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Were seeing a good turnout by our journeyman wiremen for continuing education classes. NFPA-70E is one of the newest classes offered last year. We are fortunate to have some outstanding members who are willing to sacrifice their time to get certified to teach these classes. We ran our second "Significant Changes" to the 2005 code class in March.

The local participated in the Home Product Show at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI, March 4-6. The Building Trades coordinate this effort to promote our industry as a whole. Approximately 400 high school students attended the show. Promoting our apprenticeship programs in area high schools is very import.

Billy Harrelson, B.M.

Local Union Changes

L.U. 177 (bo,ees,i,mo,o&pet), JACKSONVILLE, FLMarch 1, 2005, brought big changes at Local 177. Int. Pres. Edwin D. Hill appointed our very own Bus. Mgr. Eddie L. Dedmon to the IBEW Fifth District staff as an International Representative. We wish Bro. Dedmon all the luck in the world and thank him for all his dedicated years of service to Local 177.

Pres. Russell Harper was appointed as Local 177 business manager to fill the unexpired term. Bro. Harper has been a member since April 1975. During his 30-year membership, he has served as recording secretary as well as president for over 10 years. As business manager, Bro. Harper will continue to serve the membership of Local 177 with the same dedication he has shown in past elected positions.

Vice Pres. Alan Jones was appointed to the position of president and assistant business manager/dispatcher. Bro. William Stuart was appointed vice president. We congratulate these new officers and wish them all the best.

Lisa M. Stuart, P.S.

Political Participation

L.U. 191 (c,i,mo,rtb&st), EVERETT, WAAs if the Florida results of the 2004 presidential election hadnt taught us the significance of every vote in an election, the state of Washingtons governor race was decided by a mere 129 votes out of 2.9 million votes cast.

Local 191 recognizes the increased importance of elections and we are already interviewing and working with the state political parties to make it clear on which issues our local will be voting in the future. Local 191 has already added a new position in the local, that of political coordinator, specifically to interview and interact with candidates well in advance of future elections. Travis Patterson, former press secretary of Local 191, is the first member filling this position. We feel this increased political focus will enhance our political influence and ability to advance issues important to unions and working people. We recognize the critical necessity of participating in the election process for the IBEW and all unions. Every election counts. It is long past time to get involved. The jobs we save will definitely be our own. We hope to read in the IBEW Journal that other locals are taking similar action to help facilitate their standing in their communities.

Marcus Abarcus, P.S.

Home Builders Show

L.U. 193 (i,lctt,o,rts,spa&u), SPRINGFIELD, ILLocal 193 residential contractors made their presence felt at the Springfield Area Home Builders Show for the second year in a row, with a bigger and better "+5" display than before.

The show ran Feb. 25-27 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and employees of A/C Scott, Carmean, Egizii, Hohimer, PAC and Trapp Electric manned the booth, along with Glenn Baugh of Local 193, who spent countless hours making the arrangements and whose efforts helped our residential contractors to stand out.

New in our booth this year was a representative of Eaton/Cutler-Hammer, who demonstrated their latest products including a state-of-the-art automatic emergency generator system and new surge suppression technology, including AFCI (arc fault circuit interrupters) and surge load centers. They also showed off their line of Structured Wiring Solutions, featuring voice, data, video, audio and computer cabling.

The Local 193 residential contractors walked into the Home Builders Show this year with a new strategy to target not only consumers in the construction market, but also the Central Illinois builders themselves, to show them the obvious advantage of building union.

Rich Shereda, P.S.

Training Center

L.U. 197 (em&i), BLOOMINGTON, ILIn 2003 our local relocated to our brand new building which also houses our new apprentice training center. As the locals members know, this facility was long overdue. In addition to giving the apprentices a greater ability of hands-on experience, it also enables journeymen to more easily refine their skills. So far, classes such as OSHA training, welding, PLC utilization, steward training, CPR, first aid and others have been offered at the new facility.

A number of events are offered to our local members throughout the year. Whether the occasion is a charity event, a picnic, a parade or holiday party, there is always a good time to be had. I would like to encourage members to attend these functions (as well as the monthly meetings) because they are only as good as those who participate.

Our present work situation as of March reflects that of many other locals in the fact that we are slow. Many thanks and great appreciation goes out to our sister locals that are employing our members.

Tom Peasley, P.S.

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