Future, Meet History
RENEW/NextGen Conference Brings Young Leaders to IBEW's Birthplace

Powering the Holidays
IBEW Volunteers Bring Joy in Lights this December

North of 49°
Winnipeg Member Returned to Parliament in a Good Night for Working People

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Blaikie retourne au Parlement, une bonne nouvelle pour les travailleurs

NEAP Benefit Notice

NEAP Summary
Annual Report

A $14 Billion Facelift for
One of America's Busiest Airports

Person A takes off from San Francisco for a 389-mile flight to Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 4. At the same time, Person B exits the 405 freeway bound for the same destination just 2.5 miles away.

Who gets there first?

The answer, to the frustration of millions of Angelenos each year, is that those two trips can, and often do, take the same amount of time. The solution is expected to be the largest public works program in Los Angeles history.

"I have been there where it took an hour to go around the horseshoe," said Local 11 President Rusty Roten, referring to the airport's layout, which consists of nine terminals arranged around a looping central roadway. "There are so many cars, everyone is pulling over waiting, buses are everywhere. And then the person you're coming for doesn't come out and the curb cops move you along and its: 'Oh God, no.'"

The traffic is one of the reasons that LAX — the fourth busiest airport in the world — ranked 72nd in the annual Skytrax survey of customer satisfaction below Quito, Ecuador, and Delhi, India. Cars and shuttle buses circling the terminal ring are the only way 85 million passengers a year can get to or from their planes. Even in car-centric LA, that's unsustainable.

With the city set to host the Olympics in 2028, Los Angeles World Airport, LAX's owner and operator, has begun a nearly $14 billion rebuild. To use an LA metaphor, this is no mere botox here or a little nip there; this is a Kardashian-level reconstruction.

That is excellent news for the members of Los Angeles Local 11, who will see millions of man-hours of work over the next decade, said Business Manager Joel Barton.

"Typically, we look at a $1 billion project and think '10% is our work.' That hasn't been the case at LAX," Barton said. "With all the sensors, conveyors, surveillance, fire alarms … everything is electrical. It's not just lights, plugs and audio. It's very inclusive. We see 20 to 25% is going to be our work."

And it's often highly technical work with challenges that will test even the most seasoned electricians.

Stephenson:
Building the Grid
of the Future
Cooper: Message Sent

Harry Bexley;
Anthony Salamone;
John "Keith" Craig

Fight Continues to Protect Apprenticeships as DOL Prepares to Issue Rule

Rail Workers' Safety,
Jobs in Jeopardy as Precision Scheduled Railroading Expands;
Search for Fairness Leads Florida Battery Recycling Employees to Tampa Local;
Ohio Member Turns Fly Fishing Passion into Dream Trip, Television Appearance

Ignoring the Rules;
Erasing the Stigma;
Promises Kept;
52 Years, Going Strong;
My Secure Retirement;
Best Thing to
Happen To Me

October 2019

IBEW Members Discover Historic Shipwreck in
Great Lakes