When St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Local 2330 recently signed its first-ever agreement covering electrical work on an offshore oil platform, it was another sign that brighter days lie ahead for the IBEW in this Atlantic province.

“It’s a few members on a small scope, but it’s a start to bigger things to come,” Local 2330 Business Manager James Martin said of the lucrative labour agreement with Cenovus West White Rose. Negotiated with help from First District International Vice President Russ Shewchuk, the agreement encompasses offshore and onshore work performed by the IBEW and other building trades unions. “This would not have happened if our members did not stick together.”

Martin also credits this strong sense of brotherhood for helping Local 2330 emerge recently from an IBEW-​imposed trusteeship.

In 2018, members brought concerns about the local’s financial situation to their recently elected — and mostly new — executive board. A year later, following an investigation, the IBEW’s International Executive Council concluded that there was sufficient cause to place Local 2330 under trusteeship, which granted representatives of the International Office authority to temporarily take control of the local while conducting further investigations and audits.

First District International Representatives Paul Dolsen and Cordell Cole were appointed trustees to help the local’s leaders get things quickly sorted out. The process, though, wound up lasting nearly six years, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID really ground everything to a halt for so long, and it was hard to get things accomplished,” said Cole, who services construction locals in Atlantic Canada.

Heading into the trusteeship, Local 2330’s members had been working steadily, with several infrastructure megaprojects underway throughout the island. But as those big jobs were completed, the local’s employment outlook began to sour. A decline in the membership rolls followed, from about 3,000 electricians to nearly 1,100.

“Our job, then, was building back the trust of any electrical worker on the island who wants to be in the IBEW,” Dolsen said.

Resolving the existing members’ concerns was just as crucial. “Trusteeship was a team effort with our executive board and members,” said Martin, who was elected business manager in 2023. “We all had to get involved.”

Dolsen said the trustees kept the local’s board and members up to date. “We showed them all the bills, and we gave them training to get them up to speed,” he said.

Working with officials from Local 2330, the First District and the International Office, the trusteeship team logged important achievements such as negotiating a significant pay increase into one of the local’s bargaining agreements. The team also gained members’ approval of a temporary dues increase, and it helped Local 2330 hire a full-time organizer. (See the June 2023 Electrical Worker to learn more.)

With trusteeship now firmly behind his local, “we’re having great successes in our organizing,” said Martin, who noted that several major campaigns were underway across the province as this article was prepared.

“There’s not just one person doing it,” he said. “We have a whole team here, from our receptionist to payroll to dispatching, our organizer, our whole executive board, our members and the International Office.”

Martin said there are some exciting new job opportunities for Local 2330 members on the horizon, including hydroelectric and other infrastructure work and construction of a new hospital and a prison. The local also has been boosting IBEW membership opportunities by offering contractors voluntary recognition agreements.

It’s been working hard to expand its provincial presence, too, Cole said. “Not only are they reaching out in the commercial market, but now they’re starting to delve into the residential sector,” he said.

Martin is fully confident his local is ready for all that work and more. “We’re figuring that by 2027, Local 2330 is going to be at peak employment,” Martin said. “We’ll have a need for probably hundreds of travelers.”

Shewchuk congratulated Local 2330, especially “for keeping your foot on the gas organizing.”

“Great things happen when we all share the same goals and determination,” he said.

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