Business Managers Message

Message from Business Manager Bud Thomam

On behalf of the staff and officers and leadership of IBEW Local 94, we would like to wish you and yours a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. We have been through so much this past year  and we have much to be thankful for. The successes of our Youth Caucus and our successful Food Drive. I am appreciative of all your help and support throughout the year. Thanksgiving is one of those all-American holidays, so celebrate it with your family and friends. Understand that if you go out and shop on Thanksgiving Day, there is some little kid who is at home crying because their mommy and daddy is at work - so please keep that in mind. Thanksgiving is a day for family, not a day for greed and gross consumerism.

Message from Business Manager Bud Thoman

This year is a very special Labor Day for our local union. It goes without saying that Labor Day is our day, a holiday that union members and leaders before us fought and died to create so all workers, union or non, have a day of rest, celebration and relaxation to praise the American workers many achievements and pay homage to organized labor. It is our day and it's up to each and every one of us to ensure that the next generation understand Labor Day's true meaning beyond all the corporate commercialism.

With that, please come join your Local 94 brothers and sisters on Labor Day, Monday, September 1st, for the Labor Day Parade in South Plainfield, NJ. Please arrive at Norwood Avenue in South Plainfield. The parade starts at 10 am so please get there early. The parade will end at approximately 1:00 pm. Food and drinks will be provided at the end of the parade for all those who marched with Local 94 and t-shirts will be provided. We will also be celebrating our union and solidarity at our dinner dance the following Saturday at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City. The details of that event are at the bottom of this email.

As a union, we have accomplished so much this past year. Last Labor Day was the first time in a while that we marched in the South Plainfield Labor Day parade - we are happy to make this an annual tradition. With the year we did what labor does best - we were there for our community. Our newly formed Youth Caucus helped us raise 3,000 pounds of food for the needy, we helped raise $10,000 for the Wounded Warriors Project and we recently raised funds to provide service dogs for our returning war veterans. Our altruistic culture was rewarded by the fruits of our labor as our hard work and participation with the Energy Strong campaign will bring in 200 new members into our local union and the projects surrounding Energy Strong will create 6,000 construction jobs over the next 3 years for our brothers and sisters in the building trades.

Make no mistake about it, Monday is our day to celebrate us. We all truly deserve it. God bless you all, this local union and our great country. See you Monday.

Watch the History of Labor Day below.

Message from Business Manager Bud Thoman

An hour and a half ahead of the filing deadline, the parties in the Energy Strong proceeding reached a settlement. The agreement grants approval for PSE&G Company to invest $1.22 Billion in the hardening of the Electric and Gas systems that will create more than 2,000 jobs. The investments are listed below;

Electric:

• Raise/relocate/harden 29 substations - $620 million
• Reconfigure distribution circuits - $100 million
• SCADA - $100 million

Gas:

• UPCI Main Replacement (approximately 250 miles) - $350 million
• Raise/harden 7 M&R stations & generator for Burlington LNG - $50 million

$1 billion is to be recovered through two new Energy Strong Adjustment Mechanisms qne Gas project costs are recovered annually. Electric project costs are recovered twice a year. The balance (actually $220 million) to be recovered through traditional rate case to be filed no later than November 1, 2017. The company has 5 years to complete the subs and the M&R stations, 3 years for everything else. The main replacement program may be accelerated and done in two years. The company may return at a later date for a second phase.

I did meet with upper management following the settlement agreement and they expressed their thanks for all the support that Local 94 provided. I want to personally thank every member that took the time to attend the hearings. Our testimony, along with our large attendance at the hearings, DID have a major impact on the way the hearings and the decision. Meetings are already under way with the Company over the work and our staffing numbers. As soon as we have something, it will be communicated.

Closing briefs and Executive Sessions were held on the 69kv arbitration case, and the Lawrence Grant arbitration case. The awards are due, any day now. On May 19th, the EPA issued their final rule under 316(b) of the clean water act. The final rule avoids imposing a categorical one-size-fits-all approach to compliance, by using a cost/benefit analysis, on a case by case basis. The Company has assembled a committee to evaluate the impact to each of our Generating Stations. As more information becomes available, I will communicate the results.

During the Spring refuel outage for Salem Unit 2, turning vane bolt heads were discovered on the lower core plate of the reactor vessel. This lead to the decision on May 12th, to extend the Outage and pull all 4 Reactor Coolant Pumps from Salem Unit 2, due to bolt heads shearing off of the turning vanes. This has never been done at Salem and never was anticipated. Between management and LU 94, we worked out an additional 3F schedule for Maintenance to pull all 4 RCP motors. This was done in 2 short weeks. All 4 pumps had to be sent out to vendors to correct the problem, 2 to Areva in Virginia and 2 to Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, PA.  As of June 21st, all 4 pumps are back in and Maintenance is putting the motors back in and electricians are wiring them back up. Start up is scheduled for 4th of July weekend, which is weeks ahead of schedule.

The new contract books are being printed as we speak, and will be distributed to all locations, shortly.

Congratulations to Palisades Division on another successful Tank Pull, in support of the "Wounded Warrior Project".  In their 5th year of competition, Local 94's "Pullin Badgers" took first place in their division by raising $8,800 in honor of IBEW Local 94 member Sgt. James Harvey II, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

Enjoy a safe and relaxing 4th of July weekend Local 94 and continue to keep up the good work in these summer months.

Message from Business Manager Buddy Thoman

Our members have been working extremely hard during the most difficult weather we have experienced in many years. I have been on staff with our Local Union for 20 years and can recall only two times we had to cancel a Union meeting to due inclement weather. Well, we have had to cancel two Union meetings due to inclement weather in the last month alone!

We have a battle of the headcount on the gas end. Local 94 has been breaking our backs for 5 weeks straight with a record number of no heat calls and leaks. There has been much response by distribution department to fix broken mains from the icy weather.

Not only are our members working hard in the most difficult of weather conditions in New Jersey, but we have provided Mutual Aid to the State of Maine during Christmas, and just recently crews have returned from PECO. On December 24th about 30 members of the line dept. traveled to Maine for Mutual Aid and returned home on December 30th. The conditions were very difficult with ice, snow, and bitter cold but as usual our guys did a great job and the host utility had no issues.  Also we had approximately 100 members head over to PECO for a Mutual Aid assignment to help out with damage from an ice storm. They left on February 8th and returned home on February 12th and all went well. We are now in the throws of another winter storm and once we handle our own problems we may be on the road again so please be careful and stay safe!

A fraternal Holiday message from Business Manager Buddy Thoman

I want to thank all the members that took time away from their weekends by doing Labor walks on Saturdays for the 8 to 10 weeks leading up to the November elections. Although the Governor's position was no surprise, we did well in the Senate and Assembly positions. Most importantly, we were successful in changing the New Jersey Constitution by raising the minimum wage. Remember raising the State's minimum wage was an original bill that passed in both the Senate and Assembly Committee's but was ultimately vetoed by the Governor. This Constitutional amendment will benefit some 500,000 New Jerseyans that live among the working poor. An extra $40 a week means two more complete dinners for a family of four, extra cash to buy needed medicine for sick children or a full tank of gas - making a world of difference for families living paycheck to paycheck and on the economic edge. This is a major victory for organized labor. This victory would not have been possible without the support of all of you. We thanked the public for their yes vote as well in our holiday radio ad which is running from the 19th to the 24th on 95.9 WRAT and 100.1 WJRZ. Visit our Merry Christmas / Electrical Safety page to hear the radio ad.

I also want to take the time to thank all of the members that came out on their own time to show their support of the Energy Strong and McCarter switch hearings. We all did it for the right reasons, to provide some employment security and create jobs. Hopefully, we will be successful in our endeavors. We started negotiations with the ten Line Clearance Tree Companies that we have under a multi-employer agreement that expires at the end of this year. Our next scheduled meetings are December 23rd and 27th. Hopefully, we will have an agreement to bring to the membership for ratification before December 31st. On behalf of the Officers and Staff, I want to wish all of our membership and their families a very happy, healthy, and safe holidays.