Business Manager's Report - Summer of 2023

Hello members of the IBEW Local 48! I hope you are all enjoying your summer and getting a chance to relax a bit. Our summer picnic was fantastic and I hope that if you were not able to attend that you can come next year. We had upwards of 4,000 people come through the gate. The food was great, the raffle prizes were amazing, and the rides were a lot of fun, especially for the kids. Tracey Powers did a phenomenal job planning and executing a fantastic day.

As of this writing we have started negotiations for our Inside, Sound and Comm., Residential, and Material Handler agreements. The conversations are going pretty well and I will give you more updates as we move forward. It is a very lengthy, time-consuming process, and we want to do the absolute best that we can for all of you.

Also as of this writing we are preparing for CIR for two pre-fab related grievances. We are of course hoping that the Council rules in our favor and we can hopefully put a lot of this behind us. Again, I will let you know when we receive the decision. This is an issue that has consumed a lot of time, energy and resources: however, it is an issue that I think we need to continue to pursue. We may need to make compromises at some point but we cannot afford to let this work go to outside entities. If we do not have the work, we do not have anything. As always, if you see items on the job that were not pre-fabricated by our members, please let us know an thank you for being so attentive to this issue.

Thank you for all of your continued hard work and for bettering the IBEW.

Garth

Garth Bachman - IBEW Local 48 Business Manager

Garth Bachman has been an IBEW member for 30 years, after a high school course on electricity inspired him to pursue a career as an electrician. Growing up in what he calls a “pro-union family”, he knew that going union was the best way he could ensure a successful career that could help him take care of his family.