Recovery Agreement Wins Work in Kentucky Tobacco RegionMay 6, 2011
Darrell Lawson, Louisville, Ky., Local 369, can’t remember the last time his local performed work in Winchester. Located in Clark County, five counties to the southeast of Louisville in Local 369’s wide jurisdiction, the largely agricultural, tobacco-growing city has a few big-box stores—all constructed by nonunion contractors—but hasn’t seen a signatory contractor for years.
As Broadway Electric begins work on the new 135,000-square-foot Clark Regional Hospital, Lawson, a 42-year member and Local 369 assistant business manager, and the signatory company’s president, Wayne Wojciechowski, say lower competitive costs under the recently-established Fourth District Recovery Agreement was the key to winning the bid and breaking into the regional market. One of four Fourth District recovery agreements, the pact, finalized last December, provides Broadway with composite crews, composed of journeymen, apprentices, construction electricians and construction wiremen. Says Lawson:
The fast-track project is scheduled for completion by next January. Under the agreement, Broadway, a 61-year-old, Knoxville, Tenn.-based company, will use a negotiated variance in the inside agreement to eliminate overtime costs. Split shifts will cover 6 days of work, with overlapping crews covering Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Says Wojciechowski:
Most of Broadway’s competition is nonunion since there are very few IBEW contractors who travel far for jobs, says Wojciechowski. Licensed in 43 states, Broadway has worked with Local 369 previously under the Louisville recovery agreement. Superior training, says the company’s president, is critical to the relationship. A.J. Pearson, retired director of the National Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is now directing Knoxville’s JATC. “Working with A.J. really helps us put the CE/CW program in motion,” says Wojciechowski, who said he is confident that well-trained members in all classifications will help Broadway pursue more niche markets. As the Clark Regional project starts, Broadway has just been awarded another bid, the 133,000-square-foot Greenfield Replacement Hospital, just south of Louisville. Lawson, who first accompanied Kentucky Organizing Coordinator Gary Osborne to present the Fourth District recovery agreement to Broadway, says the understanding was, once again, essential to winning the work. Local 369 members, says Lawson, are fortunate to have several large projects in the works. For two years, 40 electricians have been at work on a 14-year project to build an Army depot in Richmond where stores of nerve gas will be destroyed. Two hundred electricians will be needed at peak construction. An 18-month job is underway installing a scrubber at a coal-fired power plant. Local members are also at work on projects at the University of Kentucky and re-tooling a shut-down Ford plant in Louisville. There was some controversy among journeymen and apprentices when recovery agreements were first introduced. Says Lawson:
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