ECA News & Events Update
TOMORROW:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training for ECA Contractors
Webinar #3 - November 30th @ 1:oopm on Zoom
Session 3 Topic: Overcoming Judgement

Tuesday, November 30th will be the third of four quarterly webinars as part of ECA's year long training initiative on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This session will focus on "Overcoming Judgement".

An important element of diversity is “open awareness”. Open awareness refers to a quality of consciousness that is not evaluative or actively shaped by pre-existing ideas or intentions, but is fully receptive to allowing the experience to simply occur “as it is”. In this workshop, open awareness is introduced by addressing the evaluative nature of the mind. While open awareness involves non-judgment, most of our daily awareness is clouded by countless judgments and evaluations. By becoming aware of these judgments, an important obstacle of open awareness is removed. In this workshop, participants experience the judgmental nature of their minds and learn about the problematic aspects of judgments.

ECA Accredited Members and their employees are welcome to participate in this free program. If you missed any of the previous webinars, you can watch them at any time online here. You will also find the Diversity Toolbox Talks and Training Activities for your teams to do in house on this webpage.
Powering Chicago Seeks Electrical Contractors to feature in upcoming Marketing and News Activities
Powering Chicago would like to feature your Company in upcoming news and marketing initiatives!
Utilize this FREE opportunity to showcase your work and grow your business.
Stories can be about your Company, a project you are working on, a charitable activity you participate in, a new technology you are using, and much more.

Visit the Powering Chicago website to see what our team has done to highlight union electrical contractors in Chicago.

Contact Carrie Spaeth at ECA to learn more.

(Video to left: example of a recent Contractor story on Hy-Power Electric)

We are still accepting reservations for the....

President's Party & Holiday Celebration
Saturday, December 11, 2021
The Godfrey Hotel Chicago, IO Godfrey Rooftop Lounge
Enjoy the I|O Godfrey, Chicago’s largest and only year-round rooftop lounge, decorated as a magical winter wonderland this holiday season. Dance the night away to a Chicago home town favorite "Maggie Speaks", and a surprise special guest appearance
you won't want to miss!

The Chicago Electrical Industry 2021 Annual Homeless Children’s Christmas Party, 30 years strong.
pile_of_presents.jpg
The Chicagoland Association Education Foundation (CEAEF) is sponsoring the 30th Annual Christmas Party for the children and their families at Chicago area homeless shelters. Last year our celebration took on a different format due to the Covid pandemic. Santa and his elves drove to six different shelters and showered the children with gifts in a very tough year thanks to your generous donations.
 
To best align with Chicago Department of Public Health recommendations and to keep the shelter residents' safety as our priority, we will be repeating the format of 2020 for this year’s event. We are excited to celebrate the amount of joy this event has shared over THREE DECADES! We will continue this important Electric Association tradition with Santa and his elves visiting shelters to deliver toys to the children, gifts for the shelters, and spread some holiday cheer.

Powering Chicago’s Holidays Campaign
Powering Chicago Kicks Off Holiday Lights Campaign with Giving
Tuesday Donation to Local Domestic Violence Organization - Connections for Abused Women and their Children
As the presenting sponsor for the City of Chicago’s Christmas Tree in Millennium Park, Powering Chicago knows how much a stunning holiday lights display can fill all who see it with holiday spirit. That’s why this holiday season, we’re once more asking our communities to submit photos of their own holiday lights displays during the Powering Chicago’s Holidays campaign. New this year is our partnership with Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC) families. As part of this partnership, Stephanie Love-Patterson, CAWC’s executive director, joined Powering Chicago to flip the switch at the City of Chicago’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 19. 

From November 30 through December 21, we’re asking anyone with a holiday lights display they’re proud of to take a picture, post it on social media and include the hashtags #HolidayLightsChi and #LightsForCAWC. Throughout the month, we’ll share the photos on Powering Chicago’s social media feeds and tag CAWC to encourage donations in support of their important mission.
Members are invited to take advantage of these free upcoming webinars through our Employee Assistance Program
Wednesday, December 8th: "The Time and Stress Management Tool Kit"

Wednesday, December 15th: "10 Truths about Life in a Stepfamily"
ECA Members may log-in to the interactive work/life web portal for information on a variety of topics. Webinars are available at any time of day and our mobile app allows employees to access services such as counseling and work life resources right from the palm of their hand.
NECA Safety Update
On October 9, 2021, the NECA Board of Governors approved a revision to the NECA Standing Policy # 19, “Safety Programs and Safe Workers”. The name of this standing policy on safety was revised to “Safety and Health” to emphasize the need to address health related concerns in a company safety management system and address holistically the risk management of an organization. In addition to providing a safe working environment for workers, this policy also reminds contractors that elimination of the hazards should be the first priority, and normal and best practice, whenever achievable.

Other topics highlighted in the update (link below) include:
-- New Information for Federal Contractors Engaged in Utility Areawide Agreements
-- Be Prepared for Cold & Flu Season
-- Learn How to Conduct Self-Inspections
-- 2021 NECA Officer and Overhead Personnel Compensation Study Deadline is Dec. 3
-- Registration for MCAA's 2022 Safety Directors' Conference IS NOW OPEN!
-- NECA Safety Leadership Summit On-Demand Content

145 Hour CSC Certification Course
The 145 Hour course will begin next week Tuesday, December 7th at 5:00 p.m.  Please click the link for registration information.
DOB Self-Certification Class
The Chicago Department of Buildings is pleased to announce that their next Self-Certification Training Class will be held January 18-20, 2022 and they are now accepting applications. The Training Class is for both first time and renewing self-certification professionals (details below). If there are available seats, other industry professionals may apply to audit the training class. Please click the link for registration information.
Chicago Building Congress 2022 Merit Awards
Enter Your Construction Project!

The Chicago Building Congress Merit Awards Committee invites CBC members and non-members to submit entries for the CBC's 2022 Merit Awards competition. This program recognizes the most outstanding construction projects from the past three years in the Chicagoland area and surrounding counties. Learn more...
CISCO Annual Scholarships Available
CISCO has begun to accept applications for its long-standing Annual Scholarship Awards Program. The applications for these different categories can be found on CISCO’s website/homepage at www.cisco.org. The three scholarship program categories are: 1) Four-year college scholarships for high school seniors; 2) Two-year awards for seniors planning on attending a community college; and 3) Two-year continuing education awards to union members or contractor employees.
The deadline to submit the applications is Friday, February 18, 2022. Interested students may email the completed applications, or send in the mail. For more information, call CISCO at (630) 472-9411.
REMINDER: 
Contract Language Concerning Work Performed on Christmas Day 2021 and New Year's Day 2022.
Christmas Day 2021 and New Year's Day 2022 both fall on a Saturday. Listed below for your review is the contract language from the “A,” “C,” and “R” agreements concerning pay if an electrician works on a holiday. Work performed on a holiday is paid at double the straight time of pay. To clarify, if work is performed on Friday, December 24, 2021 and/or Friday, December 31, 2021, the regular straight time of pay is required, as these are not holidays. More Information here...
NECA Government Affairs Update (11/19/21)
Please click on the link below for the most recent legislative update from NECA. The update includes information regarding the recently signed Infrastructure Bill.
NECA Industry Innovation (11/29/21)
Please click on the link below for the most recent "NECA Industry Innovation" update. The update includes information regarding the Solar Energy Market / trends in the industry.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Webinars & Member News
EAP solutions are available via on demand telephonic support and through video counseling, mobile app, work/life web portal and chat functionality.

ECA Members may log-in to the interactive work/life web portal for information on a variety of topics. Webinars are available at any time of day and our mobile app allows employees to access services such as counseling and work life resources right from the palm of their hand.

COVID-19 Resources for ECA members:
Stay up to date on the latest changes for our Industry including news releases, legislation and Government mandates, workplace safety and preparation guidelines, OSHA alerts, and more that affect electrical contractors in Chicago and Cook County.
 
SAVE THE DATES

November 30, 2021
Zoom Webinar #3


December 11, 2021
The Godfrey Hotel, Chicago