by Tom Dalzell
With 2015 in the rear view mirror, it’s time to take a minute and look back over where we’ve been. 2015 was our 115th year together – believe it or not, our union pre-dates all of our employers (IBEW’s first written labor agreement was with PG&E’s predecessor in 1900). That was the first fight we won together, and every year since then has presented more challenges for us, whether it was securing better safety equipment for lineman in the 1960s or holding on to our jobs when employers circled bankruptcy in the early 2000s.
But the spirit of brotherhood and safety that inspired our founders has made us stronger every year since. 2015 was no different. Here are just a few highlights:
1. Rocky, Valley and Butte Fires. After a long, hot summer and years of drought, three of the worst fires California has ever seen broke out in quick succession. In July, the Rocky fire broke out near Clear Lake. It was the first major fire of the season, but Local 1245 was prepared. Just as our gas and electric teams responded to the Napa earthquake the year before, so we responded this time – with over 100 of our members stepping up to work with first responders in the area.
Then in early September, with repair efforts in Clear Lake still underway, the twin Butte and Valley fires touched off, engulfing hundreds of thousands of acres, destroying thousands of homes and buildings, and leaving six people dead. 1245 responded with an intensity that matched the fire’s fury – hundreds volunteered to work overtime helping people get to safety and, for those who could return home, restoring their power. The size of the blaze overwhelmed official response efforts, but one of our members, Gary Herrin, stayed in his community and saved nine homes using swimming pool water, his own tractor and anything else he could find. Gary’s leadership and the work of everyone who pitched in says everything there is to say about the spirit of our membership.
2. Mutual Aid in Spokane. After weathering those disasters, our members still had enough in the tank to step up and help others outside of our service territory. In mid-November, a powerful windstorm hit the Pacific Northwest, with speeds clocking near 120 miles per hour. The storm killed four people and caused the most extensive power outages in the region’s history. With temperatures below freezing and a snowstorm moving in, IBEW 1245 members showed up on the scene. Our PG&E GC crews worked through the night to get power back for the more than one million people who were affected. And from there, some even went on to do additional work in Idaho. We were proud to be a part of this effort, and proud to be able to help our brothers, sisters and fellow citizens when they needed it.
3. Brotherhood Across Borders: Our Work in Suriname. Electrical line work is routinely rated as one of the most dangerous jobs in the US. The profession is only more dangerous in countries with no health or safety laws, and where no union exists to insist on training or safety equipment. Brady Hansen, an IBEW Local 77 lineman out of Idaho, brought that home when he shared his experience working with line workers in Suriname, a small South American country. They had no instruction, no protective gear, no boots, gloves or safety glasses – and they earn barely enough to survive.
After Hansen began holding safety trainings for the linemen there, 1245 members donated 300 pairs of EH rated boots, over 1,000 pairs of new safety glasses and more. And three of our own journeymen linemen – Carl Keehn from SMUD, Samson Wilson from Nevada Energy and James Scott from ILB – displayed the spirit of IBEW founder Henry Miller by joining Hansen in Suriname to train line workers on basic safety procedures. We were able to make real progress, and possibly save lives, for our brothers there.
4. Strong At Home. Our work in our own communities is also something to take pride in. This year, over one hundred 1245 units donated their community funds to a diverse and impressive group of local charities. Many also donated their time to help accomplish local projects. Strong communities are built by strong workers, and IBEW 1245 is proud to be a positive force for change in communities across our service territory.
5. Supporting Our Own. On September 30, 2015, PG&E Electric Crew Foreman Clifford (Cliff) Bengs out of Redding was fatally injured while working to replace a pole. Cliff was 40, and left behind his wife, Norie, and two small children, one and three years old. He was a 13-year 1245 member, and as soon as his passing was announced, our members organized a vacation sale and donated $220,000 to his widow and family. Losing Cliff was a blow – he is fondly remembered by all of us. And it speaks volumes both about who he was and who are members are that we able to honor and remember him in this way.
6. A Tradition of Excellence. We’ve always known that 1245 workers are the best in the business – but after a string of victories at line rodeo competitions across the county, everyone else knows it too. Last year a 1245 team took 1st place at the International Lineman’s Rodeo in Kansas City. At this year’s American Public Power Association rodeo a 1245 team took 1st place overall, and several more members won in other categories. And a Local 1245 team from the Turlock Irrigation District came in 1st in this year’s Municipal Division of the International Lineman’s Rodeo, and placed 4thoverall out of the 229 teams that competed. That kind of success doesn’t just happen – it’s a result of hard work, training and skill. A huge congratulations to all of our competitors.
7. Standing Up For Our Vets. Our local has an ongoing commitment to those who’ve served our country. IBEW 1245 Vets is a group our members established to leverage union resources to support veterans at the local level. This year hundreds of 1245 members marched in Veteran’s Day parades, contributed to clothing drives, and help make Power Pathways (the PG&E program that places vets in company jobs) a success. This year we helped expand Power Pathways to include clerical lines of progression, with 18 vets making up the first ever “Power Pathways” Customer Service Representative (CSR) training class at PG&E.
9. Safety Successes. Our three peer-to-peer safety initiatives – Hold the Pull (electrical), Control the Pressure (gas), and Keep the Clearance (trees) – all ran full programs this year that helped improve safety on the job. Hold the Pull completed their fourth annual safety summit with over 40 members in attendance. Control the Pressure hosted 32 members at their annual safety training. And Keep the Clearance has applied for a series of grants that would help them better train and prepare members throughout the Davey Trees service area. All in all, the groups have 150 dedicated safety stewards on the ground working to serve membership. We hope to eventually have one in every work yard – a goal we will make progress on in the year ahead.
More than 100 years later, the values our union was founded on still inform the work we do, the fights we take on and the success we earn. When Henry Miller, the founder of IBEW, laid out his reasons for forming the union, he included: to promote reasonable methods of work; to assist each-other in sickness and distress; to secure adequate pay for our work; to seek a higher and higher standard of living; to seek security for the individual; and by legal and proper means to elevate the moral, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.
It’s with those goals in mind that we look ahead to 2016 – a year that will surely be filled with challenges. We will meet them together.
Tom Dalzell is Business Manager at IBEW 1245.