APPOINTED — Drew Stover, Atlanta Local 84’s business manager for the last six years, has been appointed utility director. He replaces Donnie Colston, who retired effective April 1.
“I was floored when asked,” Stover said. “It came out of nowhere. I was shocked and surprised, but honored beyond words, to be considered for something like this.
“I’ve never said no to the IBEW,” he added. “Everything I have, I owe to the IBEW. If someone like [International President Kenneth W. Cooper] sees fit to ask me to do something, my answer is yes.”
A journeyman lineman with more than 26 years in the trade, Brother Stover is a native of Auburn, Ga., once a small rural town and now a fast-growing suburb northeast of Atlanta. He was hired by Georgia Power as a helper in 1998 and joined Local 84 the following year, when he began his lineman apprenticeship.
But in a sense, his career started long before that. Roger Stover, his father, was a lineman and an IBEW member for 19 years before moving into management at Georgia Power.
On some days, especially during the summer and when his mother was busy, the younger Stover would accompany dad to the company’s operating headquarters. Even at the age of 6 or 7, he got a closeup view of the work his father and his colleagues performed.
He attended trade school for two years after high school graduation before following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a lineman himself. He quickly realized he made the right decision.
“Oh, man, I loved everything about it,” he said. “The camaraderie, the teamwork, just the sense of accomplishment. We get our flags raised a lot for our work after storms and things like that, but the day-to-day new construction and maintenance work is just as rewarding, if not more so. When you ride by something 10 years later and you say, ‘Me and my crew built that,’ it’s just rewarding, knowing it’s the line you built and the entire economy is relying on it.”
Stover was appointed as shop steward in 2003, not long after topping out. He was elected to Local 84’s executive board in 2013 and president in 2016. He was elected business manager in 2019 and was reelected three years later.
“He has a passion for the trade and a passion for organized labor,” said Tim Ballew, who worked as an assistant business manager under Stover and succeeded him as business manager.
“Our local has employees in utility and outside construction, and he had the ability to connect with every member, no matter their involvement,” Ballew added. “He cared about everyone he represented.”
Stover said he’s blessed to have served as business manager over the last few years and be a part of improving the collective bargaining agreements for all of local 84’s bargaining units, plus helping to secure some internal organizing wins.
He’s particularly proud that Local 84 grew its market share among outside contractors from 7% to 24% during his tenure. That’s somewhat surprising because Georgia, like all states in the Deep South, has a so-called right-to-work law that lets workers enjoy the benefits of union contracts without contributing to their cost, as well as a long history of hostility toward unions.
But Local 84 has jurisdiction across the entire state because of its longtime relationship with Georgia Power. It also has members employed by Southern Nuclear and two electric cooperatives.
That proved key in onboarding additional signatory outside contractors, he said.
“We already were representing the internal members at Georgia Power, Southern Nuclear and a couple of EMCs,” Stover said. “Working with those relationships, we tried to create a more collaborative way of doing things and identifying those in management who could be our allies and were willing to work together.
“We latched on to those folks and showed them what our outside group could be, and at the same time, worked to increase opportunities and improve the standard for our utility membership” he added.
Stover said he’s assuming his new duties at an ideal time, even with the challenging federal political climate for unions. Demands on the electrical grid are higher than ever and will only increase.
“With the explosion in load growth, it offers unbelievable organizing opportunities for us,” he said. “We’ve got a tremendous future in the utility sector.
“Even with the political changeover that took place, the overwhelming majority of this country still has a favorable opinion of labor unions,” he added. “We’ve got to latch on to that, double down our organizing and recruiting efforts and give every worker the same opportunities we’ve had.”
Stover and his wife, Brooke, will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in November.
The officers and staff congratulate Brother Stover on his appointment and wish him much success in his new position.
