Hello and welcome to the IBEW Local 480 website.

It has been close to 3 months, at the time of this writing, since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and eastern regions of our state. Our brothers and sisters in southern and central Louisiana were also hit hard by the storm. However, the rebuilding process is now underway on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as well as in the affected areas of Louisiana. Many of our members are working in these areas and are performing their jobs with professionalism and skill that only comes from IBEW training. Local 480 will continue to provide support to these areas as the rebuilding process is expected to continue for some time and actually could take several years.

In the Jackson area we continue to have most of our members working although some jobs are starting to near completion. Still, the work looks like it may hold up for a while longer and there is other work that is out for bid.

As many of you know our membership has adopted the Code of Excellence as one of the tools to be used in our effort to regain some of the market share that has been lost to the non-union contractor. I would like to share with you an instance where the Code of Excellence was applied while negotiating with an out-of state contractor on a job in the Vicksburg area.

The contractor requested several concessions be made before he would bid the job with union labor. But when he was informed of the Code of Excellence program adopted by our Local, the requested concessions were withdrawn. This is just one instance where professionalism on the job has given IBEW members a chance to obtain work that could be lost without this agreement. In another instance, one of our contractors was awarded additional work on a project after the general contractor observed our members working and witnessed for himself their professional attitude and skills. This is obvious proof that positive attitudes and professionlism on the job can be a major factor in getting work for our members!

In closing, I would like to let everyone know that we will be starting COMET classes after the first of the year and also thank the membership for their continued support. Support your Local Union by attending your Union meetings. To our traveling brothers and sisters - Be Safe! And thanks for representing Local 480 the way you have under difficult conditions. Have a safe and happy Holiday Season!

John H. Smith, Jr. Business Manager
IBEW Local 480 Jackson, Mississippi