By Ron Borst
Local 1245 Retiree Club President (Reno Chapter) Ron Borst, left, thanks IBEW Local 3 Business Manager Chris Erikson for turning out a large number of New York IBEW members for the protest against NV Energy.
The support and the power from the people in New York who came to our rally was amazing. Talking to these people–whether it was Vinnie Alvarez from the Central Labor Council or Chris Erikson or Elliot Hecht or Austin McCann of the IBEW—you came away thinking, “These are powerful people.” They didn’t flaunt it, you could just sense it.
And you could sense it from Bill Granfield and the Culinary Workers of UniteHere!, too. When they marched into the staging area carrying their signs and chanting, you could just feel the power in them. It really impressed me how many people were willing to get into the fight with us.
A little before the rally a few of us went over to check out the route of our march, and there were about five guys standing there eyeballing us. I asked if they were from IBEW Local 3, and they said yeah. They said are you from 1245, and I said, Yeah, I am. I said, Do you know why we’re picketing? And they said No, but our business rep said the brothers and sisters from the West Coast needed help, so here we are. I told them what NV Energy was doing to the retirees, and they said, “The dirty bastards,” and that just spread like wildfire.
It was quite an experience, that these people would take time out of their lives to come help us, people from clear across the nation. That impressed me. I definitely felt the power of the unity of the brothers and sisters. We were visible, that was sure. If (NV Energy Benefits Manager) Bob Connolly came down that lane in one of those taxis, he saw us. Many people looked at us with a look of amazement or horror on their faces. One person in a cab rolled down the window and lifted a clenched fist, like “All right, guys!” I know we were discussed extensively at their cocktail hour before those awards were given out– there’s no doubt in my mind. “What are they doing out there? Who are they? What’s NV Energy doing that gets people so stirred up?”
There was so much electricity in the air. We had power when we rallied at the Senior Citizens center in November, we had power when we picketed on Mill Street and picketed in Vegas. But this thing in New York–wow. That’s quite a feeling to have that many people who never laid eyes on you before—and may never lay eyes on you again—help you like that.