October 2015
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Also In This Issue In Scott Walker's America…
Labor laws, unions
don't exist read_more

A Power Player
The IBEW's Capitol
member read_more

A Balanced Plan
Reducing emissions, creating jobs read_more

The Myth Everyone Believed
One billionaire's mission to destroy Social Security read_more

NLRB Election
Timeframe Cut

New rules aid organizing read_more

Fee Payers Notice read_more

North of 49°
Time for a Change?
Building Trades Weigh
in on the Canadian Elections read_more

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Temps pour un changement?
Les Syndicats des métiers de la construction interviennent aux élections canadiennes. read_more

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  Cover Photo

Canadian Members
Help Build Historic Dam,
Transmission Project

A legacy project. Historic. Huge. All have described the endeavor to harness the vast natural resources of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost province. And for good reason. Approximately 1,900 kilometers of transmission line — over land and undersea — will be built and laid to interconnect the province of Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time and supply them with hydroelectric clean energy. And IBEW members are making it happen.

"There's enough guy wire on this project to wrap around the world twice," said St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador Local 1620 Business Manager Terry Rose.

More than 1,400 members are currently working on the CA$8.5 billion dollar project, with more to come on as it continues through 2017. In addition to Local 1620, one other St. John's local is working on site, St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador Local 2330. Contractors of Nalcor Energy — the provincial crown corporation involved — also employ over 200 Innu, one of Canada's First Nations tribes, 31 of whom are IBEW members. (Nalcor also employs 250 members of Churchill Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador, Local 2351 at the hydro generating facility, and approximately 600 members of St. John's Local 1615 hydro operations throughout the province.)

Dubbed "Lower Churchill" after the river on which it relies, the project will be carried out in two phases, the first of which is currently underway at Muskrat Falls in Labrador. Tapping into the vast hydroelectric power of the area, it will make the province almost entirely greenhouse gas-free once complete.

The first phase involves two parts: building the dam and generating facility at Muskrat Falls and constructing the transmission lines that will carry the electricity out. These lines will travel through Labrador on to Newfoundland and into Nova Scotia, crossing two straits along the way. The entire project encompasses approximately 1,400 kilometers and has 20 work sites. It will eventually power not just the provinces involved, but much of Maritime Canada and the northeastern United States.

One of the rarities of this multi-year deal is that Nalcor wanted there to be only one union involved: the IBEW. The local unions in Newfoundland and Labrador already represent 250 members currently at the hydro generating station at Churchill Falls and more at Newfoundland Hydro. read_more

  Local Lines

Officers Column Stephenson: Unions
Rising read_more
Chilia: Our Founding,
Our Future read_more

TransitionsLeo T. Kabatt read_more

CircuitsNew Labor Ruling Changes the Game for Millions;
Vets Reporting for Civilian Duty in Los Angeles;
Swatting Swarming Bugs, Volunteers Build a Bridge Through a Swamp read_more

Spotlight on SafetyWork Safe, Please. But Just in Case… read_more

LettersA Real Example;
Kudos to Prison Program;
Calling IBEW Musicians read_more

In MemoriamAugust 2015 read_more

Who We AreRENEW: Busting Union Stereotypes in the South read_more

UnionSportsmensAlliance

IBEWMerchandise

Change of Address