Business Manager’s Message — December 2023
New Year. New Leadership. New Vision.
Dear Brothers and Sisters of IBEW 11,
I am honored and humbled to serve as your new Business Manager and Financial Secretary. Thank you for entrusting me with this position.
I don’t take this duty lightly, because I know I am working on behalf of more than just the IBEW 11 membership. Each one of our more than 9,000 electricians has a family that relies on them. Taking responsibility for the well-being of everyone that loves an IBEW 11 member is part of what I do now, and I promise you that I will strive to live up to that high bar.
During my decades in the leadership of this Local I’ve been blessed to work with, and learn from, two Business Managers, first under Brother Marvin Kropke, as an Organizer and Business Agent, and then under Brother Joel Barton, as his Senior Assistant Business Manager and Director of Organizing.
In my first week as Business Manager, I’ve been thinking a lot more about a piece of advice Marvin gave me years and years ago. He said, ‘Robert, you can’t just take the praise. You’ve got to take the arrows also at times.’
I’m ready to take arrows for our membership. I take this job on because I love this Local. I love what it has provided for me and my family, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that the decisions made on behalf of you, the members, are in your best interest. Because it means as much to my family as it does to yours.
When I arrived home on the day of my swearing in, my son called out to me. “Congratulations, Pops.” He paused a moment and said, “Hey, you know you’re the first Latino to hold that position.”
His noticing that meant a lot to me as a father. I’m proud to be the first Latino Business Manager of one of the biggest union Locals in the country.
It’s something I never could have imagined when I set off on my path as a journeyman wireman electrician 32 years ago. In that time, I’ve held nearly every position one can hold in our Local, from Apprentice Instructor to jobsite General Foreman. For years now, I’ve represented our union to the outside world on important boards and committees. My deep experience has prepared me to lead IBEW Local 11 into the future.
Lastly, I want to thank Brother Joel Barton for his decades of service, and especially for his leadership at the top of IBEW 11 over the past five and half years. We’ve been talking about and preparing for this transition for a long time; I am proud of all that we accomplished together.
At the IBEW, we are builders, and as I step into this position, it’s my duty to build on the shoulders of all the previous leaders who have ever held this position. I will take the best of what each previous leader had to offer and keep building our union, higher, stronger, better.
As your new Business Manager, it’s my pleasure to wish you Happy Holidays, and I’m excited for IBEW Local 11 to start a new year with new leadership and a new vision.
In Solidarity,
Robert Corona
Business Manager/Financial Secretary
