By Eric Wolfe
Photos by John Storey
I.B.E.W. hands for Summit Line Construction were putting in 12- hour days, seven days a week in June, racing to meet a deadline for folding the existing Falcon-Gonder 345 kV transmission line into Robinson Substation, about 20 miles west of Ely, Nevada.
The Summit crews were stringing wire on newly-built H-frame steel monopoles, while a short distance away N.V. Energy transmission crews were working on another part of the 345 kV line, which will be stepped up to 500 kV at the Robinson Sub for a journey south to the Las Vegas area.
The project is part of the Southwest Local 1245 Business Rep Richard Ingle Lineman Jeff Utz, Summit Line Kevin Kamakani Jr., Summit Line Intertie Project (S.W.I.P.), an effort to increase grid reliability by providing access to a larger pool of load and resources.
The long hours can cramp your social life. A shirt worn by one crew member sums it up like this: “Eat, sleep, work, repeat.” But the overtime looks good on the paycheck. “They’re going to have enough money to burn a wet mule,” says I.B.E.W. Local 1245 Business Rep Richard Ingle, who visited the Summit crews in early June.
Red Book
The work may be hard, but at the end of the day the I.B.E.W. agreement makes sure you get what was agreed to.
“We’ve got a red book that we go by,” says Jeff Utz, a Summit journeymen lineman. “That is our safety rules. We’ve got our breaks, we’ve got our lunches, our overtime, our double time.” Utz has worked the other side of the fence.“
On the non-union side of the business, you have no say. They can fire you when they want to fire you for any reason they want to.” Utz, a third generation lineman, doesn’t mince words when he talks about the role of the I.B.E.W. in his life.
“It is my whole life, I.B.E.W. Our benefits, our insurance—it’s my job. It supports my family
You hear much the same thing from Aaron Harsy, a journeyman with 16 years in the I.B.E.W. “The union provides safety in the workplace, provides us the benefits and pay we deserve, and backs you up if a contractor tries to manipulate the contract. The union provides us with our insurance and our retirement.”
Harsay, who got lineman training in the Navy, says he’s doing exactly what he wants to be doing. “You can’t do anything more enjoyable than this.”
Apprentice Kevin Kamakani, Jr., who hails from Ontario, CA, says being on the road so much can be a little stressful. “I may well not be home for the last three years of my apprenticeship,” he says. But he’s not about ready to turn his back on the lineman’s life.
“I love it—this is a dream come true for me,” he says. Older linemen may get used to the spectacular vistas that come with line work, but Kamakani still appreciates the view up there. “When the sun’s setting you see the flames all across the desert,” he says.
Kamakani’s been in the trade for just three years, but that’s plenty long enough to understand the role of the I.B.E.W.
“The union is for protection of workers—for safety, to make sure you have a life-long career, and protecting your rights.”
