Congratulations
Jeremy & Sage Peconom, Married on April 4, 2007
Javier Garcia & Kristen on the birth of a son, Jordan Isaac Garcia on March 22, 2007
Bruce Gourley, retired on March 1, 2007

“UNIONIST OF THE YEAR” BRUCE GOURLEY
Bruce Gourley, former business manager and apprenticeship instructor for IBEW LU 180, received the Napa~Solano Central Labor Council’s award for “Unionist of the Year for Napa & Solano Counties”.  The award was presented at the Central Labor Council’s annual crab feed held at the Vet’s Hall in Vallejo.
Also honored was SEIU for outstanding membership support in the 2006 election.  SEIU turned out more members than almost all the other 22 union affiliates combined.  All of us owe them a huge thanks for stepping up and providing the boots on the ground and people at the phone banks.

Bruce Gourley & Roger Wilson
President of Central Labor Council

Condolence
None!

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:
Contracting without a license
Over many years the focus of our local was to expand our market and not of protect or police it.  The lack of protecting or policing could have had an affect as there is evidence of our union brothers competing with our contractors.  To but it in simple terms, some are doing serious side jobs for homeowners and general contractors.

Side jobs, or the technical term of “contracting without a license”, is a violation of state law and our collective bargaining agreement.  The normal course of action was to file charges with the member and bring it to the executive board.  However, another course of action exists from the Contractors State License Board:
“Multiple Construction Enforcement Stings and Sweeps around Northern California.  Joint operations go after unlicensed operators along coast and in valley.
Sacramento—The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) conducted multiple stings and sweeps in the northern half of the state to root out illegal contracting.

The operations were conducted in conjunction with local authorities in Visalia, Woodland, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties on February 6 and 7.”
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/services/forms.asp#HOTLEAD: “The SWIFT Lead Referral form is for filing a complaint against an unlicensed contractor who is actively working on a construction project. Complaints against unlicensed contractors may be filed with the Contractors State License Board by other public agencies, other contractors, subcontractors, homeowners, and employees. Complaints within the Board’s jurisdiction involve licensed and unlicensed contractors.”

The sweeps at area construction sites targeted suspected non-licensed contractors and licensed contractors with employees but no workers’ compensation insurance.

“The CSLB and our community partners are serious about going after people who break the law.” said CSLB Registrar Steve Sands. “Property owners face a high financial risk if something goes wrong with an unlicensed operator and legitimate business people have a hard time competing against people who are cheating.”
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/forms/clcsum2006.pdf

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/

Interested in playing in Vacaville on the local softball team? Email Stan at stann@ibewlu180.org

PREVAILING WAGE ENFORCEMENT
Doug Nareau met with a local council member to discuss the possibility of a City wide ordinance, and/or certification language that would require certified electricians for all projects within the city limits. Our goal is to make electrical certification enforceable by the City code compliance officers. Greg Armstrong, Nor Cal NECA, has also been working with council members on this issue, and additional issues that will help level the playing field for the electrical industry. Doug and Greg will be coordinating their efforts within the next couple of weeks to prepare a presentation for the City Council.

From Andre’s Weekly Reports

USE YOUR VISA OR MASTERCARD FOR DUES!
YES, CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS WITH THE MASTERCARD OR VISA LOGO, IN PERSON OR OVER THE PHONE FOR DUES, SORRY NOT FOR T-SHIRTS

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.

401 VEBA
May’s newsletter will include the 401 & VEBA election form for members working under the inside construction agreement.  To allow time to prepare for these forms we have posted 342 pages of instructions and mathematic formulas to accurately complete the forms. 

Just kidding, here is something from last year to start the thought process and perhaps stimulate a conversation with a tax or financial planning professional.     Real investing is not a whim or a gamble.  Take it seriously and start early.

Using the model of married, one income, two kids here are the “estimates” of weekly take home after June 1, 2006:
Variable VEBA for those working under the Inside Agreement is one of those sections of the IRS code that allows you to set aside money from your earned income that is truly tax-free.  Yes TAX FREE.  The money is not taxed when taken out of your check, nor when you spend it at retirement on health related issues.

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:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are about to enter another heated Presidential race. In a year and a half, we will elect another President, perhaps a labor-friendly President.  That can only happen with us making sure that everybody in our families eighteen and over are registered to vote.

After registering, it is time to get educated on the issues ahead of us and elect the people who can get the job done.  This is not done in a vacuum, it is done together; the membership working together with others to provide grass root support.  You have been witness to the damage done by anti-labor leaders.  Over fifty percent of us are mad about it, less than fifty percent voted and less than two percent of us stepped up to help.

Therefore, lack of involvement in your union, community and elections returns the anti-labor government we now have.  This includes the local elections as well.  One person can and does make a difference.  But, remember, it all starts with you getting registered.

Stan Nelson
President

From the Organizers:
Transitions
The Organizing Department of Local 180 is going through some changes worth noting to our members. As Larry Poyser makes the transition to retirement, Skip Lucier has been chosen to take his place as Training Director for the Solano Napa JATC. Skip has been an Organizer since February 2005.

Taking Skip’s place as an Organizer is Stan Nelson. As most members know, Stan is the President of Local 180. Stan brings a fresh enthusiasm to the position that should translate into good things for our Local. With help and assistance from Senior Agent/ Organizer Rich Mattson, the organizing in Local 180 should continue to be very effective.

Remember, every member is an organizer. Do your best to help and offer assistance to these men who reach out to the non-represented workers and contractors, they can use your help.

We still need members to step into management roles as foremen, project managers and estimators to keep up with our expanding market.  The JATC programs will see great value in having a Training Director that combines the skills Larry Poyser brought with the business owner and organizer skills of Skip Lucier.

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 Time for information.
Central Labor Councils (CLC)
California has 24 Central Labor Councils. These regional coordinating bodies bring unions from many industries together to take action on community issues. CLCs organize, mobilize, and give working families a voice in the political process.

United Workers for Local Government (UWLG)
A grass roots group that bridges many labor organizations that represents over forty thousand workers in Napa and Solano Counties.  In addition, we also maintain good relationships with their responsible employers and businesses in the counties.  Therefore, the joint goal is to endorse and support candidates, regardless to political party, that understand and support the working people and business.  It is far more effective working together.

What is the main difference between the two groups
While both groups share the same goals, the UWLG is more local and loose while the CLC is more regional and strict.  The local CLC has by-laws, elections of officers, oversight from statewide and the national labor federation while the UWLG is based on inclusion of any and all unions that have members living in the area.  To be a member of the CLC you have to meet certain requirements and pay a “per capita” which is a certain amount of money per member in the local organization.  For IBEW LU 180 that amount is $180 per month; for the UWLG it is a contribution of time and as needed financial support.  The CLC work with the unions in the area while the UWLG seeks out the workers that do not have unions offices in the area.

Outcome
The two systems complement and fill in the gaps between regional and local. UWLG is entrepreneurial in nature to react fast as opportunities arise.  Both have a common denominator:  Working families and  needing workers to be involved to be effective.

Future is now
On Engineering News-Record.com there is a very interesting article to read* titled, “The Icarus Effect: FMI on Why Contractors Fail, The mind of a contractor shows numbness to risk and sometimes fatal optimism”.

Interesting in that FMI (the industry’s top management consultant and investment banker) details all in the draft report called “Why Contractors Fail”.  The article dives into these as a pre-view to the final report.  Nowhere did I read labor was the factor. 

“After looking at our research, we asked ourselves if we could identify a certain mentality [of] people who run construction businesses that could be adding to the probability of them [getting] into trouble,” says the FMI report. “The answer is that we do believe that those who start and lead construction companies have certain propensities or mindsets that can set their companies on a path to success or failure.”

An interesting point is that our IBEW~NECA “Code of Excellence”** program provides a great benefit in identifying and addressing the path to failure.  Remember that we have an interesting partnership with our contractors, they need us to build the job and we need them to be successful to get to the next job.

*Read this at http://enr.ecnext.com/free-scripts/comsite2.pl?page=enr_document&article=febiar070409a-1
**http://www.ibewhourpower.com/Code-of-Excellence.html

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 4/17/07 Copyright© 2007 IBEW L.U. 180 Information on this site has been approved by the Business Manager