Among the many challenging tasks that IBEW members perform every day, one of the most dangerous is the work that line clearance tree trimmers do to keep power lines obstruction-free.

But still, most of the people who perform this work in North America do it without the safety net of IBEW membership. Recent gains in training and successful contract negotiations are going a long way toward closing that gap.

"Highly trained and highly skilled workers are absolutely needed for a job like this," said Rusty McCuen, chairman of the Line Clearance Tree Trimming Coordinating Council. "Training helps you steer clear of dangerous situations," he noted, like getting too close to energized lines.

Apprenticeships can attract workers to the IBEW by raising the job's profile, he said, offering quality training as well as a measure of professionalism, respect and recognition — not to mention higher pay.

Anchorage, Alaska, Local 1547 and the Alaska Joint Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Trust, for example, have been working with the Northwest Line Joint Apprenticeship Committee in Vancouver, Wash. — which offers one of only two Labor Department-certified LCTT apprenticeships — to revamp that JATC's curriculum, introducing web-based training and climbing labs into its 4,000-hour program.

Thanks to some generous state grants, McCuen said, Topeka, Kansas, Local 304 has been able to implement its own LCTT apprenticeship program that follows the NWJATC's curriculum, which not only helps train members more effectively but also has boosted internal organizing efforts. "It's still not in their collective bargaining agreement where a company has to recognize their apprenticeship program," he said, but the local is "doing really good things to change the culture."

Meanwhile, California continues to expand its journeyman trimmer certification to train thousands of LCTT workers in the state. "Local apprenticeship programs still aren't being bought into by most utilities and companies," McCuen said. "But if we can pull off more local and regional apprenticeships over the next five to 10 years, it could help us bring in new members — and better wages for them."

McCuen said several LCTT locals also have reported some positive pay news. Portland, Ore., Local 125 recently concluded a tough negotiation that ultimately brought a 22.5% wage increase over four years, plus health and pension improvements and a guarantee that signatory LCTT contractors will cover any health insurance increases.

And the LCTT members of Detroit Local 17 — which offers the second federally certified LCTT apprenticeship — recently reached a four-year agreement that included 6% annual wage increases and benefits improvements, as well as double-time pay when a workday goes beyond 10 hours.

Some 78 locals now include LCTT among their classifications, McCuen said, with one or two locals per year adding it to their list. While that's a good figure, there's still vast organizing potential for the IBEW.

"Based on a study by the International Office from a few years ago, the IBEW has around 8,900 LCTT members in the U.S. and Canada," McCuen said. In comparison, "there are about 31,000 workers in the industry."

Successfully tapping into this larger pool of potential members also comes with challenges, McCuen said. "We're always trying to get younger people in, but one problem is that so many are still so programmed to go to college instead," he said, and they're not thinking about the good benefits that come with a union job in the trade. "To them, it doesn't seem to them like there's a career path there," he said.

Nevertheless, McCuen's council has been making progress in changing people's minds about LCTT work. "Our locals are out there organizing, and our council group continues to grow," he said.

There have been some other advancements, as well. The IBEW recently added a link to the LCTT council under the Construction and Maintenance section of the Local Connections website. And McCuen said that, for the first time, he will be staffing an IBEW information booth at the Trees and Utilities Conference in Pittsburgh in September.

"It takes a special kind of person to allow yourself to be hoisted dozens of feet in the air, in all sorts of weather, to cut away tree branches and other obstacles that threaten power lines, and also to ensure that the debris falls safely to the ground," said Matt Paules, director of the Construction and Maintenance Department, which has jurisdiction over the LCTT classification. "We all understand how IBEW membership can bring workers better training, wages, and that special spirit of brotherhood, and I applaud the progress that Brother McCuen is reporting."

Memo to IBEW members: Be on the lookout for the Brotherhood's logo on a pair of bicyclists when out traveling this summer. The Scheids are back on the road, looking to raise money in the fight against childhood cancer.

Colleen and Rich Scheid, a married couple with nearly 70 years of IBEW membership between them, started their 4,000-plus-mile bike ride in Deer Lodge, Tenn., about 60 miles west of Knoxville, in mid-May.

They traveled through Kentucky to Indiana, making a stop at South Bend Local 153, Rich's home local before he retired earlier this year.

They then planned to cut across the upper Midwest, ride into New England to Maine before coming back down the East Coast through Washington, D.C., on their way to Florida.

After that, they will ride north through the Deep South and wind back up in Deer Lodge sometime this fall.

Not exactly a leisurely ride through your neighborhood. But the Scheids, who have shared a passion for endurance sports throughout their 16-year marriage, wouldn't have it any other way.

"We love every minute of it," said Colleen, a journeyman wireman and member of Phoenix Local 640. "Those endorphins kick in, and it all makes sense."

Added Rich: "We work together and live together. We stay in these little places in the country. We've learned to exist in small spaces, kind of like astronauts."

The Scheids have been down this road before. In 2018, they rode cross country from San Diego to St. Augustine, Fla. (That ride was featured in The Electrical Worker in July 2018.) The distance: slightly more than 3,000 miles.

They're doing it again in memory of Graham Wolff, Rich's nephew, who passed away in 2007 due to cancer at the age of 9, and to encourage donations to CureSearch, which raises money to fight childhood cancer and bring researchers in the field together.

Donations can be made at give.curesearch.org/PictureUsRollin.

"We're doing this because we enjoy it and we can give, give, give," Colleen said. "CureSearch is a good outfit that will use the money right."

The Scheids are both from northern Indiana, but they met about 2,000 miles to the west. Colleen moved to Phoenix with her family after graduating from high school. She went through her apprenticeship at Local 640 and has been a member for nearly 25 years.

Rich, who followed his father into the IBEW, was working as a traveler when the two met while on the job at the Pastoria Energy Facility near Bakersfield, Calif., in 2004. They quickly bonded over their love of exercise and the outdoors. They married in 2007, and Rich moved to Phoenix while keeping his Local 153 membership. Both of their home locals have made donations to CureSearch.

"We're two peas in a pod," Colleen said. "The moment I saw Rich on a jobsite, I knew he was the one. His smile, his laughter, his great energy. I have that, as well. It's nice to be with someone who gives great energy and receives great energy."

In addition to raising money in the childhood cancer fight, they hope their latest ride serves as a tribute to the good life afforded by IBEW membership. They say they are constantly amazed at how much they hear similar sentiments, not just from fellow IBEW members but from all union members when they see the IBEW logo during their rides.

"When you get to where we're at, you really do appreciate what you've got," Rich said just after he and Colleen crossed into south-central Kentucky early in the ride. "I'm not a rich man. But I am awfully comfortable, and I'm able to do what I love."

Members can follow the Scheids' exploits on their Facebook page, PictureUsRollin, and on Instagram under the same name. They hope to finish in mid-October.

"I'm going to visit a lot of IBEW locals on this trip," Rich said with a laugh. "But this time, I'm not looking for work."

Leadership at the specialized manufacturer Lighting Quotient recently — and enthusiastically — agreed to take their decades-long relationship with the IBEW and New Haven Local 1040 to the next level by implementing the union's Code of Excellence.

"The code has been a topic of discussion that's been going around for a while," said Local 1040 Business Manager Phillip Stewart.

Early last year, Second District International Representative John Horak recommended to Lighting Quotient owner Allison Schieffelin that the IBEW conduct Code of Excellence training for her company.

"I brought it up because I knew it would be a good fit," Horak said.

International President Edwin D. Hill launched the Code of Excellence in 2007 to ensure the highest IBEW standards are upheld in every workplace. Company managers and IBEW members who formally enter into a code agreement commit to fully exhibiting the union's SPARQ values: safety, professionalism, accountability, relationships and quality.

Workers at the Lighting Quotient manufacture specialized lighting systems for artists, architects and designers around the world. The company's staff size can fluctuate depending on customer orders, Stewart said, and it was going through somewhat of a slow period when Horak suggested Code of Excellence implementation early last year.

Fortunately, this past spring, demand for Lighting Quotient's products surged, helping to bring Local 1040's workforce at the facility to its 40-member peak.

"We waited to do the code training when the company was at full force," said Horak. "We felt that was much better."

Stewart noted that Horak's initial assessment of interest had been correct, and then some: Not only has Code of Excellence implementation at Lighting Quotient gone smoothly, but Schieffelin has also endorsed further code training.

"The overall experience was great," said Schieffelin of the on-site, on-the-clock training, which she and others on the company's management team attended. "I really enjoy working with the IBEW. They do a great job for us."

Schieffelin's father, Sylvan Shemitz, founded the company in 1977, building on an interest in the use of lighting in architecture dating to the 1940s, when he was running his family's electric supply company in New Haven.

Today, the company is best known among designers and architects for its Elliptipar and Tambient products, which have been installed in high-profile places such as the Great Hall of Chicago's Union Station; the inscription wall of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Schieffelin, who took the reins of the company after her father died in 2007, described the labor-management relationship at Lighting Quotient as a "balance of IBEW and employers working together."

"The IBEW wants to show that they want Lighting Quotient to succeed," Schieffelin said. "It distinguishes our work" when customers and other employers see the professional, positive image of the IBEW and the Code of Excellence, she added. "It's a win-win when we work with the IBEW."

Schieffelin, who said she has had a copy of the Code of Excellence posted on her office door, wants to see more code classes to keep workers talking about it.

To that end, Education Department International Representative Craig Duffy recently conducted a Code of Excellence train-the-trainer session that will make it easier for future code trainings to be conducted by Lighting Quotient workers.

Meanwhile, Local 1040's executive board is doing its part to keep interest in the program alive by authorizing the purchase of a Code of Excellence banner to be prominently displayed in the facility as well as special code T-shirts for staffers to wear on the job.

Schieffelin is fully on board with all of it. "You learn to earn," she said. "Learning gives people confidence. One thing people can't take away from you is what you learn."

Jonathan Sherwin has spent much of his Pittsburgh Local 5 apprenticeship performing heavy industrial work, often in steel mills that frame western Pennsylvania history.

He realized early that the lessons learned in high school robotics just a few years ago would serve him well on the job.

"It was so similar," said Sherwin, now a third-year apprentice working for Hey Electric. "There is one central brain that is similar to a PLC [programmable logic controller], where all the motors and sensors connect and communicate."

Robotics were so important to Sherwin as he grew up in a little town north of Pittsburgh that, even with the demands of an apprenticeship, he didn't hesitate to return as an adviser to the community's robotics team just after his high school graduation in 2019.

"We're a tight-knit group in such a small community," he said. "A lot of our alumni have moved on to be electrical engineers or into electrical work, and they know how to build and design things. We all know how to focus on the task at hand and want to give back."

He shows that same attitude on the job and in the classroom, too.

"When someone comes to you with his skill set, it's a gift," said Rachel Hienz, a first-year apprentice instructor at Local 5's JATC. "We get some kids that come in who truly have not held a screwdriver in their hands before. To get someone with Jonathan's skills, it's impressive."

Hienz added: "He's a leader, he's a mentor. I'd see him lean over with other students who might be struggling and say, 'Hey, do you need help with this?'"

Sherwin's values and work ethic were formed in Parker, Pa., population 695 and about a 65-mile drive from Pittsburgh. He still calls it home and has no plans to move. He enjoys looking out his window and seeing cows and farms instead of the Steel City's skyline.

His father was a 37-year member of the Machinists Union and now is a member of the Operating Engineers. And like his dad, the younger Sherwin, now 22, knew pretty quickly that he wanted to work with his hands.

"I had no interest in college," he said. "I grew up a worker. I'm a hands-on person."

That's one reason he turned to robotics. Unlike in larger communities, the local school system wasn't big enough to have a robotics team. (Sherwin was one of 50 members of his high school graduation class.)

Fortunately, the local 4-H chapter did, and Sherwin joined it in the fifth grade.

"That really broadened what was out there electrically," he said. "I really enjoyed wiring up the robot as good as it could be."

Thus began a seven-year adventure that took him to events across Pennsylvania and as far away as St. Louis. His travels were sponsored by FIRST, one of the top student robotics competitions in the country with livestreamed events on YouTube.

The challenge was to build a robot weighing nearly 120 pounds with chain and belt drives and plenty of pneumatic elements. Sherwin wanted it to be strong, fast and mobile, but also sleek.

"We would take time to make [the robot] look nice," he said. "We would see 60 other robots at a regional competition, and you could see other teams didn't take that into consideration. They were just interested in getting it running."

Sherwin's interest in working with his hands didn't stop with robotics. Through most of high school, he worked in a machine shop after class. He also worked for a tree service.

He considered becoming a welder, but his interest in electrical work was set by graduation. A Local 5 member who lived nearby told him about the apprenticeship program and how much he appreciated IBEW membership.

"He said the only downside was you had to drive to Pittsburgh pretty often," Sherwin said. "Other than that, he was really pleased with his career. He had a happy life."

Hienz said Sherwin's maturity level was noticeable from the start.

"At that stage, most of the apprentices — and I don't say this in a bad way — don't think about ways to give back," she said. "They're so young, and they just want to leave as soon as they get their work done."

That's why she was impressed, but hardly surprised, when she learned Sherwin was serving as a leader in the same robotics chapter he grew up in.

"He isn't getting paid," she said. "He's so selfless. With the talent he has, he's definitely modest."

Hienz and some of Sherwin's other instructors attended a regional competition in Pittsburgh recently that included his team. The work cuts into what little free time he has, but Sherwin said it's been worth it.

"To see the amount of growth in the students is really what makes it worth it for me," he said. "When we go to a competition and see the robots operate, and see the successes and failures, I know exactly what they felt. I was in their shoes."

Sherwin isn't sure where his IBEW career will take him, whether it's working with the tools, as a project manager or owning his own business. The possibilities are endless, he said.

Those close to him agree.

"He already has something to give, and he recognizes it," Hienz said. "He's really wise beyond his years."