1 min read

Season 3, Episode 159

Linemen in high demand as IBEW ramps up recruitment efforts

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Guest Name:


Brian Erwin

Guest Website:


www.ibew647.org

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)  Local 647 Business Manager/Financial Secretary Brian Erwin joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed why highly skilled linemen are in high demand, and how additional recruitment efforts can fill the need. 

Local 647 represents about 1,000 contract bargaining unit members, including 700 dues paying members and roughly 300 fair share riders. The Local jurisdiction covers over 21,000 square miles throughout Arkansas.

Erwin explained there is an increased demand for outside linemen due to a number of factors. Both California and Texas require public utility companies to systematically upgrade their electrical grids in the face of climate change, which causes Arkansas linemen to leave the state for better pay and work opportunities, he said. Baby boomers are increasingly retiring, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he added. Furthermore, not enough young people are encouraged to go into the trades as an alternative to college.

Erwin then detailed recruitment efforts to attract more young people to join apprenticeships and other efforts to grow Local 647.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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