Live IBEW Webcast

[PA BEN]

State of our Union, live webcast by International President Ed Hill. March 27, 2008, 5:00pm Pacific. You can go to this link and post your questions.

http://www.ibew.org/SOU-CBS/index.asp

[BigClive]

I've just asked the defibrillator question. You guys are free to ask it too, it may get more attention if it crops up a few times. ;)

[IN THE SHADOWS]

You can bet the only questions that will be addressed during the live broadcast will be pre-wired. Might as well not waste your time

[PA BEN]

You can bet the only questions that will be addressed during the live broadcast will be pre-wired. Might as well not waste your time
It's your union, ask a question if you have one.:rolleyes:

[IN THE SHADOWS]

PA my Brother...I might watch it to see if there is anything new. I support the hell out of my Local..Im just not a big "I.O." fan. Stay Safe!!!!

[johnbellamy]

State of our Union, live webcast by International President Ed Hill. March 27, 2008, 5:00pm Pacific. You can go to this link and post your questions.

http://www.ibew.org/SOU-CBS/index.asp

.......................

[PA BEN]

PA my Brother...I might watch it to see if there is anything new. I support the hell out of my Local..Im just not a big "I.O." fan. Stay Safe!!!!
BUT, unless they here from us low life Lineman who do the work, how will they hear? There's always hope.:rolleyes:

[IN THE SHADOWS]

BUT, unless they here from us low life Lineman who do the work, how will they hear? There's always hope.:rolleyes:

Well, if they do respond to questions sent via e-mail by Journeymen Linemen, I just hope they can find a Journeyman Lineman within the IO to answer them. :D

[madcowboy33]

What's this about? Our B.A. said this has only happened 3 times that he has heard of. OH P.S. I'm not a big fan of the I.O. either, but I do and will always support the brotherhood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[IN THE SHADOWS]

What's this about? Our B.A. said this has only happened 3 times that he has heard of. OH P.S. I'm not a big fan of the I.O. either, but I do and will always support the brotherhood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im not saying the the live webcast is a bad thing by any means. Im just betting that there will not be any questions answered "live" that have not been "pre-arranged"

Supporting the Brotherhood is what its all about!!
Stay safe Brother!

[PA BEN]

Today's the day. It would be nice to have some comments/feedback from the Brothers and Sister after watching the web cast.:rolleyes:

[Bull Dog]

We have heard this talk for many years now. Its all about working with the company's while we go backwards in pay and loose our precious benefits. My thoughts are this man is a politician not a real leader. Sorry guys I wish i could believe that what he says or any ceo of a utility says is not just spin.

[PA BEN]

Is it over? I got nothing on my computer!!:o

[BigClive]

Well it worked. Even here in Scotland the quality of the image was very good and didn't seem to be posing much of a demand on bandwidth.

On the other hand.... It was (predictably) very stage-managed. All those questions and answers were well rehearsed, complete with the submitters delivering their polite questions with a thankyou at the end. The president was glancing at a teleprompter and only losing the place when he looked away from the camera. Of the little media inserts, I'd say the Alabama power spokesman came out as the least diplomatically skilled, with a possible need for cranial adjustment with a baseball bat.

Did all the power distribution locals specifically choose their biggest bears to send as audience members? It looked like a cross between an identity parade and a WWF smackdown challenge in the audience. :D

[BigClive]

Is it over? I got nothing on my computer!!:o

Awww PA! The disappointment! For reference I was using Firefox as a browser and didn't do anything fancy to receive the podcast. It just came through fine, and at a high enough quality to view full screen.

It did mention clicking the video box. Did you try that? Or maybe refreshing the page in case it had been cached for some reason?

Don't worry. You just missed some random propaganda telling you all to arrive for work early, work harder, not take extended tea breaks or knock off early.

[johnbellamy]

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[wudwoker51]

Personally I feel President Hill showed some real courage by addressing the importance of " eight hours work for eight hours pay " " taking breaks when you need them not because thats the way you've always done it. " " pulling your share of the duties as being a good lineman and Brother requires. " " the need to accept change and the importance of involvement, not only in our Brotherhood but also in our communities. " Sure to get to where he is politics played a role, but make no mistake Ed Hill speaks from the heart. If you are part of the 15-20 percent that need to step it up I suggest you do so, or check back to the webcast in 5 years and wish you would have listened.

[Bull Dog]

One guy asked what about all the over time were working up here in the north east and the short staffing. What was his answer? Be glad you got a job! Total bull ****! I'm thinking the Ibew is turning into a total company union while our life and benefits go bye bye. I don't know **** about you and you of me so lets not get into name calling hey. The problem is all the non linemen in the union. I'm not including electricians when I say that. Half the people in the Ibew are not electrical workers and there scared. We need a electrical workers union then things will change not before.

[BigClive]

I happen to like WWF smackdown. Rick Flair is still the man, "WHOOOOOO!".

Stylin and Profilin, "WHOOOOOO!".

Ummmm, I don't really know what to say....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-LQH8N6Ug

I was thinking more along the lines of Bill Goldberg myself....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PydQfZxS0oc

Errrm, actually in hindsight. It's all a bit camp really. :rolleyes:

[PA BEN]

I didn't see the web cast and I hope they post it to view later. But that's not the answer one should get for the Union President. How about "We are working with companies to start more apprenticeships to staff the trade". I'm a Union man all the way, but this sounds like a non-union answer.

[Bull Dog]

Interesting clive but we have all worked with guys like rick hey.

[madcowboy33]

I feel like that was a boom up speech, I don't know about the rest of you brothers, but we have already boomed up and we are done!!!!! I am personally ready to start throwing stones. At my company, management fails to recognize that we are a bargaining unit and does not respect us. President Hill has his head in the sand and I dont feel like that speech was for the good of the Union!!!

[Bull Dog]

Don't get me wrong I agree with a lot of what the prez said. I'm wondering how we got to this point. According to him its the brothers that caused this cause they didn't work hard enough. Ive seen contractors, utility, non union, its all the same. The company's are full of it they do things that are against there best economic interests all the time. Keep working eight for eight and thats fine always has been but when its 100 percent and we still get screwed who we gonna blame? The buck stops right at the top as far as I'm concerned. So what do we do? We follow our leadership and hope for the best. How can you blame men that are putting in 40 hours and then another 1000-2000 hours a year extra and we all know what those hours are like not for the sluff offs we all know that. My opinion and thats all it is we needed to take it to the company's years ago and we didn't do it then so now they got us right were they want and who's to blame you tell me. Ok I've vented I'm done now lets hear what others think.

[johnbellamy]

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[Orgnizdlbr]

One guy asked what about all the over time were working up here in the north east and the short staffing. What was his answer? Be glad you got a job! Total bull ****! I'm thinking the Ibew is turning into a total company union while our life and benefits go bye bye. I don't know **** about you and you of me so lets not get into name calling hey. The problem is all the non linemen in the union. I'm not including electricians when I say that. Half the people in the Ibew are not electrical workers and there scared. We need a electrical workers union then things will change not before.

I saw the webcast, I never heard President Hill say, "Be glad you have a job."

[Orgnizdlbr]

I didn't see the web cast and I hope they post it to view later. But that's not the answer one should get for the Union President. How about "We are working with companies to start more apprenticeships to staff the trade". I'm a Union man all the way, but this sounds like a non-union answer.

You need to see the vid before you comment. President Hill commented that the IBEW is starting regional training centers throught the Canada and the US. He's working with employers to pay for it, while the IBEW does the Training.......

[Bull Dog]

I saw the video he didn't use those exact words thats true but in a nut shell thats what he said. He said that about training true and then made the comment that others thought there jobs would not be outsourced but they were. So what does that mean to you? To me it means you got a job now but you could be one of those who are outsourced so count yourself lucky. Funny thing is I agree with him especially when you take into account he was talking about the nonunion taking a lot of jobs. What got my goat is he never answered the question about what does a guy do when he has to work all that forced over time. I think some guys are fed up with all this crap no home life and on call 24-7 its just not fair. Shure the money is nice but its not everything to most people some like to do things after work and all. There is a big problem and its staffing and all the ass busting which most are already doing wont solve this problem. If he wants to spend his whole life working long hours have at it but don't tell others we should to. I know there is a reasonable amount we should work. Lets answer the question and don't dodge it cause we don't have answer.

[Orgnizdlbr]

I saw the video he didn't use those exact words thats true but in a nut shell thats what he said.

Well, I didnt hear anything remotely close to that. One thing that I did hear was the sobering figure of how many utility jobs we've lost since dereg. Over 100,000, that aint good. I think it was a pretty bold move on President Hill's part, I liked the fact that when he spoke of the employers he had met with, he told them that we, the IBEW is always willing to do our part but that the door swings both ways, he expects reciprocity from the employers.

Look, there are employers out there that will attempt to use this as leverage when dealing with us, those employers like National Greed, First Enrongy and the like are what they are....we need to change the mindset of those employers who somewhat recognaize our value. Changing the bad employers will take more time.......to sit back and watch the entire Utility sector of the IBEW be attrited and taken over by contracting out all of the work is unacceptable.

[Bull Dog]

Dam right its sobering. I belive the union will do there best to fix these issues but my opinion day late and a dollar short.

[lineman641]

I missed it.anybody know if it will be on again??? didn't see it in the web-site

[Orgnizdlbr]

I missed it.anybody know if it will be on again??? didn't see it in the web-site

I heard its going on the IO's web site but its not there yet.....

[BigClive]

You need to see the vid before you comment. President Hill commented that the IBEW is starting regional training centers throught the Canada and the US. He's working with employers to pay for it, while the IBEW does the Training.......

And then when a guy said he was approaching retirement and wondered if he could be involved with the training, he was told, "Sure we'll take volunteers." Does that mean he wouldn't get paid?


All the outsourced jobs he mentioned were ones that were easy to outsource to other countries like telesales. I don't think the American utilities are dumb enough to think that immigrant labour is capable of maintaining a complex electrical distribution system. But then again, I'm sure they'll give it a go.

Call me a revolutionary if you will, but what the power distribution industry really needs is widespread blackouts to make them realise they've looted the system to the edge. Then I'm sure they'll suddenly be introducing lots of training initiatives which really do ram through "trainees" in a week or two. the most important part of their test will be their signature on the companies disclaimer of liability for death or injury.

[Orgnizdlbr]

And then when a guy said he was approaching retirement and wondered if he could be involved with the training, he was told, "Sure we'll take volunteers." Does that mean he wouldn't get paid?


All the outsourced jobs he mentioned were ones that were easy to outsource to other countries like telesales. I don't think the American utilities are dumb enough to think that immigrant labour is capable of maintaining a complex electrical distribution system. But then again, I'm sure they'll give it a go.

Call me a revolutionary if you will, but what the power distribution industry really needs is widespread blackouts to make them realise they've looted the system to the edge. Then I'm sure they'll suddenly be introducing lots of training initiatives which really do ram through "trainees" in a week or two. the most important part of their test will be their signature on the companies disclaimer of liability for death or injury.


Ask CP about immigrant labor where he is, you'd be surprised......

The utility I work for blacked out 50 million people from the midwest into Canada and the northeast US, that was 2004. FERC didnt do anything other than slap the companies wrist, it's pityful!!!!

[wudwoker51]

Do we have some problems on our side of the fence? Absolutely, but the biggest problem with IOU's is their management. President Hill was adamant that it is time for utility management to step to the plate and help create a working relationship that is a win-win for the IBEW and the company. For us to respect them they must first respect us. By maintaining staffing levels, adhering to a maintenance schedule, upgrading training and understanding the the importance of safety, utility management could make strides very quickly. The bottom line cannot continue to be the most important thing, we are people not numbers!

[johnbellamy]

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[Ed Hill]

I have read with interest some of the comments made on this site and others. I appreciate your tuning into the Webcast that was done for the "Utility State of the Union". Please allow me a moment of you time here to say what this is all about. It is about US brothers and sisters it is not about the company or anything that they want, it is about us being the very best that we can be and demonstrating it all the time, it is about us telling the world and all the naysayers in it that the IBEW is the best bang for their buck and proving it each and every day. It is about Union pride that we all have and showing the employer and the public that we are a proud group of trade unionists. It is about agreeing to a set of rules and then living up to them, it is about each of us taking the responsibility of telling those within our ranks that are not helping to hold up the Union end of the bargain that they need to rethink their work ethics because they are letting our Brotherhood down by their insistance of not doing the right thing and not living up to the contract that they have with the employer and in the end the community. This is about the IBEW not about any company. Because the company will benefit from our actions that is the way is should be because we have agreed to do something for something and this is about us delivering on the promise.

I am sure that the some companies will dribble on our leg, we must at first advise them that it is not the right thing to do and try to explain to them and the community that we are doing what we agreed to do and they are not living up to their side of the bargain. Then and only then can we insist that they meet us half way and if and when they do I can assure you that your place of employment will be a better place to work. HOWEVER if they do not then we must show a concentrated strong unified effort to bring them to our way of a cooperative working partnership. At that time we will have at least tried and if we proceed with determination and get the community on our side then and only then will we better our lot in life.

Remember Brothers and Sisters you belong to the best Trade Union in the whole of the United States and we must prove we are the best each and every day.

For those who belong to the IBEW thank you for what you do and more importantly thank you for what you will be doing and please keep the faith.

For those who do not belong to the IBEW come on over it is a fine organization and we would like to have you join us.

Ed Hill

[BigClive]

Nice! If it is Ed Hill then it's good to see you on this forum.

Can we ask questions? Like the IBEW's stance on modern defibrillators and their place in the standard medical kit of every live-work electrical crew?

[Bull Dog]

Thanks brother Hill For the reply.

[Orgnizdlbr]

President Hill,

Thanks for stopping by this site. We, in the Utility sector, have been attrited and down sized since the first hints of deregulation were aired. I have been an IBEW member for more than 36 years and I am **** proud of that fact.

Employers, such as mine, First Energy, have attempted to promote a union free envirement. I believe your message was right on the mark in that we make the employer understand our value through our work ethic, proffesionalism, and expertice. When we show the employer that it makes better business sense to partner with the IBEW by all doing our part, both parties will benefit.

[johnbellamy]

...................

[madcowboy33]

Mr. Hill, I understand what your saying. Yes we do need to police our own. Fortunately at my company we have some outstanding hands that have made the commitment to boom up long ago and get nothing in return. We feel that if we keep making the system work with nothing then the situation will not get any better. As a shop steward it is very frustrating when arguing with management that does not respect or recognize us as a bargaining unit, it is like talking to a brick wall. At negotiations it is first best and final offer right from the get go and nothing gets negotiated instead we lose a little of our language each time. If your reading this, When and at what point do we stop losing. UNION LINEMAN are in fact a commodity and worth bargaining over, our quality of work surpasses all others. Last but not least I respect the fact that you are interested enough to read our forum, thanks for what you do!

[Ed Hill]

There is only one way to accomplish what we are all trying to do and that is to be persistent, keeping doing the right thing, and there will come a time when they will want some assistance from you and your Local Union that is when we can and will demonstrate our worth as partners. At that time hopefully, unless they are as dense as a rock, we will be able to discuss with them the benefits of partnering instead of a total adversarial relationship.

But I must caution you that this will not always work and there are some people who just will not get the drift, then we will have to splain it to them in language that they will certainly understand.

Keep the faith Brother it will work to everyone's benefit including the hard heads on both sides of the table.

Thanks

[IN THE SHADOWS]

Brother Hill
Thanks for checking in to this great website. Im sure if you hang around here long enough, you will get a feel for the true sentiment of Journeymen Linemen across and outside of the U.S., (IBEW, UWUA, and non union alike.) The majority of us who are IBEW members are proud to be so and always will be regardless of what we think of the I.O or our own Local "leadership". Most of us "older timers" still pack the Lineman Pride that was instilled in us by the Journeymen we learned from. If someone lost power, we got em back on. Didnt matter what time of night, raining, snowin, blowin, or ice storms, what the overtime rate was, or what the utility name on the magnetic door sticker happened to be that week. And when everyone had power again, we were proud of our acomplishment. Made us feel good. And through out those years before de-reg, at contract time, for the most part we always came out with an improved working agreement. It is a cost-plus business for the Utilty. Increased costs are recouped through the rate base. It is still a cost-plus business today, but with a wildly different spin. Now, a customer served by utility A can elect to be served by utility B regardless of the franchise boundrys. So, your utility (seeming not to care about the potential increased revenue) insists on 50k to hook up a million dollar a year industrial customer and the PUD will hook em up for nothin, well goodby work and hello downsizing our workforce. Couple this kind of crap going on with buy-outs, mergers, mega billionaire private owners of utilities, Enron criminals, etc making stupid moves that do nothing but pad their own bank accounts off the backs of the working men and women in this country. Its no **** wonder the pride to get the lights back on in this trade is eroding away. These utilities treat you like gold when their system is on the ground, but when we get it running again its back to the old if you dont like it here - well there's the door. And oh by the way, at contract time, we're proposing to cut your pension, medical, retiree medical, etc etc. "Splain it to em"? Well in my book, Splain it to em so they understand" means strike. Is a strike vote going to happen? Unlikely when the non-journeymen out number the journeymen in a contract. The non-journeymen used to support the journeymen on contract votes. Not in todays world.
All other means of splainin it to em are illegal.

I fully understand the I.O and especially our Utility Locals are and have been faced with extremely difficult issues since deregulation. It doesnt mean we in the "field" are giving up. We have kept the "faith" for a lot of years however its getting tougher to do with whats going on with the big picture these days.

[Stinger]

Brother Hill, welcome to the site. You can get a pulse of the trade here.You can read and feel the frustrations of the lineman. I have only been a union member for five years. Our LU is in good hands with good leadership. My personal opinion is the IBEW has fell from its original charter by allowing non-electrical members to be represented by the IBEW. I believe we should get back on track and represent only electrical workers. As far the 8 hour work for 8 hours pay, lineman have never had a problem with that.

[mainline]

Brother Hill thank you for your input. I will not rant at you, but I will agree with those of us who have our contracts diluted by being tied to nonline parts of our companies. The IBEW was founded for the protection of lineworkers, not clerical staff or engineers. I would love for them to be organized as well just in a different union. It used to be that a journeyman lineworker at my utility could raise a family on one income. Now it is nearly impossible. We need the ability to strike to improve our situation. The company will not willingly give us anything. Our being shackled to other areas has stopped this from being a realistic tool. That being said, there are many of us still upholding our positions honorably. We work in all conditions restoring power, we turn out high quality work everyday. Yet we are trod upon being an increasingly hostile managment, it makes it difficult to really feel very committed.

[jerseyslave]

In our local, the clerks and meter readers are above the average pay and the lineman are well below average pay for the area. Everyone gets the same rate of increase and the lineman are told that everyone gets the same, its the union way.

Seems to me this just dilutes our bargianing power. We went on strike 3 years ago and lineman traveled and worked. Everyone else *****ed.

With such a need for lineman, we should be calling the shots, instead we are being bullied and forced to dance to a tune the company plays, and told we should be happy we have a job.

[mainline]

Amen to that. We've gotten too big, and too diverse in the areas represented.

[johnbellamy]

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[madcowboy33]

Amen BROTHER!! you stole the words right out of my mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[johnbellamy]

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[BigClive]

Ed Hill, posts 2, last activity three weeks ago and counting. I guess he just popped on to see how the webcast went. :(

[Ed Hill]

I have read the posts however please forgive me if I do not spend as much time on all of the sites that I would like to because as you can guess there are a lot of them. All that BS aside, I hear what you are saying but I am wondering if you are willing to take on the task of reviving the IBEW in all the branches not just outside, or the inside, or the Utility. It is the Union density that will help us fix the problems we have and if you have notices the Union density has been driven down by those who oppose us while we argue about issues that are not affecting our wallet. There will be a number of chances coming in differenct branches and I will surely expect a lot of *****ing and I can take the *****en if it is accompanied with a lot of hard work and solidarity and self discipline as well. So stand wth me as we move toward these changes, we are not going to agree on it all but I am willing to listen to what is said by the Brothers and Sisters in the field. I am not always correct but neither are you all, so together lets make a difference.

Ed Hill

[johnbellamy]

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[Orgnizdlbr]

I have read the posts however please forgive me if I do not spend as much time on all of the sites that I would like to because as you can guess there are a lot of them. All that BS aside, I hear what you are saying but I am wondering if you are willing to take on the task of reviving the IBEW in all the branches not just outside, or the inside, or the Utility. It is the Union density that will help us fix the problems we have and if you have notices the Union density has been driven down by those who oppose us while we argue about issues that are not affecting our wallet. There will be a number of chances coming in differenct branches and I will surely expect a lot of *****ing and I can take the *****en if it is accompanied with a lot of hard work and solidarity and self discipline as well. So stand wth me as we move toward these changes, we are not going to agree on it all but I am willing to listen to what is said by the Brothers and Sisters in the field. I am not always correct but neither are you all, so together lets make a difference.

Ed Hill

That is the essence of the dilema, I hear many on this board who advocate for a linemans only organization where lineman only bargain for themselves. That is not the answer, the answer is union density, plain and simple. I hear many on this site disparage our non-union brothers of our great trade, that is not the answer, the answer is to educate the non-union brothers and sisters in the benefits and advantages of being members of the IBEW. Union density
is the key, not only within the electric industry, but all industry! In order to advance the cause of the workingmen and women of this nation, we need to stop thinking about only ourselves and start thinking of the big picture.

What has happened to organized labor and workers rights under this administration is horrendous. Remember when you enter the polling booth this November what this administration and their cronies have done to your rights as a workingman......I heard a wise man say, as he quoted Eugene Debbs, when he spoke about the dilema working people are faced with today in this nation, when you vote in November "Innahilate the *******s and organize their pallbearers." Those words ring as true today as they did when Debbs first spoke them!!

BTW, it's an honor to have President Hill visit and post on this site. As busy as I believe President Hill is, it is quite extrordinary that he finds the time to visit here, no less share his wise words and vision for our future. Thanks President Hill, I for one appreciate you stopping by......

[PA BEN]

I have read the posts however please forgive me if I do not spend as much time on all of the sites that I would like to because as you can guess there are a lot of them. All that BS aside, I hear what you are saying but I am wondering if you are willing to take on the task of reviving the IBEW in all the branches not just outside, or the inside, or the Utility. It is the Union density that will help us fix the problems we have and if you have notices the Union density has been driven down by those who oppose us while we argue about issues that are not affecting our wallet. There will be a number of chances coming in differenct branches and I will surely expect a lot of *****ing and I can take the *****en if it is accompanied with a lot of hard work and solidarity and self discipline as well. So stand wth me as we move toward these changes, we are not going to agree on it all but I am willing to listen to what is said by the Brothers and Sisters in the field. I am not always correct but neither are you all, so together lets make a difference.

Ed Hill

A lot of guy's are up set with the IBEW. The voice of the members are not being heard. What you say?

[BigClive]

He made 4 posts 5 months ago just after the webcast. I don't think he's all that interested in the most active powerline forum on the Internet.

Maybe the IBEW is just too diluted now. Like the UK's jack-of-all-trades union AMICUS which doesn't seem to represent workers any more.