Building Trades News

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Refinery work was one of the strongest markets for generations of IBEW 11 members. Longtime members recall that in the 1970’s and early 1980’s as many as 700 Local 11 members worked on these projects at any given time. After two decades, the oil companies have been very successful at de-unionizing the industry. The jobs that were done by union employees of these plants have been outsourced to outside contractors and these contractors are now primarily non-union.

No More Business as Usual

Two years ago Business Manager Marvin Kropke made refinery work the main priority for Local 11 in District 2. The first thing he did was to hire Assistant Business Manager Kim Craft to work with veteran organizer Larry Henderson and District 2 Business Representative Joel Barton on a comprehensive strategy. There were several meetings with NECA contractors who still do this work, as well as some who no longer bid in this market. There were very frank and productive discussions at these meetings that involved real and perceived problems.

"The consensus from the meetings was that we needed to change the way we do business to compete and thrive," said Business Manager Kropke. "We found out what our strengths and weaknesses were and we then developed a strategy to change and improve where necessary."

First, specialized refinery training classes were designed and implemented. Next we met with out-of-town union refinery contractors and several of these contractors are now bidding on jobs in Los Angeles. Two of these contractors, Contra Costa Electric and Sachs Electric, have Local 11 members employed at BP Arco. There is also joint organizing campaign with the other building trades unions on several refinery contractors including Brinderson Constructors.

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The end result is that in two years we have made gains of at least 400% growth in members employed on refinery projects. While we still have a long way to go, we are not going to give one inch back and will move forward full speed ahead.

Habitat for Humanity

Members and contractors will be wiring 30 units of low income hosing for Los Angeles residents at two locations. The contractors that have signed on so far are O’Bryant Electric, Walton Electric, Electro Construction Corp, Morrow Meadows, Carol Electric, Sasco, Cartier, Angeles Electric, CSI, ESSCO and Industrial High Voltage. They will be wiring 14 units in South Los Angeles and 16 units in San Pedro. These projects will have the traditional power, lighting and low voltage systems as well as solar power systems installed on the roofs. This is a huge undertaking that will require approximately 100 volunteers to get the job done. So talk to the brothers and sisters at the job and come on down. President Jimmy Carter will be at the projects during some of the construction…..so bring your peanuts. Call Brenda at 626-243-9793 to volunteer or for more info.

Local 11 Continues to Grow

At the 9th District Progress Meeting Local 11 received an award for organizing the most contractors in the western United States in 2006. Organizers have already signed up 33 new contractors this year and are working to more than double last year’s numbers. Our members and agency fee payers now number over 8,000. This is a net gain of 733 new members in 4 years.

Did You Know?

Because of the large number of baby boomers retiring, organizers must bring in at least 2 members into membership for a net gain of one. This means that we had to organize 1,466 members in 4 years to grow by 733.

News

We currently need hundreds of state certified construction electricians to join our membership to meet the demands of our growing union. So talk to your friends that are working for non union contractors, and let them know that it’s time to join. For more info log onto www.joinlocal11.org or call for an organizer at 626-243-9793

All of the apprenticeship programs are also looking for applicants, especially the low voltage apprenticeship. For apprentice info call 323-221-5881.