Hotline, Fall 2011

From the Back Corner
by Michelle Laurie, Local 258 President

First, a very big Merry Christmas and best wishes for a joyful holiday season to all of you and those you love! I hope that 2011 was a year that you can reflect on positively, where you can count more on the plus side than the minus.

As you have seen throughout this issue, we were part of hosting the biggest IBEW event there is – the International Convention – and it is considered to have been a great success. From my perspective, it was wonderful to be able to share the beauty of our part of the world with so many of our brothers and sisters, but the most important aspect of any convention is the ability to have so many like-minded individuals together to discuss (both formally on the convention floor, and informally in the lobbies and over breakfast, lunch or dinner) the workplace and societal issues that matter to working people here and everywhere. We dominated the city for a few days, and that is a reminder that the voice of labour is large and should be loud… sometimes it just needs focus.

Many of you will have been hearing information – some valid, some just rumours – about the future of our school, EITI. The facts, at this point, are that BC Hydro has determined that they will be taking their PLT and other technical training back in-house, and will not be a customer of EITI after next September. Since BC Hydro is still the single largest customer EITI has, this obviously impacts the business. While we in the union have some concerns about BC Hydro’s reasoning around the decision, our major concern is to ensure that our members continue to receive the best possible training, and we will keep that focus front and center going forward. EITI does have business outside of BC Hydro, and we are working with our customers, staff and management teams to establish how that business goes forward. There are difficult decisions ahead, and speaking as the President of the Board of Directors of EITI, I want you to know that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that our members’ training does not suffer as a consequence.

With you, I look forward to a 2012 that brings positive change for working people - keep the faith (now I just sound old) and stay solid!