We are pleased to congratulate IBEW 1245’s former Business Manager, Tom Dalzell, who has received the prestigious Edwin Hill Award from National Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee (LAMPAC).
“It is with great honor that the National LAMPAC Board has selected you to receive the Edwin D. Hill Award. Your leadership of Local 1245 is an example for all IBEW Locals on how to work together with industry to achieve positive results for IBEW members in the utility industry across the United States and Canada,” IBEW International President Lonnie Stephenson wrote in a letter to Dalzell. “On behalf of the National LAMPAC, the leadership of the Edison Electric Institute, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the men and women that support our industry day in and day out, thank you for your leadership.”
Named for IBEW International President Emeritus Edwin D. Hill, who passed away in 2018, the award commemorates the legacy of the late union leader who worked to establish the IBEW as one of North America’s most powerful voices for working people. Hill also helped create National LAMPAC in 2007 to bring union and electric companies together to jointly address the nation’s energy challenges. The Hill Award is given to those who advance state and local initiatives on behalf of the electric power industry and IBEW members, and Dalzell was selected for his lifetime commitment to labor-management issues.
“This award is tremendously fitting for a man whose vision and leadership has transformed our industry, and the lives of the employees that he has so well represented over the years,” wrote Western LAMPAC Co-Chair Ryan Bellows, who works in Labor Relations at NV Energy. “Over Tom’s incredible career, he has forged a legacy of protecting the interests of workers through a course of innovation and collaboration that has forever changed the union/company relationship at the properties he represents. It is an absolute honor and pleasure to work with Tom, to learn from him, and to count him as a friend and mentor.”
“President Hill would have been honored by Tom’s selection,” added John Ashford, chairman and CEO of the Hawthorn Group. “He is my ‘touchstone’ for all things labor, California, and political: scary smart, deeply insightful, unfailingly realistic, uncompromisingly honest, totally decent, and able to deliver the sometimes necessary painful message without appearing to delight in afflicting the pain. He is a very special person, and we’re all fortunate to work with him.”
“Because of your leadership, we have been able to build a true partnership between the IBEW and NECA and those efforts have led us to the near completion of our new state of the art Cal-Nevada JATC Woodland Training Center that will bring a much-needed educational facility to Northern California,” NECA Western Line Constructors President James M. Stapp wrote in a congratulatory letter to Dalzell. “We wish you the best in your well-deserved retirement and we look forward to seeing you at our Woodland JATC Training Center Open House to be scheduled later this year.”
“Having had the privilege of working with Tom, I can say no one in the IBEW or in our industry deserves this more,” remarked Local 1245 Business Manager Bob Dean. “His focus has always been on our members first and on keeping the industry strong for the benefit of us all.”
This is the second time that Local 1245 has received the Hill Award. The first time was in 2019, when our local was recognized for its role in the No on Question 3 coalition.