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The Truth About Union Electricians in IBEW Local 58.

Can Detroit Be Saved?

Dave Bing has just signed on to four years of maybe the most futile and thankless job in America: mayor of Detroit. What in the world was he thinking?

“I wouldn’t have taken this job if this wasn’t doable,” he says. “I finished basketball in 1978, then went into my own business in 1980 and did it for 29 years. . . . Now I get to the end of that career and probably should have retired. But there was a calling greater than anything that I ever envisioned, and that was to help bring this city back.”

In November, 57% of the Detroit voters bought into his tough-love reform agenda. Mr. Bing replaced the disgraced Kwame Kilpatrick, who went to jail earlier this year for spending city funds on his girlfriends—just the publicity boost the city already flat on its back didn’t need.

Dave Bing is no Milton Friedman when it comes to economic solutions. He’s praying for lots of federal aid to help the city pull out of its ditch, he wants to borrow against future tax revenues, and he hasn’t ruled out tax increases “if they have a sunset” to pay the city’s bills. He believes it’s a core responsibility of government to help people.

Yet Mr. Bing is a realist, something Detroit hasn’t had at the helm for a long time. “We’ve been paralyzed by a culture in the city of Detroit, and maybe the state of Michigan, of entitlement,” by which he means ever-rising union wages. “Our people, I don’t believe, truly understand how dire the situation is. There are ugly decisions that need to be made and I’m surely not going to be popular for making them. But I didn’t take this job based on popularity.”

One group that surely isn’t a fan is the public employee unions. He grumbles that there are 17 unions with over 50 separate bargaining units. “I can give you a data sheet that will show you we’ve got several of those bargaining units with less than 100 people, and each one of them has a president that’s paid by the city to negotiate against the city,” he says. “Coming from the private sector, I find that insane.”

The mayor is quick to remind me that he is not antiunion. He joined the NBA players association in the late 1960s and hired a mostly unionized workforce at his firm, Bing Steel. But for months he has been locked in tedious negotiations and the aggravation is starting to show.

“The problem for the most part,” he argues, “is poor union leadership. I think the rank-and-file aren’t being told the truth. And I’m not going to B.S. anybody. I’m going to tell them the truth. They can’t continue to ride this gravy train forever.”

He poses this question to the city workforce: “Are you better off having a job and making 90% of what you’re at today or having no job at all? To me, you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to say I’ll take that 90%.”

Could Detroit be the first major city in America to actually declare bankruptcy, I ask hesitantly. His honesty surprises me: “I hope not, but I wouldn’t rule it out if we don’t get concessions from the unions.” He may be using the threat of bankruptcy, which is a poison pill for unions, as a bargaining chip. “This would void all the city contracts,” he insists. “That means workers have to make a decision: Do you want to start with zero, or do you want to start from where you are and give up just a little bit? Under bankruptcy you start with zero.” Mr. Bing is a hardliner.

“We have to be honest with ourselves and say we’re no longer going to be the motor capital or the manufacturing capital of the world,” Mr. Bing says. “But I think we can be the entertainment capital of the Midwest. We have casinos, great hotel accommodations, great restaurants, we’re one of the few cities that has every professional sports team.

Is This The Future of the IBEW?

Tradesmen International, founded in 1992, is recognized nationally as the construction industry’s premier source for high-caliber, skilled craftsmen with thousands of employees in all trades across America. We hire our employees on a permanent basis with the goal of providing you job stability, a good income and full benefits.

As a Construction Labor Support company, we provide the industry’s top constructor and industrial clients proven labor management solutions – Total Labor Support Services – that enable them maximize productivity for every dollar spent on skilled labor.

What does this mean to you, a skilled craftsman? These services have positioned Tradesmen as a contractor’s “first choice” which means, unlike temporary agencies, we’re able to keep you gainfully employed, pay you what you deserve, and provide you an exceptional benefits package (see below). We have nearly 100 locations nationwide and work on projects ranging from national monuments and commercial structures to museums, retail facilities, even professional sports stadiums.

Job Overview

Company: Tradesmen International Location: US-MD-Baltimore Base Pay: $14.00 – $22.00 /Hour Other Pay: Job Commission Employee Type: Full-Time Employee Industry: Construction Electronics Homebuilding Manages Others: No Job Type: Construction Manufacturing Skilled Labor – Trades Required Education: High School Required Experience: At least 3 year(s) Required Travel: Negligible Relocation Covered: Not Specified Contact: Don Miller Phone: 1-800-636-9640 Email: Send Email Now Fax: Not Available Reference ID: 100606

Job Description Journeymen Electricians and Apprentice Electricians needed in Reading PA. Tradesmen International, founded in 1992, is recognized nationally as a leading source for reliable, skilled craftsmen with thousands of employees across America. With thousands of contractor clients and craftsmen employees serving their on-going needs, we’re one of America’s premier construction employers. Fact is, we’re constantly seeking the finest Electricans in the business to join our team. We’re committed to hiring only those Electricians who pride themselves on setting quality standards for the commercial and industrial industries. All our employees must display professionalism, Reliability and Punctuality / Good Appearance and Attitudes Highly Productive Work Ethics / Emphasis on Safety In addition to steady work, safer working conditions and good wages, we provide a benefits package that is among the best in the industry. Our comprehensive benefits encourage our employees and their families to build a life long relationship with us. Benefits include: Dental plan Vision plan Health insurance Prescription drug plan Life insurance Short-term disability 401(k) profit-sharing savings plan Incentive programs If you match these characteristics, please call us at 877-818-1885. We provide steady work, competitive wages, safer working conditions and good opportunities. www.tradesmeninternational.com New Orleans Needs Good: Carpenters, Drywall,Sheet Metal, HVAC, Plumbers, Welders…. Job Requirements Journey / Apprentice level Commercial Electricians Needed ! $14 – $22 per hour. Be perpared to complete a job application and a sit down interview. Verifiable references-addresses,phone numbers and contact names must be provided Must have Driver License, Transportation and all the required tools to perform your job. Solid work ethic-Safe worker,punctual,reliable and must be very conscientious of the quality of work.

Let’s Get Real About Alternative Energy

(CNN) — We need to introduce simple arithmetic into our discussions of energy.

We need to understand how much energy our chosen lifestyles consume, we need to decide where we want that energy to come from, and we need to get on with building energy systems of sufficient size to match our desired consumption.

Our failure to talk straight about the numbers is allowing people to persist in wishful thinking, inspired by inane sayings such as “every little bit helps.”

Assuming we are serious about getting off fossil fuels, the scale of building required should not be underestimated. Small actions alone will not deliver a solution.

Let’s express energy consumption and energy production using simple personal units, namely kilowatt-hours. One kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the energy used by leaving a 40-watt bulb on for 24 hours. The chemical energy in the food we eat to stay alive amounts to about 3 kWh per day. Taking one hot bath uses about 5 kWh of heat. Driving an average European car 100 kilometers (roughly 62 miles) uses 80 kWh of fuel. With a few of these numbers in mind, we can start to evaluate some of the recommendations that people make about energy.

Take, for example, the idea that one of the top 10 things you should do to make a difference to your energy consumption is to unplug your cell-phone charger when you are not using it. The truth is that leaving a phone charger plugged in uses about 0.01 kWh per day, 1/100th of the power consumed by a lightbulb.

This means that switching the phone charger off for a whole day saves the same energy as is used in driving an average car for one second. Switching off phone chargers is like bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon. I’m not saying you shouldn’t unplug it, but please realize, when you do so, what a tiny fraction it is of your total energy footprint.

In total, the European lifestyle uses 125 kWh per day per person for transport, heating, manufacturing, and electricity. That’s equivalent to every person having 125 light bulbs switched on all the time. The average American uses 250 kWh per day: 250 light bulbs.

Most of this energy today comes from fossil fuels. What are our post-fossil-fuel options?

Among the energy-saving options, two promising technology switches are the electrification of transportation (electric vehicles can be about four times as energy-efficient as standard fossil-fuel vehicles) and the use of electric-powered heat pumps to deliver winter heating and hot water (heat pumps can be four times as energy-efficient as standard heaters).

Among all the energy-supply technologies, the three with the biggest potential today are solar power, wind power and nuclear power.

It’s not going to be easy to make a energy plan that adds up, but it is possible. We need to get building.

Solar Power and Labor Unions

The appointment on Rep. Dina Titus’ calendar last Saturday didn’t appear controversial at first glance.

She was to tour the new 10-megawatt Boulder City Sempra Generation plant — the largest solar power plant in North America to use widely praised thin-film technology. The project also produced the kind of environmentally friendly jobs that elected officials covet and tout.

Yet Titus soon realized that she was wading into a political firestorm.

In Carson City, Nevada legislators had blasted Sempra for its hiring practices, part of an intensifying debate here and nationwide over who is to benefit from growing state and federal renewable energy incentives aimed at saving not only the environment but also the economy.

Titus was a last minute no-show at Sempra.

Sempra had provoked the ire of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for hiring nonunion electricians, who the union insists were not properly certified to install photovoltaic panels. (Sempra spokesman Art Larson said he wasn’t aware of and couldn’t respond to those accusations).

Building Trades, IBEW and AFL-CIO representatives said although they have told politicians not to visit Acciona’s plant, they do not have the same request regarding Sempra.

Jobless Claims Jump to 26 Year High

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance spiked, and those living on unemployment benefits hit a record high, according to a government report released Thursday.

For the week ended Feb. 21, 667,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims, up 36,000 from a revised 631,000 the previous week. That’s the highest figure since October 1982.

Union Membership Rises for Second Straight Year

WASHINGTON — Amid widening unemployment, home foreclosures and credit woes, union membership jumped to 12.4 percent of the work force last year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the ranks of organized labor rose by 428,000 workers — the biggest annual gain since the government began compiling such data in 1983. It’s also the second year in a row that unions have added to their ranks.

Membership rose by 311,000 members in 2007, to account for 12.1 percent of workers. Overall, union membership remains well below the peak of 35 percent during labor’s heyday of the 1950s.

Membership was about 20 percent in 1983, the first year the bureau began compiling the numbers.