Sound & Communications Report – June 2022

Who are we?  

We are brothers, sisters, apprentices, journeyman, ethnically and culturally diverse, educated, spirited, creative, mentors, mentees, the list goes on. Looking at this partial list we are not all the same. We do not all think and act alike.  

I was once an apprentice, graduating to a full-fledged sound journeyperson, taking on the job of organizer and am now the sound business agent. The positions I have taken on throughout my career have opened my eyes to a much larger world within our trade.  

I have always expressed to people that we do not live in a utopian world, but at least we have the mentality and the heart to strive for one. You may have knowledge and expertise in one scope of work or many. No matter; that knowledge should be shared and utilized to help progress and advance our work within our trade and Industry. Share that knowledge and do it with respect, consideration, and with honor in regards to safety.  

A wise man once told me while serving in our military that there was no ethnic diversity. You were one color, and that one color was the color of your uniform. That brotherhood/sister hood is what was drilled into their everyday thought process. Although we are not in battle in a literal sense, we too can take that same concept and apply it to our unionism and to our everyday life on the job. While we are at work and sport the IBEW logo on our shirts and cars, we should share one common goal: to represent ourselves well and have a good work ethic while executing quality work. Defending our Union, our scope of work and each other, is and should be a way of life.  

Unit 9 may not have a color, but our name should be symbolic of that same idea.  

Who are we? We are Sound & Communications members, representing The IBEW brotherhood. 

Christine Austria-Lozoya