IBEW Building New Partnerships to Meet Utility Industry Challenges

by James Parks, Mar 28, 2008

The demand for energy is growing rapidly as the number of utility workers is declining and infrastructure is aging—even as concerns grow over global climate change. To more effectively meet these new challenges, the Electrical Workers (IBEW) is forging an unprecedented labor-management partnership in the utility industry.  

In an innovative initiative, the IBEW, which represents 250,000 utility workers across the United States and Canada, is urging members to foster excellence in their skills and performance at work while also seeking a more cooperative relationship with management.

IBEW President Edwin Hill says: 

We must turn the page on an adversarial past, and be willing to develop a partnership with management to work toward common goals. We will actively demonstrate to management that we’re willing to do our share.  

The partnership was announced March 27 during a live webcast on the IBEW website.  

The program is similar to one launched three years ago in the union’s construction division and eventually will include a “code of excellence” designed to more clearly outline what is expected of IBEW members, focusing on their skills, performance, safety and productivity.   

At the same time, IBEW leaders are calling on management to listen to employees, invest in a maintenance schedule and provide safe and reliable service. IBEW utility workers have already gained the support of leading utility executives and are embracing the concept of improving ties between management and labor, viewing it as a better way to operate and the wave of the future.   

Michael Morris, CEO of American Electric Power, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, says:  

I think everywhere we work with the IBEW members we work very diligently with building that relationship between the two of us. Because, quite honestly, without them we can’t get the job done. 

Efforts to build labor-management partnerships already are producing concrete results. At Alabama Power, the company and the union began working together on safety issues in 2004. In less than four years, Alabama Power has gone from having one of the worst safety records among comparable companies to one of the very best.  

The cooperation begun on safety helped build better relationships across the board. For example, the union says there has been a dramatic drop in employee grievances and the need for arbitration, and the company and IBEW have worked closely on a legislative agenda. 

Hill stressed that rank-and-file members honoring the code of excellence will rightly have similar high expectations from supervisors and managers, including adherence to collective bargaining agreements, good communications with job stewards and fulfilling their responsibilities related to safety and maintenance. He adds:

Both labor and management can benefit from a safer, more efficient and more profitable industry.

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