Congratulations

Condolence
Dale Patton
March 4, 1928 ~ February 4, 2007
Dale grew up in Sacramento, served in the U.S. Navy during the later part of World War II and was called back for the Korean War. Dale joined LU 180 in 1947 and retired in 1990. Dale’s two sons, Sam and Mike Patton, are also members of LU 180.

“Non” Surprise Retirement Party For Bruce
It is no loner a surprise!  Well, Bruce has gone fishing, therefore, Dan is now in the big chair.  It is time to celebrate and all members and their families are welcome!
The event will take place at the Napa Elks Lodge on April 20 at 6 pm.  A menu of beef, chicken, fish or pasta will be offered.  The price of $50 per person will cover the food and go towards a wonderful gift.
We ask that you would please R.S.V.P. (again that’s French for répondez s’il vous plaît) for this event to loril@ibewlu180.org or call (707) 251-9180 and have the number in your party and menu selection ready.

Seats are going fast so pick up the phone and call NOW!!!

The party starts at 6 pm and will cost $50 per person (includes the gift).  Please R.S.V.P. to loril@ibewlu180.org or call her at the union office.

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:Certification Enforcement
Since January 1, 2007 you had better be a State Certified Electrician, enrolled as an “electrical trainee” (ET), or not be doing electrical work.

Up until February, we had no problems filling Certified Electrician calls with both inside books two, three and organized electricians having their cards and are ready to work. 

However, with so much work, many are traveling into California to work and applying as ET’s to work while waiting for the State Certification test.  Some contractors are not accepting  ET’s as they must work under the supervision of a journeymen.  Additionally, many residential contractors do not take ET’s.  See page 3

Other News
GIANTS GAME
Third annual take the bus and see the Giants vs. Dodgers on Sunday July 15™. The bus will pick up at the hall that morning at 10:15 and at the Ferry Terminal Building in Vallejo around 10:30 on the way to the 1:05 game. A deli sandwich and chips will be provided for lunch, plenty of drinks available (beer, water and sodas). Games and raffle on the bus. Come have a great time. Cost is $40.00 per person bring your family or friends or both. For more information call Dean Lloyd at (707)337-0347. Money will reserve your seats for the trip. There are 40 seats left on the bus so get your money in soon.

HISTORIC SHIPS MEMORIAL AT PACIFIC SQUARE
The Foundation Established in 1996 to Acquire the USS Iowa (BB-61), Passionately Dedicated to Preserving USS Iowa at the West Coast's First Naval Installation, Mare Island, Vallejo, as a Premier Naval Memorial and Museum in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Join the thousands who have written Congress and the Navy, donated funds, and have brought their skills and energy to bear on relocating the USS Iowa as a mobilization asset to the Bay Area and continue to work on ensuring that IOWA is preserved in her retirement.  Additional information about HSMPS and the 11-year national effort to bring IOWA to the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually preserve her as a memorial and museum are provided at: P. O. Box 361, Vallejo, CA  94590. Phone 415-905-5700 or http://www.battleshipiowa.org/

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 NOT be March 7 as many are on a trip.  Therefore, join them on March 14 all retirees and spouses are welcome. Widows of retired members are encouraged to get involved and welcome our newest member, Bruce Gourley! 

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:
Here is a list of the Members who came to six regular Union Meetings during the calendar year 2006. They are entitled to a T-Shirt.  Please contact the Union Office with your size so we can order them and have your shirt ready at the next Union Meeting
Brian Almeida, Michael Ambrose, John Bogart, Dan Broadwater, Walter Burzdak, Thomas Conley, Casey DeLancy, Mike Evans, Glen Flores, Larry Glenn, Bruce Gourley, Alan Guhl, Steven Hennion, Dean Lloyd, Robin Lucier, Skip Lucier, Henry Mangel, Richard Mattson, Gary McCoy, Val Miller, Stan Nelson, Carroll Nuckolls, Larry Poyser, Jack Price, Richard Reilly, James Smith, Russell Taylor, Gene Watson, Herb Watts, Adam Willis.

Thanks for attending Union Meetings!

Stan Nelson
President

From the Organizers:
As we enter a new era in our Local, it’s good to look back and do some reflection on the efforts put into organizing by our departing Business Manager, Bruce Gourley.

Ask any Business Manager and they will tell you, the prime directive by IBEW President, Edwin Hill, is to organize the unrepresented electrical workers in our country. Bruce has always taken this responsibility seriously and has aggressively gone after workers and contractors to become members and employers in the Solano/Napa jurisdiction.

Bruce’s first hire as an Organizer was Rich Mattson. Rich’s ability to talk with electricians, his patience, understanding of the needs and wants of unrepresented electricians has brought into membership many new electricians that have become great members of our Local. Without Rich’s commitment to organizing, many of the people you work side-by-side with everyday would be out there working for substandard wages with little or no benefits or pension.
When the 9th District International Office initiated a special campaign to try and organize one of the largest non signatory electrical contractors in this state, Bruce stepped forward and committed time and money by sharing in the hiring of Brother Ray Nichols, one of the most experienced, well respected Organizers in the entire IBEW. Ray has used his knowledge of organizing and communication skills to really “dig in” and acquire the names, addresses and form friendships with the unrepresented electricians. Ray has been instrumental in getting the information needed to take the contractor to court for prevailing wage violations.
Organizing is also about bringing in new signatory contractors to hire our local members. Bruce, (never afraid to think out side the box) first hired Mike Smith, an former project manager, estimator and electrician to develop an “Incubator Program” to educate, inform and help union and unrepresented electricians become new, independent, signatory contractors. Mike’s program encompassed virtually all facets of starting, running and maintaining a new electrical contacting business. Many of the organizing ideas, information and tools developed by Mike are in the International Office’s Organizers library in Washington DC and are used by Organizers throughout the country. Bruce then reached out a little further and hired Skip Lucier, a former electrical contractor, to work as an employer liaison to meet and talk with potential new contractors and show them the possible rewards of becoming a signatory contractor. Bruce felt that hiring a person with a contracting background to talk about the pros and cons of contracting would give more credence to any conversations taking place between the Local and its potential future contracting partners. Convincing a contractor to become a union, signatory contractor has been an elusive goal and fortunately Skip has had some success with this task.

As every agent in the Local office knows, we are all organizers. When Bruce brought in Dan Broadwater eight years ago, Dan was given organizer tasks as well as business agent duties. Dan has worked as a salt, shared duties with Rich Mattson, has talked to many contractors and has consistently worked toward the goal of bringing in new members and furthering the success of Local 180. Dan’s experience of having worked many years in the field has given him the ability to talk with unrepresented electricians about their work, their needs and their desire to provide a better life for their families.

As organizers, we attend monthly meetings required by the 9th District International Office. We attend with all other organizers from throughout our district. While many locals do put forth a good effort to organize, many simply use their organizers to primarily act as business agents, leaving organizing on a low priority list. We have been fortunate that Bruce Gourley has taken seriously the organizing responsibility given to him by President Hill.

There is one final organizing statistic to note during Bruce’s tenure as an agent for Local 180. When he started in the office, Local 180 had 340 members, as he leaves the office we have 706 members. That’s about a 102% increase in membership.

Rich Mattson & Skip Lucier
Organizers

JATC

Work Picture
Solano Community College Vallejo Campus - starting this Summer - manpower unknown
Napa Valley Community College - starting this Summer - manpower unknown
High Winds - Rio Vista windmill project -  Winter 2006~2007
Kaiser Vacaville & Vallejo - limited hiring this Summer
Kaiser Data Center  - winding down, completion due March
Genentech - winding down, completion “soon”
Valero Refinery nearly manned - unknown future needs
State Fund Campus - delayed; late Spring?

All above job calls will be "Drug Tested".  Contra Costa, Cupertino, Redwood City, Rosendin and Kaiser Const. Services will not accept “Electrical Trainees” on their projects.

Currently, many of our contractors, local and traveling, are in the need for skilled foremen in order to expand.

The residential market is slow in Napa & Solano Counties but is doing well in Sonoma & Marin Counties with no one on the books and calls going unfilled.  Speaking with one Marin contractor they were at the point of turning down work, both commercial and residential for lack of foremen.

As the State starts to spend the billions in bond money on infrastructure and schools, opportunities will present themselves to those that are ready to bid and manage this work.  Just short of a man-made or natural disaster, work should be steady to growing over the next few years in our area and the Bay Area.  Please refer any unrepresented electricians wishing to “make a change” to the Union Office.

United Worker for Local Government - UWLG
The various unions of the Napa & Solano Counties, including the Building Trades and the Central Labor Council, are planning for their third year as the all volunteer organization representing over 49,000 union members.

One of the important items for this group is to report back to the membership on the happenings and to motivate members to take a more active roll in local government.  At the last meeting the group heard from Russ Barns about “Leadership Vallejo”, a 501(c)3 nonprofit group that helps train the future leader of local government.

Similar leadership groups are formed for other cities for the same purposes.  For people living in Vallejo interested in serving as an elected or appointment official, please visit www.leadershipvallejo.com for more information.  As for local political races, Vallejo will receive much of the groups attention as many key seats are open.

For other cities in our area, we ask the membership to please keep us informed of any members, family or friends interested in public service or supporting those running for office.  The mission of the UWLG is to “Supporting Leaders and Initiatives that Support Working People” and the group is blind to political party.

Here are just some of the unions involved: Napa/Solano Building Trades - 22 Affiliated Unions; Napa/Solano Central Labor Council - 25 Affiliate Unions; Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192; California School Employees Association Local 184; Carpenters Local 751 - Napa County; Carpenters Local 180 - Solano County; Cement Masons Local 400; IBEW 180; IAFF Local 1186 - International Association of Fire Fighters; Iron Workers #378; NALC BR 1111 - National Association of Letter Carriers; OE Local 3; Painters #376; SEIU Local 1280 - Solano’s Public Employees; SEIU United Healthcare Workers – West; Sheetmetal Workers Local 104; Teamsters Local 490; UA Local 343 Plumbers & Steamfitters; UFCW Local 373R; Vallejo Education Assoc.; Vallejo Police Officers Assoc.

Future is now
From the archives of our past,  a vision of the future is found, which is not new.  In 1920, LU 180 lowered the initiation fee to $10 for JIW and $5 for Apprentices and in November received eighty-six applicants from the Mare Island.  Among the group was one native born Chinese, a competent electrician, college grad and fought in the Great War.  Of that person the writer, Geo. Young, noted, “personally I hope that the brothers will see fit to take him in”.  In December of the same year they, “held a class initiation and fifty-five road the goat”.

In 1928, LU 180 makes mention of the Organizing Committee of two at “no pay” while others have paid Organizers at $800 per year.  They worked hard to organize and writer, E.C. Reed, notes, “We hope some day that electricians in California will not be backwards but will get busy and get some legislation that will at least put us on a par with barbers, politicians, lawyers, doctors and engineers.”  Now that was some forethought…

In 1947, G.F. Baker’s writings could be used this very day, “It matters not if it is Democrats, Republican, Socialist or Communist.  It is bound to divide your ranks and sooner or later wreck your organization.  It is okay to vote for the ones that you believe are friendly to labor” “...more unity in the ranks and that they must not be divided by any religious or political beliefs as our problems are strictly economic..”

The future in not new as the past reflects the struggle that is before us.  The past is about “the struggle” as many remembered what life was before a strong Local Union and the huge swings in employment with very long periods of little work.  Think about what was written 60 and 80 years ago and ask yourself if you see the involvement, volunteering, inclusion, unity and the “non-paid organizers” that was expected years ago? Therefore, if we forget the past, we will forget the struggle, then move backwards due to lack of an active membership.  Sitting on your butt today produces no opportunities tomorrow.  So we ask again for members to set up so we can still have a past!

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.

 Dan Broadwater, Business Manager

Updated 3/5/07 Copyright© 2007 IBEW L.U. 180 Information on this site has been approved by the Business Manager