District 5 Report — February 2021

Hello Brothers & Sisters

With the COVID-19 vaccine becoming more available, hopefully we will all be vaccinated in the near future. While we are experiencing a slight lull at this time in the High Desert, work will begin to pick up. We will see calls coming in for CSI Electric at the new Battery Storage project and Rosendin Electric at the new solar job in Lancaster. Lockheed is going to install a new 25 MW solar array in Palmdale which we should see bringing calls into the Hall.

There is a push for our members to take online Journeyman courses not only for your own knowledge and to keep your certs up to date but to keep your State License from expiring. Please contact the ETI for further information.

Our Unit 5 meetings are the second Tuesday of every month at 5 PM via zoom. You should receive an e-mail with information on how to log on. Thank you again to our officers and members for all their hard work and help in our many endeavors.

Take care and stay safe. Please follow all CDC guidelines. It is an honor to serve you. God Bless the IBEW.

Mitch Klein

District 5 Organizing Report – February 2021

In District 5 there are quite a few community workforce agreements in place that keep our members working in the Antelope Valley. The non-union presence recently has been mainly in the hotels. I have been working with business development to come up with a plan to secure this work for our members in the future.

The non-union is also currently doing 2 tilt up projects out here as well. One is Power Source Electric which has the core and shell for one tilt up. The other is unknown as they are only in the grading phase, but no one on that site has information on the other subs. We are looking to see if the build out has been awarded for the one tilt up to see if our contractors may have an opportunity to bid on it.

On a positive note, a contractor that we organized roughly a year ago (Christianbelle Electric) is building a medical facility in Palmdale and is looking to bid more work in the Antelope Valley area to bring more work to our membership.

Alton Wilkerson
District 5 Organizer