Electrical Disconnect

Walking to my car late one afternoon recently I was impressed by the newly-activated sculptural light show atop the Lumiere Casino and Hotels. Below the light display hung a banner several stories high reading "Lighting Up the St. Louis Night". The hotel is a showplace of the electrical industry's skill and technology.

How ironic that the hotel/casino project, also the subject of a cover story in this issue was Ground Zero in the current acrimonious battle between the Carpenters and the Electricians unions. The motorized blinds and furniture lighting at the hotel were only the stalking horse for a larger question: How will the turf be divided on this area's major projects going forward?

Both CNR Editor Peter Downs and I have spent a lot of time speaking with all of the parties involved. To the credit of those involved this confl ict has not played out in the media. Some in the industry believe the issue will "resolve itself". I am skeptical of this stance only because the current scenario has a lot of significant disconnects involved.

There are disconnects with the truth:

There have been allegations that the stop work orders on the project were nothing more than thinly-veiled eff orts by the (union member) electrical inspectors to carve out jurisdictional turf for their fellow union brothers. The other side of the story says that the work stoppages were for clear code violations, one of them flagrant. According to some of our sources the motorized blinds are mandated by the electrical code for installation by licensed electricians. An attempt by the carpenters to have the units modified at the factory did not change that requirement. According to some sources, the furniture lighting fixtures were clearly marked with red labels stating that they were not suitable for contact with wood. The installers were apprised of that fact, our sources said, but installed the light fixtures anyway, resulting in the stop work order. What is the truth?

Terry Nelson of the Carpenters' District Council told the IEC contractors that he had the blessing and funding of his international union. Representatives of the international have told some of our sources that Nelson had applied for a training grant and that the union had not sanctioned the formation of a new carpenters' local devoted to electrical work. What is the truth?

Is this an effort to modify the licensing requirements for certain types of work? If that effort is in the best interests of public safety and consumer value, wouldn't a straightforward, truthful approach be a better way to go?

There are disconnects with longstanding relationships:

The day I wrote this column I attended my 30th Electrical Board Annual Christmas Mixer. In the room at the Chase Hotel were over 1,000 persons — contractors, union representatives, designers, association executives, manufacturers' reps — all connected by their working partnerships in an industry that dates in this town to the 1904 World's Fair.

Ours is an industry based on relationships. Our industry works because team members cover one another's backs. To suggest, as one association executive did, that what Terry Nelson has proposed is simply one more alternative to IBEW and non-union electrical contractors totally ignores the collateral damage that these sorts of turf grabs inflict.

When I was growing up in the '50s and '60s my dad, the founder of this magazine, was a subcontractor who installed and maintained powered entrance doors and parking gates. From almost the beginning of the business in 1951 he ran composite crews of electricians and carpenters who literally worked side by side with one another. Remember that these were the "bad old days" of St. Louis unions. The guys who worked for my dad realized that having electricians and carpenters working side-by-side (frequently one of each would ride out on service calls in the same truck. They worked that way because it was the only way that the company could get the job done profitably and protect their future employment. Our industry needs to resolve the current disconnects that disregard truth and devalue relationships and reconnect with honoring the common good and delivering value to the consumer.

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