Moment of Silence for Local 457 member Michael Granger (Meter Service, Cheshire). Mike's service will be held on Wednesday, June 14, 10:30am at St. Gregory's Church in Bristol, then burial of his ashes at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Bristol, followed by a Celebration of Life at Pequabuck Golf Club in Terryville.

Mike was a member for 24 years and was a proud Organizer of the IBEW 420-457 Annual Golf Tournament benefiting the Connecticut Children’s Hospital.

Emily M. Piasecki, 33, of Colchester, CT passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, January 17, 2023 in Killingly, CT. She was the nurturing mother of two children and beloved daughter of Roger S. Piasecki of Higganum, CT, Ramona M. Rousseau (Piasecki) & Kenneth Robidoux of Wethersfield, CT, and her brother Evan J. Piasecki of Southington, CT. Click here to continue reading.

The Biden Administration and Congress have won a historic achievement for IBEW members and their families with the Inflation Reduction Act. The enormous energy and tax package will put IBEW members to work in family-sustaining jobs for the secure, self-reliant grid of the future.

President Biden signed the bill into law on Aug. 16. President Biden, who spoke at the International Convention in May, is now following through on his promises to support organized labor and strengthen working families with this legislation.

“This historic legislation delivers funding to support lower carbon energy projects that will create new union jobs, lower energy costs and curb the climate crisis, and middle-class Americans will see no increase in taxes,” International President Lonnie R. Stephenson said. “Most importantly, it ties prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements to tax credits for lower carbon energy generation like nuclear, solar and wind. It also puts stiff penalties for violators that choose the low road into law. We’ve really never seen anything like it when it comes to protecting union workers.”



“He made it clear that a pension is a promise, and as president, he would do whatever it takes to protect the retirement security of union workers across the nation,” Jacobs said at the South Lawn gathering of 5,000 people. “He also promised to be a jobs president by putting blue-collar America to work rebuilding our economy. Two years later, I think we can all agree: promises were made, and promises were kept.”

Among the highlights of the inflation reduction bill is a tax credit to make it easier for Americans to purchase electric cars. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation is responsible for  27% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. IBEW members are already building approximately 500,000 new electric vehicle charging stations from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted last year.

Other incentives in the bill will boost traditional forms of energy generation that employ thousands of IBEW members, including nuclear and carbon capture on coal and gas power plants, along with a new tax credit for developing solar and wind energy components.

For instance, nuclear power plants – currently the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy and a leading employer of IBEW members – will be eligible for an estimated $30 billion in tax credits over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The law also leans into the construction of electrical transmission lines and the domestic production of transformers and solar panels. It also carries Davis-Bacon prevailing wage law and apprenticeship requirements on tax credits for renewable energy projects like solar and wind, industries that have remained stubbornly anti-union.



Other highlights include:

• Historic investments in clean energy infrastructure, domestic energy production and domestic Buy America incentives
• $7,500 rebates to purchase EVs for the IBEW-built charging network
• Extends the life of current nuclear reactors
• Grants for the construction of electrical transmission lines
• Expands commercial development of carbon capture utilization and storage
• Development of battery storage, hydrogen production technology
• Accelerates domestic production of transformers and electrical grid components
• Invests in disadvantaged coal-dependent communities who are too often left behind

Click here for more from IBEW.org.

The opportunity to bask in the glow of appreciation for working people does not come often, particularly in the presence of high-ranking elected officials, including the President of the United States.

But that’s where Duluth, Minn., Local 242 President Kyle Bukovich found himself on March 2 at the University of Wisconsin-Superior with President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith (both from Minnesota), and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.



“It was great to be in the same room to be with so many legislators and elected officials who fully support unions and the working class,” said Bukovich, who was joined by Duluth Local 31 Business Representative Kristin Renskers. “It doesn’t happen a lot in this day and age.



The day after the State of the Union Speech, President Biden’s trip to the Duluth area highlighted the assistance the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will bring to the port city on the shores of Lake Superior, where the massive 61-year-old Blatnik bridge hangs in deteriorating condition. One of the two main bridges that connects Duluth and Superior, Wis., the Blatnik is 1.5 miles long and rises 120 feet from the edge of Lake Superior over the cities’ twin ports.



Bukovich, who is also president of Northern Wisconsin Building Trades, said he expects Local 242 to win work replacing underground utility lines, upgrading street lighting and traffic light system, and building out the electric vehicle infrastructure. This spring, the first cohort of Local 242 apprentices will graduate with the newly required Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) credential.