New System Council Created For Locals at Celestica

March 2002 IBEW Journal

In the wake of Lucent Technologies’ break-up, six IBEW locals once part of EM-3 have formed new System Council EM-1.

The council was chartered to serve the locals employed by Celestica, a contract manufacturer for Lucent.

International President Hill ordered the restructuring of System Council EM-3 to provide the best possible representation of IBEW members, said Manufacturing Director Robert Stander.

Based in Toronto, Canada, Celestica produces equipment for the computer and communications sectors and has some 40,000 employees worldwide.

Today, 2,500 members of the IBEW from the following sites come under the jurisdiction of EM-1:

• Northglenn, Colorado (Local 2300, representing production workers)
• Little Rock, Arkansas (Local 2022, representing repair and service workers)
• Columbus, Ohio (Locals 1612 and 2020, representing clerical and production and maintenance workers, respectively)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Locals 1599 and 2021, representing clerical and production and maintenance workers, respectively)

The council’s leadership hopes the numbers will climb as organizing campaigns target three dozen other factories and thousands of workers across the United States and Canada.

The system council’s mission is ambitious but daunting: convincing Celestica and other manufacturers of the value of staying in North America, instead of moving operations overseas as many manufacturers have done in recent years.

"We have to prove that our members are valuable for their operations as well as to those of other manufacturers," said EM-1 Chairman Troy Johnson, business manager and president of Local 2021. Celestica has so far shown a promising willingness to work with the IBEW, Johnson said.

EM-1 will also serve to consolidate and strengthen collective bargaining, improve working conditions and coordinate organizing efforts, Stander said.

"Ultimately the goal is to have a single contract, but until that can be accomplished, the system council will improve the bargaining strength of our members," Stander said, adding the council will work with the company to address job security issues and discuss portability of employment.

EM-1 follows in the footsteps of EM-3, which was formed in the late 1950s to represent the electrical manufacturing locals of AT&T. The past 15 years have brought great change to electronic manufacturing, with the latest blow being Lucent’s production facility sell-off in 2001, which resulted in Celestica’s purchase of the plants.

During a two-day meeting in January, representatives of the six locals met in Washington D.C., to formalize the council and elect officers who are:

• Chairman Troy Johnson, business manager/president, Local 2021, Oklahoma City
• Vice Chairman Paul Smith, business manager/president, Local 2020, Columbus, Ohio
• Secretary-Treasurer Debra Harget, business manager/president, Local 2300, Northglenn, Colorado
• Executive Board: Charles Lusk, business manager/president Local 2022, Little Rock, Arkansas; Carol Weber, business manager/president, Local 1612, Columbus, Ohio; and Bryan Flickinger, business manager/president, Local 1599, Oklahoma City.