“Keeper of the Fire”
IBEW 1245 member Philip Pavana Retiring after 42 years at PG&E
Emeryville, CA – Long time IBEW 1245 member Philip Pavana, a Distribution Line Technician, (DLT) out of PG&E’s Emeryville yard, has announced his retirement, capping a forty-two-year career at PG&E.
“My last day will be the first of May, Workers Day in the rest of the world. It is my intent to be in the office that day to turn in Company property and terminate my service,” wrote brother Pavana in a letter to co-workers.
His career at PG&E started on April 16, 1984, at the Mail Processing Center, 77 Beale in San Francisco. His supervisor was Eric McWhorter. “We were under the Land Department, which I suppose, is Facilities Management now. At that time, we had three shifts, working five days a week. I was assigned the 12AM to 8AM Sunday through Friday shift. There was so much mail in those days, but the important stuff were the bill payments and the leather-bound books that contained the Gas and Electric Meter reads. I would go to the Main Post office on Evans Street three times a night to pick up the ‘Golden Rods’ which is what the yellow bill return envelopes were known as.”
Five years later, brother Pavana put in bids to the Physical side of the house, and in 1989 secured an Apprentice job at San Carlos Service Center. He later transferred to San Francisco Service Center as a ‘Hot’ apprentice, turned out, and worked as a lineman and Troubleman there for several years. Subsequently, in order to reduce his commute time, he moved to Oakland Service Center as a Troubleman and then became a DLT, a position he has held for over 10 years.
In his letter to co-workers, Pavana closed by saying, “I wish the very best for this, the greatest, California company. It is easy to be critical when all is well, the many masters of PG&E pull and push in all directions, but I have seen, firsthand, the gratitude and respect of the public when things are not so well. There is a palpable sense of calm that descends in darkened neighborhoods when a first responder is reported on site. In the immediate neighborhood of the trouble, people gather and watch the action. And when the final switch is thrown or the fuses slammed home, picking up load, there is always a cheer!”
He added, “As a ‘Keeper of the Fire’ I say it is my privilege to have worked for this Company, the PG&E family I will keep in my heart forever.”
Your IBEW 1245 Family wishes you only the best in your retirement.