By Eileen Purcell, IBEW 1245 Organizer Redding retiree Mike Grandmain, a long term member of IBEW 1245, continues to be the leading standard bearer of IBEW 1245 Veteran’s Group in Redding, Ca. The Veterans’ Group launched in late 2013 and is a member-driven initiative. Committee members from Lompoc and Fresno to Sacramento, Redding, Eureka and […]
Oakland – Vice President Joe Biden joined IBEW 1245 Business Manager Tom Dalzell, PG&E CEO Tony Earley, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and 15 students in PG&E’s job training program, PowerPathway, on April 10 to highlight the importance of training and hiring America’s veterans. The event, held at the Oakport Service Center in Oakland, included a […]
US Navy 1984-1992 Aircraft Engine Mechanic, Miramar, CA I served for eight years in the United States Navy as an aircraft engine mechanic (AD). Most of my time was spent at NAS Miramar, in San Diego California. Being a part of the armed forces helped to mold me into the person I am today, hard […]
US Navy/ Seabees, 1982-1988 (active and reserve duty) Construction Electrician, Port Hueneme CA / Various Locations I think that graduating from boot camp and finishing “A” school were the highlights of my service. Boot Camp was the long, tough (and sometimes humiliating) process that transformed me from troubled young man to a person that would […]
Last fall, a handful of IBEW 1245 military veterans came together to try and make a change for these underserved vets, and the union’s new Veterans Group was born. The “band of brothers and sisters” decided early on that they wanted to go above and beyond the sorts of things that other vet groups do […]
Erick Varela says eleven years in the United States Army taught him this: Lead by example and never quit. These lessons were put to the test when he left the Army, Varela told the IBEW 1245 Advisory Council during its summer meeting. “I came back to a housing market that had tanked. I walked into my former employer […]
Government and independent reports show that the unemployment rate for U.S. veterans in 2013 was higher than for non-veterans from similar age, educational and economic backgrounds. How can union members give veterans a hand? This was the question the newly formed IBEW 1245 Veteran’s Group asked themselves as they reconvened for their second steering committee […]
Active and retired veterans from IBEW 1245’s membership and staff met at Weakley Hall on Nov. 14 to launch an IBEW 1245 veterans’ group. Brainstorming the new group’s mission and structure were IBEW 1245 members Jordan Bean, (1SG); Jeremy Carlin, 1SG, US Army (ret.); Walter Carmier, SSG (ret.); Casey Salkauskas, MM2(SS) USN; Josiah Sanders, Sgt, […]