Member FAQ

You have questions, we have answers.

While we’ve tried to be comprehensive, we can’t anticipate every question you might have. For questions directing you to the district office, please visit our Contact page.

Membership/Joining

Your local district office can provide you with up-to-date information. Or contact our Director of Organizing at 614-486-5281 or 800-762-4070.

Your local district office will put you in touch with the appropriate organizer who can help you.

Call your district office and the Ohio Operating Engineers Health & Welfare office at 800-282-1767.

The referral system states you may work a total of 31 accumulative days on the same registration card (page 15 of the current Ohio Highway Heavy Agreement).

Registration fees are good for 30 consecutive days. If the fees are not paid by the end of the 30th day,  your card will be pulled from the deck and you will need to fill out a new card. At that time, a new registration fee is paid. Your receipt shows the date that your registration is paid through.

No. Certain other criteria must be fulfilled.

You will be given your approximate position when you call your district office during non-dispatch hours, between noon and 2 p.m.

This information is given out at regular membership meetings that are held the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in each district and also at satellite meetings held throughout the state. Check the Buckeye Engineer newsletter for the next meeting in your area.

Referral rules allow registration in only one district at a time.

Yes. If the state’s unemployment department checks availability for work, the union can only state someone is out of work if that person is on the out-of-work list.

You have recall rights for 24 months with a contractor. You must notify your district office within 24 hours.

You can restrict your card only by counties and only in writing. Restrictions must be phrased in the negative. (“Do not call me for ….. counties.”)

Because you are not available for work here.

Your card goes to the back of the deck after a second consecutive refusal.

No.

Training

You can apply in person at a training site during an annual two-week period, usually the last week of January and the first week of February. Click here for current dates, times and application locations.

At the local training site office or online at https://local18training.com/.

After you reach 250 hours of employment with a signatory employer of Local 18.

Members can sign up for classes by contacting the training centers directly. Visit https://local18training.com/ to learn more.

Yes, when it is a requirement at certain job sites or when required by the employer.

Contact the state examiner’s office in Columbus at 800-686-1524.

Yes. Resumes are accepted from those seeking employment as high and low pressure operators. If a position becomes available within an area covered by a Local 18S collective bargaining agreement, the employer is notified so the qualifications being requested can be matched to the proper person.

No. Members work under a collective bargaining agreement between employer and Local 18S.

Dues

Contact headquarters, your district office or check the Buckeye Engineer newsletter.

Yes. Contact your district office for information about eligibility and to obtain the appropriate paperwork. Contact your district office for retirement options.

Administrative dues are withheld from your paycheck when you are working. Quarterly dues, payable to the union, are your responsibility whether you are working or not.

Dues can be paid through the IUOE Local 18 app or you can pay by mail or walk-in at any of the district offices. Dues also can be mailed to the headquarters office at 3515 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, 44115. Credit Cards, cash, checks, or money orders are accepted at the above locations.

When your dues payments are received, you’ll be mailed a receipt, a dues sticker and a new membership card. The receipt includes the next payment date and amount.

Contact your district office for information about being in arrears.

No. Save all your pay stubs and dues receipts.

Yes. Because dues may be adjusted periodically, be sure to call your district office or headquarters to confirm the amount due before making your payment.

With reduced dues, you remain a current member and still are eligible for the death benefit, with the exception of 18S members who do not receive death benefits.

No.

Contact your district office or headquarters and ask for the amount owed. Your dues card and/or receipt will show your current dues status.

Yes.

Benefits

The Ohio Operating Engineers Health & Welfare office in Columbus can be reached at 614-488-0708 or 800-282-1767.

Contact the Ohio Operating Engineers Health & Welfare office or your district office to request forms or information. Applications are taken between January 1 and April 1 of each year.  Click here for an application.

Medical Reimbursement Account

This is an account in which .65 cents an hour is contributed on your behalf to cover deductible copays or prescriptions, and dental, optical and medical exams. Forms are available through the Health & Welfare office or your district office and invoices should be submitted to them for reimbursement.

The Ohio Operating Engineers Health & Welfare Fund at 614-488-0708 or 800-282-1767.

Send it to the Ohio Operating Engineers Health & Welfare Plan, P.O. Box 12009, Columbus, Ohio, 43212-0009. If you have questions, the phone number is listed above.

Death Benefits

If it has changed, be sure to ask your district office for a new beneficiary designation card and file it with the necessary district office. In many cases, members have more than one benefit based on their membership, so also check with the Health & Welfare office. Each of these benefit funds is administered separately. Changing the beneficiary with one DOES NOT change the others.

Both the Health & Welfare office in Columbus at 614-488-0708 or 800-282-1767, and the Local 18 headquarters office in Cleveland at 216-432-3138, can answer your questions.

All members of Local 18 and its branches, with the exception of 18S, have group term life insurance through Anthem Life Insurance Company, as long as you are a member in good standing.

General

When steam was used to operate heavy equipment, 420 pounds was the operating pressure that
was needed.

International: 202-429-9100; Central Pension Fund: 202-362-1000

Contact headquarters at 216-432-3138 or click here.

Forty hours a month by current law. Contact the Health & Welfare office to confirm.

Contact the Health & Welfare office, Pension Department for information.

Contact your district representative for the options open to you.

NLRB – National Labor Relations Board
SERB – State Employment Relations Board
DOL – Department of Labor