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January/February 2004 IBEW Journal
L.U. 125 (lctt,o&u), PORTLAND, OR-In the accompanying photo, Local 125 members Mark Adams and Larry Friend stand by an Old Mercury Arc Valve, which was installed in 1970 at the Bonneville Power Administration's Celilo Converter station in The Dalles, OR. Bro. Friend is the longest standing IBEW member of a team of BPA substation electricians who will take on the three-year task of removing six mercury arc valve groups and replacing them with newly designed "thyristor" semiconductor valves at a cost of approximately $43 million. Larry was initiated into the IBEW in 1957 and has seen the old valves both installed and replaced. He says replacement of the old valves will also eliminate the potential exposure of workers to mercury and ensure the long-term reliability of the DC "intertie." The DC intertie is one of two critical inter-regional electrical transmission interties that connect the Pacific Northwest with its southern partners Los Angeles Water and Power, and the Southern California Edison Company. Each of the two conductors on the BPA line is rated at 500kv and each has a maximum capacity of 3,100 megawatts. The southern partners must replace much of their Sylmar, CA, converter station at the southern end of the DC intertie due to fire and earthquake damage, which amounted to approximately $117 million. The job should be completed by March 2005. The job situation in the Northwest is starting to improve as The Bonneville Power Administration also continues to improve and upgrade its 500-kv transmission system. Byron F. Babka, Bus. Rep.
L.U. 130 (i&o), NEW ORLEANS, LA-At a time when other southern states have elected Republican governors, Louisiana voters made history in November by electing our first female governor, a Democrat. Newly elected Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco won with the support of the Louisiana AFL-CIO and the IBEW and is our first Democratic governor in eight years. Some other labor-endorsed candidates who won victories in Louisiana are: Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Sec. of State Fox McKeithen, Att'y. Gen. Charles Foti, Comm. of Agriculture Bob Odom and Comm. of Insurance Robert Wooley. Local 130 organized rallies for both the primary and runoff elections. Hundreds of building trades volunteers staffed phone banks, put up signs, and knocked on doors of union households to get out the vote. We are experiencing very difficult times in New Orleans. Work is very slow and many of our members are without jobs. More than 150 members have been added to the out-of-work lists in the last two months. We hope the work situation will improve with our new Democratic leadership. Thomas Hughes, P.S.
L.U. 139 (i&u), ELMIRA, NY-On Oct. 25, 2003, Local 139 honored former business manager Charles Patton with a well-deserved retirement dinner. Charlie has seen this local through the hard times of 20 years ago and with his leadership and foresight made us a successful local union. We had a great turnout of members, local politicians, representatives of sister locals, international representatives-and we were honored to have Int. Pres. Edwin D. Hill, Int. Sec.-Treas. Jerry J. O'Connor, 1st District IEC member Joseph A. "Tony" McCafferty, 3rd District Int. Vice Pres. Donald C. Siegel and former Int. Sec. Jack F. Moore in attendance. Both U.S. senators from New York, Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, New York State Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, New York State Rep. Amo Houghton and New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno also recognized Charlie for his dedication and sacrifice to organized labor. We at Local 139 will miss Charlie's leadership, wisdom and friendship. Ernie Hartman, P.S.
L.U. 141 (ees,i,o&u), WHEELING, WV-Work has picked up slightly here as Chapman Corp. has a project at R.E. Burger Power Station, but many members remain unemployed. NECA Chapter Mgr. Steve Allred was guest speaker at a completion dinner honoring graduates Adam Combs, Fred Ebert, Joe Hall, Jeff McGlaughlin, Tom Schiffer, John Sharpe, Tom Steele and Chad Thornburg. Congratulations to the winners of the George Rolf Trust Fund awards, presented to the outstanding apprentice in each class: Paul Shaver, Paul Scott, David Cantrell, Michael Parker and Joe Hall. Special thanks to Joe Donovan for his help as photographer. Our condolences to the families of Bros. Harry Yahn and Bob "Hump" Helfer, who recently passed away. They will be sorely missed. Tom Conner, P.S. L.U. 146 (ei,i&rts), DECATUR, IL-Work continues to be very slow in our jurisdiction and it appears it will remain this way through the winter. A small amount of relief is expected, as the Clinton Nuclear Power Station is scheduled for a short outage in February. We remain optimistic that the work outlook will improve with the spring and summer seasons. Local 146 thanks all IBEW locals that have placed our members with jobs in their respective jurisdictions. Remember to vote in the Illinois primary election on March 16, 2004. The final day to register for the election is Feb. 17, 2004. Shad Etchason, Pres. |
