Todd “Woo” Kadota joined the IBEW 1245 staff this spring as a Business Rep. He is working with PG&E Title 200 & 300 members in the Stockton area (all lines of business except for Stockton Regional office.)
Todd Kadota
Kadota started his career at PG&E in 1997 as a temporary employee, working refueling outages at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. He hired on with PG&E full time in 2003 as a utility worker in the Radiation Protection work group, and progressed to Decontamination Specialist working in hazardous and radioactive waste. In 2008, he bid into a new role as an apprentice lineman at the Templeton yard in Los Padres. In 2019, he accepted a Troubleman spot in Templeton, and then transferred back to the crews in 2021. He was working as a Troubleman out of the San Luis Obispo headquarters when he was tapped to join the 1245 staff earlier this year.
Kadota is a third-generation union member and a longtime activist at 1245. He served as a shop steward since 2006, and also served as Templeton unit chair, as well as the Advisory Council member for Coast Valleys for two terms.
Kadota, who is known around the system as “Woo,” is excited to take on this new role with the union.
“The opportunity to support the members of IBEW as a Business Rep is a daunting task that is very challenging, but also very rewarding in the knowledge that I am providing the members a voice to help improve their job,” said Kadota. “I’ve come to believe that everything we have today was fought for with the blood, sweat, and tears of every brother and sister that has stood up for their union. This is something that a lot of workforces don’t have — the solidarity to come together and fight for what is necessary to make a company a better place to work.”
Kadota is happily married, and his three grandchildren keep him and his wife (who is recently retired from PG&E as a Journeyman Mechanic Rigger) busy and active. In their free time, they enjoy camping with their trailers and exploring new areas in and out of the state.