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Team Work

L.U. 1116 (em,lctt&u), TUCSON, AZ—Greetings from Local 1116. Results of our June 2005 election of officers are as follows: Bus. Mgr. Joe Carl, Pres. Jim Corbin, Vice Pres. Frank Grijalva, Rec. Sec. Monica Crnich and Treas. Brian Hurley (who subsequently resigned as treasurer). Bro. Jeff Martin was appointed treasurer to fill the unexpired term. Elected to the E-Board were: E-Board members: Tina Alday (Admin.), Jesse Eckenrod (At-Large), Jim Woodward (Electric Dept.), Scott Northrup (Power Production), Richard Cavaletto (Transportation), Bill Butler (Springerville Unit chairman), Rick Ryan (Springerville At-Large) and Brian Blankenship (Trico Electric Unit chairman).

We look forward to our local union’s growth and continued quest for the good of the membership.

A team of Local 1116 linemen tested their skills and competed in the recent Linemen’s Rodeo in Kansas City. On the Local 1116 team were: Bros. Charlie Dilday, Mike Elias, Bill Christ, Jason Monzingo, John Poels, Dustin Christmas and alternate Jim Bentley. Competition results were unavailable at press time.

With another monsoon storm season over, our membership once again stepped up to restore power throughout the city. Communication among all departments involved brought everyone home safely during this hectic time.

Congratulations to those members who completed their apprenticeships this year.

R. Cavaletto, P.S.

Top-Notch Crew

Int. Pres. Edwin D. Hill (fourth from left, front row) and Int. Sec.-Treas. Jon F. Walters (third from right, front row) meet with the Local 1220 sound and image production crew at the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago.

L.U. 1220 (rtb), CHICAGO, IL—This year’s AFL-CIO convention in July was held at Navy Pier in Chicago. The “images and sounds” at the convention were produced by IBEW engineers, camera operators and directors—all proud members of Local 1220.

We were honored that Int. Pres. Edwin D. Hill, Int. Sec.-Treas. Jon F. Walters and Sixth District Int. Vice Pres. Joseph F. Lohman took time to meet with members (see photo).

Ro Wratschko, B.M./F.S.

Organizing Efforts

Local 1426 presented service awards to retired 50-year member Ray Halti (right) and his son Bro. Russell Halti, a 25-year member.

L.U. 1426 (i,o,rtb,spa&u), GRAND FORKS, ND—Work has begun to slowly pick up for us as the two largest construction projects in town have gone IBEW. We still have about 30 members on Book I but we are optimistic about putting more members to work.

Seth Thompson recently was hired as the new organizer for Local 1426. Bro. Thompson is based out of the Fargo office. Feel free to contact him with any information or suggestions you may have to help our organizing efforts.

With the passage of CAFTA looming over the Red River Valley, we can only pray that it won’t have the negative economic impact predicted. The sugar industry is a $2 billion industry in this area; weakening the industry hurts everybody in this region. Please remember this when you go to the polls next election. To see how your representatives voted go to www.ibew.org and click on the political/legislative action link.

Seth Thompson, Organizer

Installation of Officers

Present for the Local 1638 installation of newly elected officers were: from left, standing, Eighth District Int. Rep. John R. Lei, E-Board member Tom Jankowski, Pres. Ron Chase, Eighth District Int. Vice Pres. Ted C. Jensen, Rec. Sec. Dave Rosman, and Bus. Mgr./Fin. Sec. Pat Nees; sitting, E-Board member Lander Novak, Vice Pres. Bob Reid, E-Board member Mike Verlanic, E-Board member Rob Messner and Treas. Bret Bowen.

L.U. 1638 (u), COLSTRIP, MT—Local 1638 recently elected officers and E-Board members. The installation of officers took place July 11, 2005. We were indeed honored to have our Eighth District Int. Vice Pres. Ted C. Jensen present to conduct the installation.

Newly elected officers are: Bus. Mgr./Fin. Sec. Pat Nees, Pres. Ron Chase, Vice Pres. Bob Reid, Treas. Bret Bowen and Rec. Sec. Dave Rosman. E-Board members are: Tom Jankowski, Lander Novak, Mike Verlanic and Rob Messner.

The accompanying photo was taken at the officers’ installation. Displayed on the wall behind the group are awards that Local 1638 received as top COPE contributor in the Eighth District for the last eight years running.

Pat A. Nees, B.M./F.S.

Contract Negotiations

L.U. 2286 (o&u), BEAUMONT, TX—At the time of this writing, Jasper-Newton Electric Co-op had attempted to declare an impasse due to the union filing several NLRB charges. The NLRB had already issued a complaint against the Co-op. The Co-op implemented a 27 percent wage reduction in mid-July, which cut several employees’ pay by $4 per hour. The community supported the employees with several demonstrations. At the July 26, 2005, Co-op board meeting, over 200 citizens tried to attend the meeting and were turned away. The citizens stayed in the parking lot until the meeting adjourned with a decision by the Co-op board to reinstate wages. Negotiations are expected to resume with a positive outcome.

Contract negotiations are ongoing for the River Bend Nuclear Station Purchasing and Planning employees. They won their election in April 2005. The company challenged the election but the NLRB regional office ruled in our favor.

At press time our Fossil contract was due to expire Aug, 6, 2005, and negotiations were ongoing. The Industrial Outside Construction agreement was scheduled to expire Sept. 4, 2005, and negotiations were ongoing with Southeast Line NECA.

Exxon Mobil members ratified a tentative agreement June 9, 2005.

Kitty Prouse, P.S.