, hot rolled steel forms easily, while cold rolled has superior drawing quality. Cold rolled's tighter tolerances make it a better choice for highly engineered end uses.
      The blue-gray oxide that forms the finish on hot rolled is unsuitable for painting without further processing and surface preparation, while cold rolled's smooth gray finish is ready to paint.

      Each product can be produced with a variety of chemical and physical characteristics to meet specific applications.
      Applications
   5. Automobile body constructed of both hot- and cold-rolled steel
      car image by Tammy Mobley from Fotolia.com
      Automobile body constructed of both hot- and cold-rolled steel
      Hot-rolled steel is used in construction, industrial machinery, and shipbuilding as well as for unexposed automotive and appliance parts such as frames, brackets, wheels and clutch plates. Hot-rolled steel is a suitable product where thickness, strength and formability are important.

      Cold-rolled applications include refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers and small appliances as well as a wide variety of exposed automotive parts. Cold-rolled applications often require tight tolerances and a smooth, paintable surface.

HVAC: A Simple Safety Culture: a Little Goes a Long Way to Reduce Costs

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There is a difference between "unsafe" and "hazardous." The nature of work in the sheet metal and HVAC industry is inherently hazardous (tools and equipment, working from heights, chemicals, etc.) but it is only as unsafe as the employers and employees allow it to be.

What is the "culture" of safety at your company? Do you have a 100 percent mandatory eye protection policy? Or do your workers wear eye protection on a "hit or miss" basis? When an employee reminds a fellow employee to wear his safety glasses, is that considered negative feedback? Or does the fellow employee appreciate the concern being put forward?

The idea of establishing a safety culture versus simply following a safety program is not a new concept, although it appears that forming a company safety culture is recent trend. A very simple definition of a "safety culture" is described by Sue and Tom Cox in "The Structure of Employee Attitudes To Safety - A European Example."

"A safety culture is a term often used to describe the way in which safety is managed in the workplace, and often reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety."

Don't let a safety culture for your business get distracted by behavioral safety studies and complicated measurements. A safety culture can simply be established by management taking the attitude and belief that safety is a priority and working with employees to perceive and value safety at that same priority level.

As a result, every employee, including management, then takes the responsibility to ensure that safety remains a focus in daily operations. Moving toward a positive safety culture is not an "overnight" occurrence. It often takes many months, maybe several years, to promote safety at a very high level. But companies who have made a safety culture part of the business have seen many benefits including reduced workers compensation costs, higher employee productivity, and other positive outcomes.

For more information on safety cultures and how to improve your company safety and health efforts, go to the SMACNA safety web page.

Metals Prices

Metals and Commodities Prices - Page 1
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Metalprices.com
Free LME and Comex price charts and tables in USD/LB for aluminum, antimony, chrome, cobalt, columbium, copper, germanium, gold, iron, lead, moly, nickelalloy, palladium, platinum, silver, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium and zinc.


American Metals Market (AMM)
International daily news service covering the metals industries, with up-to-date prices of 1,400 industrial materials. Covers mining to production, distribution to manufacturing and reuse. Includes events, analysis and online marketplace. Subscription service with some free resources.


London Metal Exchange (LME) Prices
Get daily prices and stocks as well as historical prices and charts directly from the LME. The LME is the international standard for metal commodity pricing of copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, nickel, silver and aluminum alloy.


World Carbon Steel Prices & Forecasts
Global steel prices from MEPS, the leader in steel price data. Monthly price chart of hot rolled coil, hot rolled plate, cold rolled coil, HD galv. coil, electro zinc, coil wire, rod (mesh), medium sections & beams, rebar and merchant bar. 

Prices Soar For Another Commodity : Steel

Long Beach Business Journal - May 13, 2008
By Stacy Clements - Staff Writer


It's a $60 billion enterprise and the backbone of the country’s infrastructure and transportation industries – steel. The commodity is used to construct bridges, cars, railroads and skyscrapers, but steel prices are peaking as rapidly as
petroleum, and there seems to be no end in sight........

Daryl Phillips, president and CEO of Phillips Steel Co., says that its location in West Long Beach is advantageous because of its proximity to the ports and major freeways. His grandfather founded the company in 1915, while fourth generation
family members currently run its day-to-day operations. The company also recently expanded to include Phillips Steel and Industrial Supplies in La Porte, Texas. “There’s a lot of negativity [about the economy] going on in the newspapers and on the news channels, but we don’t see it.

The Los Angeles/Long Beach port [complex] is a very strong business environment,” Phillips says. “We don’t care what the dollar is or what the cost of goods are because it’s a commodity,” he adds. “We just pass that on to the consumer.” Phillips Steel’s Westside operations are comparable to a Home Depot center that specializes in metal. The facility distributes and supplies steel, stainless steel, aluminum and brass. Additionally, it distributes metal working tools and provides on-site cutting and fabrication. The original warehouse still stands on the approximately 100,000-square-foot lot on Anaheim Street. “The demand for metal for industry [use] is still strong, and we’re very optimistic that it will remain strong,” Phillips says.


In 1915, Phillips Steel Company specialized in scrap metal. Today it distributes and supplies steel, stainless steel, aluminum and brass, and also provides metal tools, cutting and fabrication. The original warehouse still stands on the approximately 100,000- square-foot lot on Anaheim Street. Owner Daryl Phillips’ grandfather founded the company, while fourth-generation family members currently run its day-to-day operations.

Remembering Robert Bob Lee : Memorial Bus Shelter

LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- Aurora Lee holds a City of Long Beach proclamation during the unveiling of a new bus shelter dedicated to her late husband, Robert Bob Lee, on the corner of Santa Fe Ave. and the Pacific Coast Highway on April 21, 2010, in Long Beach, Calif. Lee was a Long Beach business owner who was active in both the West and Central Redevelopment Project Area Committees. The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) joined Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga, Long Beach Transit and the West Project Area Committee at the unveiling of a memorial bus shelter in West Long Beach. Mr. Lee passed away in March 2008. Phillips Steel kindly donated the steel panels used in the artwork, created by Wayne Healy, which captured the vitality of Bob Lee.  Bob Lee was very active in both the West and Central Redevelopment Project Area Committees and left a huge mark on the community of Long Beach.  Click HERE   to read more.

       

Robert Bob Lee Bus Shelter Memorial - Located on the corner of Santa Fe Ave. and the Pacific Coast Highway

Tools : A One Stop Shop

1999 marked the opening of the company's new tool department, offering a broad assortment of brand name tools and supplies from such companies as Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Stanley, Vise-Grip, Channellock and others. "We have become a one-stop shopping source for all metal-working needs, " says company Vice-president, Greg Phillips.  Click HERE  to see a more comprehensive line of our brands.

Our clients range from small local business owners and larger construction projects.  What we found from our clients is that they have specific needs and although we provide all necessary metal materials, they also required solutions for other project needs.  This was true for larger project teams outside the local area working on new projects within the Los Angeles community.  We recently assisted one client from Texas who did not want to incur expensive shipping costs of certain equipment to their project site near LAX, Los Angeles International Airport.  For Phillips Steel to provide both their metal and alloy needs as well as equipment and supplies really helped our client fulfill  his needs. 

At Phillips Steel, we are more than just a Metal distributor.  We like to consider ourselves knowledgeable of the industry and truly enjoy providing solutions for all our clients.