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January/February 2004 IBEW Journal

2003 Scholarship Award

Local 965 Bus. Mgr. Shawn L. Reents (right) presents Kristina Ann Pekulik, daughter of Bro. Dennis Pekulik (left) with a $750 Local 965 scholarship award.

L.U. 965 (em,govt&u), MADISON, WI-Congratulations to Kristina Ann Pekulik, daughter of Bro. Dennis Pekulik, on winning the sixth annual Local 965 scholarship award.

Kristina plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. Kristina's scholarship essay was on "The Knights of Labor-Past and Present." Consideration also was given to SAT/ACT scores, resume, goals and letters of recommendation.

M.K. Dahl, P.S.

Democratic Governor

IBEW business managers in Louisiana coordinated the efforts of their locals to help elect Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D). Pictured at the Louisiana state Capitol with then Gov.-elect Blanco (third from right) are: IBEW Louisiana Bus. Mgrs. Mike Pace (Local 1077, Bogalusa), Ronald Chenevert (Local 576, Alexandria), John Hopkins (Local 446, Monroe), Robert "Tiger" Hammond (Local 130, New Orleans) and many other members of the Louisiana Building and Construction Trades. Local 995 Bus. Mgr. K.E. Russell shot the photo.

L.U. 995 (i,o,rts&spa), BATON ROUGE, LA-Our state elected a Democratic governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. We hope the IBEW will have a strong relationship with this governor, as we had virtually no relationship with the former Republican governor, an ABC contractor.

Gov. Blanco's victory illustrates the importance of COPE contributions.

Work in Baton Rouge is very slow. However, we hope more work will start this spring. Bus. Mgr. K.E. Russell has worked to target more jobs and our contractors have actually won some contracts. We are concentrating efforts on the industrial sector. The Local Labor Management Committee met in December to set a strategy for gaining more work.

In this past year our members took courses in instrumentation level I, EPRI instrumentation level I certification, voice-data-video, applied codeology and safety. We plan to add courses in home networking & integration, OSHA safety, along with scaffold erection "competent person' training, instrumentation module II controls and more training and EPRI instrumentation level II certification.

Bro. Jesus P. "Jesse" Magallon has returned from service in Iraq, completed his apprenticeship and is now a journeyman inside wireman.

Keith W. Brand, P.S.

Show Solidarity

L.U. 1049 (lctt,o&u), LONG ISLAND, NY-We are currently negotiating a new contract with our largest employer, KeySpan Energy Corp. The process began with a thorough review of our contract by the business staff, officers and Executive Board and an opinion survey mailed to members.

Pres. Robert Porfert and Bus. Mgr. Ralph Ranghelli have also formed additional committees. The Communications Committee will keep members informed about the status of negotiations. After each bargaining session an "At the Bargaining Table" bulletin will be distributed, with updates at www.ibew1049.org  and on a toll-free phone number.

A standing Health & Welfare Committee was established during previous negotiations. This committee has been meeting with the company since February 2001.

A Strike Committee has been established to provide an explanation of your rights, duties, and also list stationary and mobile picket assignments.

Continue to show your solidarity by wearing your hats, buttons, T-shirts, bandanas and tattoos. It was member solidarity that made us successful in the last negotiations.

Thomas J. Dowling, R.S.

Organizing Success

L.U. 1116 (em,lctt&u), TUCSON, AZ-Bus. Mgr. Joe Carl, Pres. Jim Corbin and Int. Rep. Steve Moulin recently put in plenty of time and miles to organize newly acquired UniSource Energy Services/Gas employees. Their efforts paid off after a 59-21 win for the right to union representation for the 81 bargaining unit employees at the various sites in Lake Havasu, Kingman, Flagstaff, Showlow, Prescott and Cottonwood.

Southwest Energy Solutions was recently awarded the Vehicle/Coal and Ash Handling agreement and the Supplemental workforce agreement at the Springerville Generating Plant, where we will also be in negotiations.

We have been in negotiations for the SES-meter readers and SES-supplemental employees for some time and most recently we entered into negotiations with Asplundh Tree Experts.

Unisource recently awarded Bechtel Corporation the bid for the construction of Unit #3 at the Springerville Generating Station. This work will be done union, under a project labor agreement. Thank you to the officers for this opportunity.

R. Cavaletto, P.S.

Technical Training

Local 1141 JATC Trainer John Sloan (third from left) joined by class enrollees, from left, Steve Peden, Kevin Cook, Scott Roberts, Larry Dunagan, Michael Johnson, Jeff Jaroszewicz and Adam Starr. William Mahan not pictured.

L.U. 1141 (i,rts&spa), OKLAHOMA, OK-IBEW Local 1141 is the state of Oklahoma's designated instrument and control systems training center. We presently have eight individuals enrolled and attending class at our Joint Apprenticeship building.

The "Instrument Trainer" purchased from the NJATC is an excellent hands-on complement to the printed curriculum. Our fiber-optic training class is filled to capacity each time it is offered. We are proud of the overwhelming interest and membership participation in both of these specialized fields of training.

H. Marty Crain, Jr., B.M./F.S