Around the Local

This year the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) hosted their first ever BBQ Bash & Competition! Union members from multiple different trades were invited to attend and compete in a BBQ competition to raise money for USA’s Torstenson Youth Conservation Education Center. Two of the 9 teams who competed were our very own IBEW brothers, with IBEW Local 364 taking first place! Covering this event reminded us what it means to be Union Proud, working together to support a great cause and having fun doing it! 

A labor day message from IBEW Pres. Kenneth Cooper to Our Members and their Families!

IBEW Detroit Local 58 member Bill Baisden joined Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a May 16 press conference announcing the first U.S. Canada electric vehicle corridor.

A powerful new tool providing real-time updates about federal infrastructure investments will be key to IBEW's efforts to win the billions of dollars in new work opportunities approved by these recent laws.

The searchable database gives users the ability to find out about project announcements. This includes loans and grant money resulting from :

IBEW members are central to the new economy due to the future-forward policies championed by the Biden- Harris administration.

Called the Investing in America agenda, a companion high-level administration roadshow highlights recent laws like the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

President Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reinforce how the laws promote good jobs, domestic manufacturing and economic development – and highlight their critical partnership with the IBEW.

The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office aims to put thousands of IBEW members to work.

On June 13, the IBEW Government Affairs Department convened a meeting with DOE LPO Director Jigar Shah and IBEW employers to discuss LPO’s billions of dollars in loan opportunities, all with the goal of creating more IBEW jobs.

An 18-year wait for a permit on a construction project sounds like a long time. But at least the Trans-West Express Transmission project was finally approved last month – and 700 IBEW members will soon be on the ground building its high voltage transmission lines across four states.

But the Grain Belt Express, a proposed 800-mile project in the Midwest that IBEW members and project developers publicly teamed up to support back in 2015, still awaits its go-ahead.

Congressional leaders and President Biden continued negotiations to break through a deadlock over spending priorities and policy changes demanded by House Republicans over the debt ceiling, as time ran out before a June 1 government default.

IBEW's skill and experience are critical to the Biden administration’s efforts to remake the electric grid in Puerto Rico.

Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has visited Puerto Rico four times, most recently in late March. She met with IBEW members, including Orlando, Fla. Local 222 Business Manager Bill Hitt and Local 787 Business Manager Joel Flores Cruz, who represent hundreds of members, including lineworkers working to modernize the island’s transmission and distribution system, which has been devastated by hurricanes in recent years.

 

Syracuse Local 43 member and contractor Shawni Davis featured prominently in the presidential announcement on constructing a massive Micron computer chip plant in upstate New York.

 

Arlington, Texas, Local 220 member Samran Khampeth, a Siemens breaker plant foreman, attended a high- level White House meeting.

Vice President Kamala Harris convened the small event on March 10 with former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, IBEW President Kenny Cooper and Assistant to the IBEW President for Government Affairs Austin Keyser. It marked two years since the Biden-Harris administration created the workforce organizing task force and also marked Walsh’s last official appearance as labor secretary.

The White House has been hosting IBEW members at events highlighting how the Biden-Harris administration’s policies positively impact their communities. Key participants included Minneapolis Local 292 Legislative Director Andy Snope, Milwaukee Local 494 Business Manager Dean Warsh, Local 494 apprentice Jess Berndt, and most recently, IBEW Second District Lead Organizer Steve Smith.

President Biden commonly name-checks the IBEW in speeches, often going off his prepared remarks to call out one of his favorite labor unions.

On March 24, during an address to the Canadian Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, Ontario, he mentioned the IBEW again.

“For example, I met with the IBEW and pointed out we will build 500,000 electric charging stations. Guess who builds them? Union workers,” Biden said in his speech on Parliament Hill.

Columbus, Ohio, Local 683’s membership is experiencing explosive growth from work at data centers, hospitals, battery plants, industrial solar and other renewable projects. The building boom is making the city’s central Ohio construction local union one of the fastest-growing in the IBEW.

 

“We have a dramatic need for workers,” said business manager Pat Hook, citing the area’s access to affordable property and energy. “The area is growing, and it’s a great place to do business.”

 

Members click on the photo or link above for the latest IBEW Updates newsletter!

IBEW LOCAL UNION 90 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP OUTING

Saturday, September 9, 2023 

YMCA Camp Mountain Mist, 534 High Hill Road, Meriden, CT 203-237-7864

 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

 

The State of Connecticut, Department of Consumer Protection is now hiring for a Consumer Protection Inspector (Occupational

Trades) in the Investigations Division located in Hartford, CT.

Position Details:

This is a full-time, 40 hours/week

Monday - Friday

Located at 450 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford



See the following link:



In the 9th District on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu resides perhaps one of the most unique electrical projects around. Members from IBEW Local 1186 are busy constructing a new recreation destination within the Hoakalei Resort on the island's southwestern coast. Wai Kai is an active, year-round destination where residents and visitors will be able to connect to the land, water, and Hawaiian culture by experiencing first of its kind attractions, signature events, and the natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean. 

The Los Angeles community-based nonprofit 2nd Call does a lot for the people it serves, but for John "Big John" Harriel Jr., it all comes down to three words.



“It saves lives," said Harriel, a 25-year member of Los Angeles Local 11, which works with the organization to get its participants into the trades.

Pages