SPARKS IBEW Local Union 364 Monthly Newsletter

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Business Manager’s Message Alan Golden -Business Manager -AGolden@ibew364.net - x231

Since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic, nearly 10 weeks ago, we have been going 180 miles an hour here in the Union office. Challenges are something that we openly take on and it drives us as IBEW members. This is a challenge that we have never seen before in any of our lifetimes and hope to never again once we get through this unprecedented time. The labor movement took a proactive stance immediately. We have been in constant contact with our IO, local health departments, the City of Rockford, Mayor McNamara’s office along with Governor Pritzker’s office to bring our members the most up to date information we can. We will continue to post updated information on our Facebook and Website. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call the hall for help. Keeping our members and family’s safe is our priority. We have been setting up every situation we could possibly think of that would make this situation easier for members and unfortunately, I do not see this slowing down anytime soon. For now, our normal way of life looks like it will be limited social gathering numbers, social distancing, masks, and temperatures being taken at every turn.

I would like to offer my sincere thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding as we maneuver through this unheard-of time. This time will eventually pass, and when it does, we will be ready to help our local community pick up the pieces and put it all back together. As it sits right now with Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order, Union Meetings might not be a possibility until later in the summer. If we are allowed to hold meetings and have gatherings, then it is looking like we would be limited to gatherings of no larger than 50 people unless the Governor changes the structure of his order. This could be a possibility if we begin to see declining numbers. As of right now, the May Union meeting has been canceled. We will wait to see what the Governor does as we move into June.

This Coronavirus does not differentiate between your gender or the color of your skin and it sure as hell does not care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. It is unfortunate that some legislatures are making this about politics, instead of being about Americans. Hard times are when you find out who your true friends really are. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi made it perfectly clear what she thinks about the IBEW when she included the GROW Act into the Heroes Act legislation after numerous conversations from the IBEW Leadership that we are not interested in any composite pension plans and it does

nothing but hurt our members. The inclusion of the GROW Act at this time, can only be viewed as an underhanded move. This legislation will be DOA as it hits the Senate next, which makes the speakers decision to push this even more befuddling.

We are currently in negotiations for our Inside Contract and if we are able to reach an agreement, we will be scrambling to get a contract ratified and allocated by using the mail. There will be much to talk about after this negotiating cycle.

This is a difficult time in our Country’s history, but IBEW members are essential personnel and as long as we have members working, then we move forward however we have to, for the betterment of the electrical industry period. The City of Rockford was notified that the Gaming Board has begun the process for the Casino License and is currently doing their due diligence and the license will be awarded with the latest being October. If you are in the group that says its hard to get new industry here in Illinois, you just may be right. There is no viable reason it should be taking this long to get a license for a $400 million-dollar shovel ready project. We will keep you up to date as new information comes in.

This past month we lost one of our young Journeyman Wireman. Brother Kyle Millard was not only a good, young IBEW member, but a great young man that had his whole life ahead of him. Losing any member from our 364 family is tough but losing a 28-year-old is just something you are not prepared for. My heart goes out to our Brother Carl Beck and his family as they deal with such a horrible loss. There will be a tree planted in his honor at the IBEW Hall, when the time and date is set, we will get that info out as well. Thoughts and prayers for the family is much needed.

Alan Golden

The Love’s Truck Stop & Travel Center

going in on S. Main & Hwy 20 in

Rockford has recently broke ground and

Harmon Construction from Indiana is the

GC for this project. Kaiser Electric from

Local 34 was awarded the electrical for

the petroleum portion of the project and

Engel Electric was awarded the primary

electrical contract for all the building

and site work.

The re-bidding of the Cherry Valley

Library addition & remodel project is

now complete. The Library Board

officially awarded Stenstrom

Construction as the projects lowest

bidder and official GC at their board

meeting on May 4th. Miller Engineering

was awarded the electrical contract.

The Napleton Subaru dealership at 505

N. Perryville is planning to remodel and

expand its current location to soon add

Porsche to their sales group. Currently,

GC bids are out, and we should know in

the coming weeks which general

contractor will be awarded the project

and a prospective timeframe for work to

begin.

The Rockford Sam’s Club will soon begin

work on what they are calling the

Rotisserie Project. This project will take

approximately 1-month to complete and

include various upgrades to their deli

department. Balanced Load Electric from

Local 701 was awarded this work and is

expecting to be onsite sometime around

the week of the 26th.

The remodel of the Rockford Police

Departments new Evidence Facility

location on Shepherd Trail was awarded

to Rockford Structures. We are still

waiting to hear what contractor will be

awarded the electrical for this project.

WCP Solar from Local 701 will be hiring

soon for solar projects at (5) area

schools in the Harlem School District. 2-

rooftop arrays at Harlem High School &

Ralston Elementary School and 3-ground

mount arrays at the Harlem 9th Grade

Campus, Machesney Elementary, &

Olson Park Elementary. We are still

working with WCP Solar on the

scheduling and total manpower

numbers needed to complete this work.

The developer for these projects is

Forefront Power.

Borrego Solar will soon begin building a

2MW Solar Farm on IL. Route 76 in

Poplar Grove. Currently, the roadway &

laydown area has been cut-in and all the

perimeter fencing around the site has

been installed. Dynamic Electric from

Local 134 was awarded this project and

have stated that they are expecting

delivery of all the needed material &

equipment sometime in the next couple

weeks. We will keep everyone updated

as we receive more information on both

of these solar projects.

Allied Power recently hired another 9-

man crew to continue with work on the

7300 Modification Project that was

previously started. This work should last

into the Fall Re-fueling Outage where it

will finish up. This year’s Fall Outage at

Byron should be another big outage for

the electricians with preliminary

manpower numbers expected to be

around 120-130 wiremen. The outage is

scheduled to begin on October 5th and

last approximately 20 days.

Larry Rowlett

Assistant Business

Manager

Larry Rowlett X222

Lrowlett@ibew364.net

During the month of April, we worked

diligently to continue to update our Non-

Signatory Contractor list with as much

current information as we possible have to

ensure an accurate assessment of our Non-

Signatory contractors and their target

levels going forward. Our top target

remains JP Electric and we will continue

the fight to remove contractors from

projects that do not have proper training

and qualifications especially during these

tough times where proper PPE is essential

on work sites.

On Wednesday, April 1, IBEW, Local Union

364 participated in a Statewide Organizers

Committee Meeting Webinar. All locals

reported on their work outlook and hall

procedures during this pandemic. Work

outlook remains strong for most locals as

we head towards summer and warmer

weather.

We continue to receive calls from our

membership regarding projects and

contractors throughout the jurisdiction. As

we move forward towards the construction

season, please continue to call in if you

have any questions on work or contractors.

IBEW, Local Union 364 has a long-standing

tradition of member engagement which is

a recipe for success when you have

everybody all in to protect our work and

our working conditions, only good things

can become of that. So please continue to

contact us with any questions.

Stay safe and stay positive.

In Brotherhood, Brad Williams

Boone - Jo Daviess - Stephenson - Winnebago Counties

Membership

Development

Coordinator

Brad Williams X228

In Genoa at the corner of Derby Line Road and Forrest View Drive, Local 196 has five acres that they are building a training facility on. Over the winter they have managed to demo all the old farm buildings. When completed it will contain a climbing yard, transformer wiring labs and classrooms. Swedberg Construction will be the General Contractor and Sloan Electric from Local 176 will be the electrical contractor. In Rochelle, the Pilot Truck Stop at the I39 and Route 38 intersection is nearly complete. This job took place in the dead of winter and at times the conditions were very difficult. The Local 364 Electricians once again shined on this job. Austin Electric from Local 176 had this job. In DeKalb, the often talked about Ferrara Pan Candy job is now starting to take shape. The walls have been tipped up on the 1.5 million square foot distribution facility. When complete there will be 100+ overhead dock doors along with 3 – 4000 Amp services. This $75 million distribution facility is just the first of five additional buildings to be built for Ferrara Pan

through 2025. The next building will be a $18 million, 500,000 square foot packaging facility, it will be built in conjunction with the distribution facility. Across Gurler Road from Ferrara Pan Candies, Ventus Technical Services will construct a 900,000 square foot data center. The first building is slated to start later this summer and is the first of eight buildings all very similar in size that will be built on 505 acres being annexed into the city. The bidding for the electrical is going on now, but a job of this size will undoubtably have several large electrical contractors involved. We should have more contractor information next month. Mortenson will be the general contractor. This $800 million project started getting traction in the fall of 2019 and was approved by the DeKalb City Council April 27th. Also, in DeKalb is the $14-million Agora Towers which is a four story 94-unit apartment complex with commercial space on the ground floor. Weaver Construction is the General Contractor, we are still waiting to hear who will have the Electrical. In Sycamore, work has been delayed at S&K Hand Tools; the machines

scheduled to be moved to Sycamore have been delayed in Colorado. At the Park District pool, Finney’s Electric will be installing some equipment upgrades. Over in Malta at Kishwaukee College, P&H has two members working on a lighting and Fire Alarm remodel and upgrade. Sjostrom is the General Contractor. The Nelson Energy Center units 3 & 4 installation has stalled with engineering delays. Boldt Construction cannot confirm a start date yet. They believe it will still happen, they’re just not sure when all the engineering will get worked out. As always we would like to give a sincere thank you to the members in the southern area who serve the Local Union as job stewards; so to Brothers Joe Eden and Dan Cullen at Greenlee and Brother Dave McNamara at Northern Illinois University; we thank you for your effort and dedication to Local 364. Chris Molander

Carroll - DeKalb - Lee - Ogle - Whiteside

A wireman's set of hand tools furnished by the Wireman and kept in good condition shall consist of the following: 600 volt voltage tester, 1 flash light case, 1 set of screw drivers for slotted head screws including stubby screw driver, 1 set of screw drivers for Phillips head screws including stubby screw driver, Allen head wrenches from 1/32" up to and including 1/2", steel drills up to and including 3/8", 1 tap wrench, taps up to and including 1/4", 1 center punch, 1 scratch awl, 1 hammer not over 20 oz., 1 cold chisel 1/2" x 12", 1 hack saw frame, 1 key hole saw, 2 pair 9" channel lock pliers, 1 pair 8" cutting pliers, 1 long nose pliers, 1 pair diagonal cutting pliers, 1 propane torch head, 1 - 6' ruler, 1 - 25' tape measure, 1 - 50' tape, 1 set spinner wrenches, 1 fuse puller, 1 - 14" pipe wrench, 1 combination 12" square, files, 1 - 10" Crescent wrench, 1 set knock out punches 1/2" to 1-1/4", 1 chalk line, 1 plumb bob, 1 - 9" level, 1 wireman's knife, 1 tool box. Contractors shall replace steel twist drills, taps, and knock-out bolts when not broken by careless use-excessive breakage.

Business

Agent

Chris Molander X232

Cmolander@ibew364.net

ONTRACT Corner

Section 3.09

May is Electrical Safety Month and with the COVID-19 shutting down most things. Many people are having to stay

home, this is a good time for Electrical safety at home. There are many things that can cause an electrical fire

around the house. Here are some to watch out for.

Cords for smart device that have shorts in them have been known to start fires.

Lose outlets or most commonly used ones.

Over loaded outlet

Here are some safety reminders to check around the house.

The new code requires a hole house surge protector to be installed.

Inspect extensions cords.

Check your Smoke/CO Detectors have new battery’s and are not older than 10 years

old.

We hope everyone is doing well, hope to see you all soon.

You can all was Email us your Questions and Job Site Pic to Safety@IBEW364.net

Pat Tomlin—Training Director

Ptomlin@JATC364.net (815) 969-8484

There are 8 Inside Apprentices off work. We have cancelled all Journeyman Continuing Education Classes until further notice. We moved to an online virtual training platform last month for all apprenticeship classes. There have been some hiccups here and there, but overall things are going smoothly. We are hopeful that we will be able to return to normal in the fall. We have all had to make adjustments over the last few months and it is no different at the JATC. Our application process has been affected as well as Aptitude Testing and Oral Interviews. We will be working very hard over the

summer to make sure that we complete these processes. The Graduation Ceremony for the 5th year Inside Class is scheduled to be held at the IBEW 364 Banquet Facility on Friday, June 12th.

The following 5th year Inside Apprentices are scheduled to top-out in late May: Tyler Bollon, John Erb, Alex Gaumer, Kasey Hodge, Michael Jass, Bryan Miller, Brian Moore, Kade Oltmanns, and Harvey Watts. Congratulations to all on a job well done. Hopefully very soon we can get together and celebrate this accomplishment with our

newest group of Journeymen Wiremen. Even though we have suspended Journeyman CEU training, members can still sign up for any course we offer by contacting the Training Center. Please stay healthy and stay safe. The JATC would like to wish you all a safe Memorial Day Weekend. Pat Tomlin

Scott Dornbush —Chairman

Just a reminder, anyone who has a

life change (marriage, divorce, new baby) needs

to make sure they contact me for appropriate

cards and documents that may be required.

As this year keeps flying by I want to make sure

everyone utilizes their Flexible Benefit Account.

The Flexible Benefit Account reimburses $250.00

per family, per calendar year (as long as the

services were rendered when the member was

eligible) for deductible, 20% coinsurance, etc.

Should you have any questions, please let me know.

Benefits

Coordinator

PRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

ROCKFORD, IL

PERMIT NO. 781

The March Primary races had a couple extremely close races that Local

364 was keeping an eye on. The first is Building Trades Vice President

John Penney’s race for Winnebago County Board. After all the votes

were counted John came up short by just two votes in this primary.

John has decided to contest this and have a “discovery recount” done.

The other race for Winnebago County States Attorney was close and

our endorsed candidate J. Hanley came out ahead by 15 votes

prompting his opponent David Gill to ask for a recount as well.

We will be awaiting these results and inform our membership as to the

results when available. IBEW Local 364 was heavily involved in both of

these races and hopefully we can have these races end up in our favor.

These candidates we endorse share our values and would be the best

to represent us in their respective offices if elected.

On to the Presidential election. After Candidate Bernie Sanders

decided to end his campaign this left Candidate Joe Biden as the clear

front runner in the upcoming November Election.

There still are primaries to be held as of this writing but we are only a

little over 6 months away from election day and with the Covid-19

pandemic effecting some primaries time will only tell when the official

Democratic Convention will take place.

As always, we will keep our membership informed as information

becomes available.

God Bless and Be safe,

In Brotherhood

Brad Williams

May 2020 Meeting Cancelled

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Meeting Time - 7PM

Please join us to discuss all the

happenings inside of Local 364!

January 1st - April 1st—July 1st

and October 1st are the beginning

of the new quarters.

Basic dues are to be paid by the

1st day of each new quarter.

Dues payments can be made in

person, online or over the phone.

Contact the office if you have any

questions.

**2020 Quarterly Dues: $123.00**

Mailing Address

6820 Mill Rd

Rockford, IL 61108

(815) 398-6282 - Phone

(815) 398-1203 - Fax

Email Address

OFFICE@IBEW364.NET

Website Address

WWW.IBEW364.ORG