International Representative Mark MacNichol, a Philadelphia native who became an IBEW leader in South Florida, has been appointed safety director.

He succeeds David Mullen, who retired in June after a 38-year IBEW career that culminated in nine years leading the Safety Department.

"I'm surprised, happy, nervous — all those things," MacNichol said. "That's a big set of shoes to fill. There's a lot of knowledge inside Dave Mullen, but I'm excited to get started."

Brother MacNichol learned early about the power of union membership while growing up in Philadelphia. Several family members were union members, including his father, Bud, a Teamster.

"He always made a great living and did very well for all of us," MacNichol said.

He relocated to Florida with his parents after he graduated high school and his father had suffered a back injury.

The younger MacNichol briefly tried college before informing his father that it wasn't for him. That didn't please Bud, who told his son he had two weeks to decide on his future.

After considering becoming a plumber, Mark decided he wanted to be an electrician. He was hired as a helper at Florida Power & Light in March 1989, becoming a member of Fort Pierce, Fla., Local 627. After just a few months, he became a Local 627 steward.

Thus began his career ascent, both on the job and in the union. FPL promoted him to nuclear plant operator at its St. Lucie Plant in 1991 and senior nuclear plant operator in 1996, a position he held until 2012.

At Local 627, MacNichol served as financial secretary from 1998 to 2011 while still working for Florida Power. He was appointed president and business manager in 2012 and was elected in 2014.

He also was active with System Council U-4 — which includes all 11 IBEW unions with FPL employees — and was elected vice president in 2006. In 2011, he was one of the key players in Council U-4 and FPL jointly agreeing to implement the Code of Excellence, an IBEW initiative that commits to the highest standards of work quality and safety.

As business manager, MacNichol and others rebuilt morale and finances at Local 627, a difficult task in a right-to-work state. It once had more than 700 members but had shrunk to about half that due to pending deregulation rules and laws, MacNichol said.

"We barely had enough money coming in to cover expenses," he said.

Local 627 now has more than 500 members, which MacNichol attributed to being more active and visible in South Florida and holding more events for members and their families.

"We were so involved in the community," he said. "If we had an informational picket, we sometimes had more members of the public than union members to help us carry signs. You would have sworn our local was three times the size it was."

In 2018, MacNichol moved to the International Office, where he was the generation international representative in the Utility Department. He helped members in the industry navigate the COVID-19 pandemic before taking over as safety director.

In his new position, MacNichol wants to remind all local unions, regardless of branch, to use Accident Form 173 to report all accidents on the job involving members. The form is available through ibew.org under the Safety and Health page.

The data compiled makes it easier to track trends on the job and advocate for any changes with employers or governmental jurisdictions, MacNichol said. Only about 25% of local unions are using the system, even though it is required by the IBEW Constitution.

"That information is so important to have when we're sitting at the table with lawmakers of governmental entities like OSHA," MacNichol said.

There's been a side benefit to working and living in the D.C. area: MacNichol is about a two-hour drive from Philadelphia. Even though he enjoyed Florida, he never forgot those Philly roots and remains a fan of the city's sports teams.

"Philadelphia has always been my home, even though I lived twice as long in Florida," he said.

MacNichol has two children: son Josh, a Teamsters member, and daughter Chrissy. MacNichol credits most of his success to his best friend and wife, Michelle. The couple lives in Manassas, Va.

The officers and staff congratulate Brother MacNichol on his appointment and wish him much success in his new position.

Charles Silvernale, who made lasting friends every step of the way during his 42-year IBEW career as a lineman, business manager and West Coast international representative, died April 1. He was 83.

"He was such a pleasure to be around, such a keen sense of humor and twinkle in his eye," said Mike Mowery, retired Ninth District international vice president. "He was an outstanding rep. There wasn't anyone who didn't get along with Charley."

Silvernale grew up in an IBEW home in Seattle, where his father was president of Local 77, which represents utility workers in Washington state and parts of Idaho.

Following in those footsteps, Silvernale was initiated into Local 77 in 1960 at age 20, volunteering early as a shop steward and member of the safety and negotiating committees. Later, he served on the executive board and as treasurer and president before being elected business manager in 1982.

He served in myriad other roles along the way, including as AFL-CIO president in Seattle's King County; a director of the county's United Way program; and on local, state and federal utility labor committees, including at the Bureau of Reclamation and Grand Coulee Dam.

Silvernale loved being a lineman, but an accident brought that part of his career to an end in the summer of 1970.

"He was electrocuted on a pole and lost a couple of fingers on his right hand and the ring finger on his left hand," said his son, Patrick Silvernale, a retired Teamsters representative. "His pole partner revived him. He went to work as a dispatcher briefly and then went to work for the union."

He moved from Washington state in 1988 when he was appointed to the Ninth District staff to service all utility and outside line locals in California and Nevada.

"He was a lineman servicing linemen's locals, and that made a big difference," Mowery said, recalling how Silvernale liked to tease him about being a wireman. "We'd joke back and forth. He'd chatter about the 'narrowbacks,' the inside wiremen, and how it was linemen who started the IBEW."

Silvernale formed an instant bond with Pat Lavin, who retired in 2021 after 20 years on the International Executive Council and 22 years as business manager of Diamond Bar, Calif., Local 47.

"He called me up one night when I first got elected and introduced himself," Lavin said. "He said to me: 'You're a lineman?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Are you Irish?' I said 'Yeah.' He said, 'Are you Catholic?' I said, 'Yeah.'"

They had a good laugh about being two of a kind in the Brotherhood. "He was jovial. He was funny and we laughed a lot," Lavin said. "But he was also a realist. He never BS'd about anything."

At a 2003 meeting in Las Vegas, Lavin honored his friend with a surprise retirement party. "You know, there are no secrets in the IBEW, but we were able to pull that off," he said. "When we walked into the place, he was flabbergasted."

A man of deep faith, Silvernale was ordained as a deacon in 2000 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, Calif.

"His spiritual life was a big part of his life, but he didn't lead with it," Mowery said. "Charley was loyal to the IBEW and loyal to his friends and loved ones and loyal to his God, and he served all of them very well."

After retiring, Silvernale was assigned by the diocese to the Holy Rosary Parish in Antioch in the eastern Bay Area. He also volunteered as a chaplain at the city's police department, the county jail and San Quentin Prison.

Patrick Silvernale described his father as a "gentle giant" driven to serve through the church and the IBEW.

"It was always union first with him," he said, thinking back on his childhood and his father's insistence that they buy only American cars. "He was always talking about workers' rights, making things better for them, and especially for the linemen."

His father, who'd survived nine-way bypass surgery and other health challenges, suffered a heart attack at a truck stop on his way home from visiting his children and grandchildren in Arizona and Nevada.

"I'd talked to him on the phone less than an hour before," Patrick Silvernale said. "He was airlifted to Bakersfield, and we were able to get there that evening."

Charles Silvernale died the next day, precisely 20 years after his retirement date. His son said a midweek funeral service at his parish church drew several hundred mourners, symbolic of the many lives he touched.

In addition to Patrick, Silvernale is survived by three daughters, Tracey, Michelle and Lisa; 11 grandchildren; and an infant great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his children's mother in 1981 and lost his second wife in 2011: Mary Jane Silvernale, who'd served as Ninth District secretary to Mowery's predecessor, Jack McCann.

The IBEW sends its condolences to Brother Silvernale's family and friends, along with deep gratitude for his decades of service and a lifetime of goodwill.