IBEW Local Union 180 - Newsletter
Volume 2007, Issue 1 January 1st, 2007
SERVING NAPA AND SOLANO COUNTIES SINCE 1901


Business Manager's Report

HOLIDAY’S     As the year comes to a close, we often reflect on the accomplishments of the last 12 months.  As a Local, we have faired pretty well.  Our man-hours finally returned to what we have come to expect for the last 5 or so years.   At $58,000 per month we generate reserves for the Local, for our Health & Welfare, Pension, JATC, and of course we have plenty of work, both for our Members and Traveling Brothers and Sisters.
As the work picture “turned around” in June and our increase in H & W contribution kicked in we have been able to generate some real reserves for the first time in about 5 years. 
At the Trust meeting held on December 1, 2006 the Trustees adopted the following two pension amendments; #1 Effective February 1, 2007 the age at which a participant can retire without a reduction in benefits is Age 60.  #2 Upon the membership committing $.25 of the Wage/Benefit increase due June 1, 2007 to the Pension Contribution (Bringing it to $4.25 for the DB Plan and $.20 for the 401(a)) the reduction for early retirement for those who are at least 58 and not yet 60 will be 3% per year, and for those who are 55 but not yet 60 the reduction will remain at 6% per year.
 
We will have a Special called Meeting on January 23, 2007 at 7:00 P. M. at the Training Center. Additional notice will be mailed out.
 
Our work picture is good and we should experience nearly full employment for the next several years.
 
I hope this finds you all healthy and happy through the Holiday Season.  The Local has a bright future.

Bruce Gourley,
Business Manager
Upcoming Events Holidays
 Inside this issue
MEETINGS:
REGULAR MEETING 7 P.M.
SECOND THURSDAY

B-B-Q - 5 P.M.
SECOND THURSDAY

RETIREES  MEETING
FIRST WEDNESDAY @ 12:30 P.M.

E-BOARD MEETING 7 P.M.
FOURTH TUESDAY

EXAM BOARD MEETING 6 P.M.
SECOND TUESDAY

HOLIDAYS
Jan 1     New Years Day
Jan 15     Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Feb 19     President’s Day
May 25    Carpenter’s Off Day*
May 28     Memorial Day;
*Inside & Residential Agreements Only, excludes Genentech PLA.

 Business Manager's Report

Congratulations

Condolence

Blood Drive

Certification Enforcement

Other News:
IBEW membership
SANTA’S VISIT

Retiree's Corner

From the President

From the Organizers

JATC

Dan's Work Picture

Paint Ball Team

Agents Report: PV.

All meetings will be held at:
720 Technology Way Napa CA, 94558

Congratulations

Rick Hawley on the birth of a daughter
Noelia on 11/15/2006

Curtis & Stacey Capitani
on the birth of a son
Cooper on 11/24/2006
 
Cory McCaslin
On passing the Inside Wireman’s Exam!

Condolence

Jimmy Lara
7/27/1946 ~ 12/9/2006
Jimmy was born in Hollister and joined Local 180 34 years ago after attending Armijo High School.  When we remember Jimmy as a great mechanic, it must be for both electrical and automotive as he was a car guy having restored classic Chevy’s.  Our thoughts are with Jimmy’s family.

BLOOD DRIVE International Brotherhood of Electrical BLOOD DRIVE
Thursday - January 11, 2007...4:00PM - 7:00PM
Location: Donor Mobile In Parking Lot  For Information or to Schedule Your Donation Appointment  Please Contact: Dan Broadwater (707) 251-9180.
Donors must have verifiable identification to donate, examples: California Driver’s License, Social Security Card or Student and Please Eat and Drink Before Donating
Blood Drive
You can be a life preserver for someone in need.  Be a life preserver. Donate Blood.

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Certification Enforcement
Starting January 1, 2007 you had better be a State Certified Electrician, enrolled as an electrical trainee, or not be doing electrical work.
 
Be warned that enforcement will start hard and fast for union or not.  Union job sites will be visited and you will be held accountable.  Think of the harm you will cause your family when the State slams you with not being able to work as an electrician for five years.
 
We have been informed of members dropping out of the electrical trainee program or not having passed the test.  The State has been informed on the electrical trainee dropouts.  Of our 427 JIW’s, only 280 are certified – 305 of which are working locally.  Do not impact your ability to earn a living!

Other News

FROM THE OFFICE
Helping you maintain your IBEW membership is very important to us, so here are little reminders.  We send reminder letters pertaining to dues being late and possibly late fees or losing membership.  Such a letter is not required by the by-laws or the IBEW Constitution.
We want you to be aware that Article XVIII, Sec 1 of the IBEW Constitution requires this office to collect dues so you can remain a member in good standing.  Additionally, Article XXI, Sec 3 of the IBEW Constitution states you are suspended from membership in the IBEW after being indebted to the local for three month’s dues.  Further, in Sec. 5 is states members who are suspended forfeit all rights and previous standings in the IBEW, including any pension or death benefits payable from the pension benefit fund.

Reminder: dues increased starting January 2007. Call for the amount and if there are any death benefits.  Otherwise – Inside and Residential is $86.10 per quarter, Sound & Comm. is $75.00 per quarter.  So please send yours dues, in advance, to the Union Office.

A reminder on health coverage.  If you are not working in Napa or Solano counties then your contributions must come to the trust via ERTS.  First, everyone should be signed up for ERTS.  Second, this delays the coverage by one month.

If you have been working 40 hours week after week, month after month, you should have a good hour bank built up.  The Inside agreement hour bank maxes out at 500 hours and it take 125 hours for one month’s coverage.  Sound & Comm., along with Residential agreements use dollars and follow roughly the same method.

If you are not working 40 hours per week, week after week, and working all over the Bay Area – you might be concerned…
Therefore, if you receive a letter from the trust or the Local – open it!  If you have questions – call us!  We are only working to help you remain members and remain covered.

 

NEW YEARS
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
Bill Vaughn

"With bounteous cheer, conclude the year.   Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."
Benjamin Franklin
 

SANTA’S VISIT
Santa had a large selection of nice gifts for all the children who made the journey to the hall. It was very nice to see so many familiar faces join in the holiday spirit but the best thing was to see so many new faces that came for the first time. We hope everyone who came for the first time will have a chance to make this a part of there holiday tradition for years to come.

There was goodies to eat and drink. Santa’s helpers arranged cookies for decorating. We had some cookies with 3 or 4 layers of frosting and 5 or 6 different sprinkles on top leaving the building when all was said and done, that’s correct there was no shortage of sugar for the kids.

We were able to take pictures of the children and those pictures will be available for the families to pick up and the next union meeting on Thursday January 11th.  A great big thank you goes out to Gary McCoy who’s hard work and great holiday spirit makes this happen each and every year. Thank you Gary.

IF YOU HAVE MOVED
Please notify the office so we can keep your information up to date.  However, if we do not have a good address - then you should not be getting this newsletter…  Please remind your co-worker.



Retiree's Corner
The meetings for the Retirees’ Club are held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Training Center / Union Hall at 12:30 P.M. The next meeting will be January 3 and all retirees and spouses are welcome. Widows of retired members are encouraged to get involved.
 
FUTURE TRIPS:
Las Vegas/Laughlin April 16-21, 2007
Hawaii seven night cruise Oct 8 - 15, 2007 starting as low as $1610 person.

Please contact Ken Breckenridge more information on these trips at (707) 643-4139

From the President:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Well, we made it through 2006. I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I want to thank everybody who attended the Dec. union meeting. And also the designated drivers who drove that night. As always it takes people who volunteer their time to make things work for all of us. Feel free to give some feedback on the evenings events and the transportation, so that we can improve on it next year.

You should be getting a postcard in the mail soon to let you know about a special meeting  later this month. I would encourage everybody to show up. I look forward to a busy year for all of us as it seems that there is plenty of work between us and the other bay area local's.

Stan Nelson
President

From the Organizers:
As we come to the end of another busy year it’s always good to reflect on the good things that happened in 2006.  2006 was a year in which we added ten new signatory contractors to the ranks of our employers in Napa and Solano counties. These contractors are; Frost Electric, Cal Pacific Electric, Electrons Unlimited, Spears Electric, Cal Tech Electrical Systems, I& L Electric, Spinnaker Electric, Mark’s Electric, Lott Electric, and D Mills Electric. We welcome these new contractors and hope for their success.
 
When last we looked, these contractors (and our two new contractors from 2005, Cameron Electric and A&F Electric) had employed well over fifty Local 180 members and some are still hoping to expand. Being a new contractor is a high risk, economically challenging adventure that is not for the faint of heart. Our hope is that all these contractors will succeed and prosper. These contractors represent the present and future of our local and we as members should do everything we can to assist them in their pursuits.
 
If you are out of work and a call is in for one of these contractors, take it. It could be one of the better jobs you’ll ever report to. Every one of these contractors was and is a Union member. Supporting them supports our industry.

Rich Mattson & Skip Lucier
Organizers

JATC

Dan’s Work Picture
All above Job Calls will be "Drug Tested"
Greg Armstrong was the director for Mission 2000, our labor compliance program, and will become the new Napa/Solano branch manager of Northern California NECA January 2007.  Andre Gardner will step in as the director of Mission 2000.  Andre is currently one of the labor compliance investigators.
 
Currently, Andre is staying on top of a potential issue in Fairfield.  The bid for a Fairfield water treatment plant project.  Last month we reported Andrea attended the prebid meeting – the project is estimated at $57,000,000.00 and according to the awarding agency there will be more than 25% electrical on this project because of a new electrical building. The engineer’s estimate for the electrical on this project is $14,250,000.00. 

At the bid opening one of the bidders was late.  By the law the bid is to be rejected.  However, the late bid was opened and found to be the low bid; it listed a non-signatory electrical contractor.  The next (legal) low bid listed one of our contractors.  Andre is staying close to this to see the City of Fairfield follows the public works contracting laws


Paint Ball Team
splatUncle brucesplat
IBEW L.U. 180 is looking for a few good members
to take on IBEW L.U. 551
splat
Do you have what it takes? 
Can you shoot fast and straight?
Ain’t scared are you?

splat girls splat
Call the Hall and ask for Rich

PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY STARTING 2007 WITH PERFORMANCE BASED INCENTIVES (PBI)
The Photovoltaic industry is going to get a shot in the arm come the first of the year.  Performance Based Incentives (PBI) will help government and non-profits since they do not benefit from the tax credits.  In taking with people in the industry the main concern is trained / certified installers to meet the need.  Manufactures have been gearing up for the last half of 2006 to meet the demand.  Creative plans, as show below, deliver solar electricity at an average of $.15 per kWH for 20 years.
 
From www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUBLISHED/NEWS_RELEASE/59156.htm:
“Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the PUC will offer performance-based incentives for solar energy systems greater than 100 kilowatts in size installed in businesses and other large facilities... Government and non-profit organizations will receive $3.25 per watt to compensate for their lack of access to the federal tax credit. For systems larger than 100 kilowatts, incentive payments over the first five years of operation will be $0.39 per kilowatt-hour of output for taxable entities and $0.50 per kilowatt-hour of output for government/non-profit organizations.”
 
From www.cacommunities.org:
“California Communities organized a competitive Request for Services process to solicit responses from solar facilities installers to provide the construction services under our program. PowerLight Corporation (www.powerlight.com) was selected through that process to provide the solar facilities installation for the Go-Solar Program. Created in 1995, PowerLight has grown to become the leading provider of large-scale solar power systems in the world.
 
Under the Go-Solar Program, the solar facilities are constructed, owned and maintained by a private sector entity. This design relieves the local agency of ownership risk. The facilities warranty is assigned to the Local Agency and the Local Agency has a first priority lien on the facility to ensure contractual performance. As a private entity, the project company is able to benefit from federal tax credits, state financial incentives and accelerated depreciation and can then pass some of those benefits on to the Local Agency via power cost savings. At the end of the lease term, the facilities are available for purchase to the Local Agency at current fair market value. See Go-Solar Program FAQ’s for more information. “

UNION BUILT MEANS BETTER BUILT
You want a “ no-worry” electrical system installed in your home safe, reliable and guaranteed.  Then you need an electrical system installed by a union electrical contractor.  That’s right– UNION!  A competent union electrical contractor who employs qualified IBEW union electricians.

Each IBEW journeyman learns the trade through a 3 to 5 year Apprenticeship program.  This extensive training combines on–the-job practical experience with classroom theory and testing.  And the training doesn’t stop there.  Continuing education constantly up-dates the union electrician’s skills through programs sponsored by the IBEW and NECA.

 Bruce Gourley, Business Manager


Updated 12/29/06 Copyright© 2006 IBEW L.U. 180
Information on this site has been approved by the Business Manager
 Send e-mail to Business Manager