Cruz Serna hired to serve as business representative for new members
IBEW 1245 has picked up nine new signatory employers in the manufacturing sector. IBEW 1245 member Cruz Serna has been hired to the union staff to represent the new members at these locations.
Cruz Serna
Photo by Leslie Asher
Serna, formerly a Service Rep at PG&E’s Call Center in Fresno, has been among the most active of IBEW 1245’s member-organizers over the past year. He worked on the successful campaign to defeat the anti-union Measure G in Fresno and traveled to Alaska to help fight an anti-union initiative in Anchorage.
Organizing manufacturing workers is part of IBEW 1245’s charter, but the local has not had any members working in manufacturing for decades. The last employer the union represented in manufacturing was Lynch, a former telephone manufacturer in Reno, NV.
The IBEW Ninth District office made the decision to merge IBEW 2131 into IBEW 1245, effectively bringing the 315 IBEW members at the nine manufacturers into IBEW 1245. Assistant Business Manager Ray Thomas will coordinate the merger of the two locals as well as contract negotiations for the new members, who are currently working under contracts negotiated by IBEW 2131.
Serna, 38, will represent the new members in day-to-day matters and introduce them to IBEW 1245’s structure and method of operating. Members at these locals will be entitled to a representative on the IBEW 1245 Advisory Council, where the manufacturing seat has been vacant for over two decades.
These new IBEW 1245 members, working in plants from Sunnyvale to Richmond, are engaged in a variety of industrial processes, from manufacturing residential floor lamps to the machining of graphite heaters, molds, and crucibles. They include journey-level workers ranging from electricians and machinists to painters and maintenance personnel.
The nine employers are Advanced Carbon Products, Inc., Ansaldobreda, Inc., Borden Lighting, Jacobs Technology, Inc. and Sierra Lobo, Inc. (under one collective bargaining agreement), Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, NorthropGrumman Corporation, Trayer Engineering, Delta Star, Inc. and Cooper-Shaper Lighting.
The largest of the IBEW-represented workforces is Delta Star, with 150 IBEW members. Delta Star manufactures electrical transformers and mobile electrical substations.
Members at Lockheed Martin Space Systems–perhaps the most recognizable of the employers–design, develop and test systems related to national security and also human space flight.
Business Representative Serna, who was initiated into IBEW 1245 in 2009, said he was happy about this opportunity to work for the union and represent its members.
Welcome aboard, Brother Serna! And welcome aboard members of IBEW 2131!