Thomas & Betts, a major manufacturer of electrical parts and an employer of award-winning IBEW manufacturing workers, has signed an agreement with the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee to develop a joint national training program.

The agreement between NJATC and T&B includes mutual commitments to: develop programs, including apprentice scholarships and equipment donations and train entry-level electrical workers by developing a T&B-branded grounding and conductivity academy to familiarize IBEW members with the latest equipment and technology.

Says NJATC Executive Director Michael Callanan, "Since my days as an apprentice and journeyman wireman more than 25 years ago, T&B has been a company that has stood for quality and excellence in every product that they have put their name on." Callanan expressed pleasure that the agreement "formalizes a partnership that brings together two organizations committed to excellence in all they do and to the future of the electrical industry." That partnership extends to manufacturing.

Members of Chattanooga, Tenn., Local 175 who work at T&B's plant in Athens were awarded a top-10 ranking by Industry Week magazine in 2006. (See "Tennessee Plant Named Among Best in North America," IBEW Journal, May 2006.) Workers at the only union-organized plant remaining in Athens ratified a new three-year contract in June.

Thomas & Betts is a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of essential components used in electrical construction, distribution and transmission, from conduit and cable fittings to lattice towers and wind power structures.