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Born in Washington, D.C., Brother Bateman was initiated into IBEW Local 916 in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1968 following a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy submarine service. He worked as an electronics mechanic at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. In 1970, he was a charter member of IBEW Charleston Local 2301 and served as the local’s shipyard steward and financial secretary. He was also a delegate to the Metal Trades Council of Charleston and served on the council’s grievance and organizing committees.

In 1973, he was appointed International Representative, assigned to the Government Employees Depart- ment where he assisted local unions in shipyards and army bases with organizing and grievances. Two years later, then-President Pillard assigned him to the International Office, where he has remained an integral part of the department representing United States and Canadian federal, provincial, county and municipal government workers as well as Metal Trades and shipbuilding members in the public and private sector.

In 1990, Bateman was appointed director of the Government Employees Department, where he has represented the IBEW on the U.S. Federal Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee, which advises the Office of Personnel Management on the Federal Wage System. He also sat on the U.S. Department of Defense wage board, and dealt often with Interior and Energy Department officials. As director, he acted as liaison for the International President with the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, and the Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO. He is particularly proud of successfully lobbying for legislation affecting collective bargaining rights at the Interior and Energy departments.

A widower with three children and five grandchildren, he plans to stay in southern Maryland, where he intends to indulge in a variety of hobbies, including music, reading, fishing, hunting and traveling. He also plans to learn to speak Spanish fluently. The IBEW officers, staff and members thank Brother Bateman for his service and wish him a long and fulfilling retirement.

Appointed

William "Chico" McGill

William "Chico" McGill, business manager of Local 733 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, has been appointed director of the IBEW Government Employees Department effective April 1, 2005. Brother McGill, a Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran, was initiated into the IBEW in 1974 at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula. The shipyard employs 10,000 members of the AFL-CIO Metal Trades, including 1,500 IBEW members.

McGill, established a reputation as a tireless advocate of workplace safety at Ingalls and of the need to broaden the labor movement. He brought these themes together when he was asked by Fifth District International Representative James Anderson to teach OSHA inspections and health and safety at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans in the midst of a difficult eight-year organizing battle. The contacts he developed with workers there were key to the December 2000 victory that brought 600 new members into the IBEW and gave hope to workers organizing throughout the South.

Since the Avondale victory, Local 733 has organized two city police departments, city workers, nursing home and cafeteria workers. "Working in the right-to-work states," says McGill, "forces us to think outside of the box."

McGill’s track record on safety led him to participate in rewriting the National Safety Council publication "Protecting Workers Lives." He also worked on numerous projects for MACOSH, the Maritime Advisory Commitee to OSHA. In 1994 he was awarded the Distinguished Service to Safety Award by the National Safety Council.

A native of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, McGill entered the Job Corps at age 16 at Morganfield, Kentucky, where he obtained his GED and studied electricity. He served as an avionics technician in the U.S. Marines from 1970 to 1974 on the USS Midway.

In 1977, McGill was appointed assistant business manager of Local 733. He served the local continuously for 20 years as chief steward, executive board member and two full terms as business manager, McGill served on the executive board of the Mississippi AFL-CIO and as vice president of the Mississippi Electrical Workers Association. He has taken courses and participated in seminars at University of Little Rock, Georgia Institute of Technology, Jackson State University and the George Meany Center.

Bringing union activism to his local community, McGill served as a board member of the Red Cross and helped coordinate the March of Dimes "Walk America." He joined other unionists in the building of a homeless shelter in Moss Point.

A father of five and grandfather of five with "one on the way", Brother McGill says, " I look forward to my new position and to completing my degree at the George Meany Center in Maryland."

Retired

Tommy G. Maynard

Fourth District IBEW International Representative Tommy Maynard retired April 1, 2005, after a long career as a trade unionist in service to the IBEW.

Brother Maynard, who spent 19 years on the Fourth District staff, was initiated into Norfolk, Virginia, Local 734 in 1971. After a four-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, he became a lineman employed by the federal government on military bases in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. He held nearly every conceivable office in the local, starting with steward and chief steward and eventually becoming vice president, president and business manager. He also served on the executive and examining boards and the welfare and organizing committees.

In 1986, he was appointed International Representative, where he serviced manufacturing, utility, telecommunications and government local unions in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. He specialized in handling arbitrations. Looking back on his career, Maynard said he loved working for the Brotherhood. "It’s a great organization," he said. "I like what it does for people. It’s been a good life."

A native of Virginia, Maynard plans to spend his leisure years fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. The officers, staff and members of the IBEW wish Brother Maynard, his wife, Lynne, three children and eight grandchildren a long and rewarding retirement.

Retired

Steve Moulin

International Representative Steve Moulin retired effective April 1, 2005. As an organizing coordinator for the Seventh District, Brother Moulin assisted in bringing large numbers of members into the Brotherhood. He says, "I just went out and did my job. I met thousands of good, down-to-earth people, a lot of nasty companies and I had a lot of fun."

A native of Osage City, Kansas, Moulin was initiated in Topeka, Kansas, Local 304, achieving journeyman lineman. He was as a member of the joint safety and apprenticeship committees of Local 304. After serving as an executive board member, vice president, president and assistant business manager of the local, Moulin was assigned to the Washington, D.C., International Office in 1982 as an organizer. He led and assisted in campaigns in the manufacturing, utility and telephone branches and among service contract workers.

In 1988, Moulin returned to the Seventh District. On the road averaging over 200 days a year, over a territory covering Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, Moulin says, "We organized utilities, a lot of gas companies, service contract employees and industrial plants like those producing wire harnesses for Detroit." The schedule could be demanding, he says, but when workers at companies like Southwest Gas could be brought under a union contract, it was all worth it.

"Organizing is the lifeblood of the union," says Moulin, adding that even those who don’t have unions in their workplaces gain when organizing drives are won in their surrounding communities.

Looking forward to having more time with his wife, Kathy, after a life on the road, Moulin says, "I’m going to kick back, play some golf and stay out of hotel rooms."

The IBEW wishes Brother Moulin a long and healthy retirement.

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