local3ibew.org | Issue no. 156 | January 2, 2024

A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson

Happy new year to you and your families. I hope you enjoyed the holidays with those dear to you. Now it's time to get to work.

Tom Suozzi, whom we have supported over the years, is a moderate Democrat. We support him not just because he’s a Democrat, but because he is a moderate, common-sense elected representative. We would probably support him even if he was a Republican because he is a moderate. The definition of moderate is “professing or characterized by political or social beliefs that are not extreme.” Right-wing MAGA Republicans are extremist, and left-wing DSA are extremists. Extremists believe in and support extreme ideas, especially in politics. Left or right, their way is the only way. We need moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans to come together to save America from the destructive path we are on. Our Democracy is continuously under attack and our country is badly divided.

We need to compromise and do what is best for the majority of Americans to move us forward. Agree to disagree and understand that we are all entitled to different opinions. Still have respect for those we may not agree with on everything. Give and take, give to get, and compromise on difficult issues to reach common-sense solutions. This is the greatest country in the world, and our values and the rights we enjoy are worth saving. Tom Suozzi is the candidate who emulates all of that. Let’s do all we can to get him elected and send a strong message to the rest of our country that saving AMERICA starts now, with Tom Suozzi being back where he belongs, in Congress, leading the fight to end the gridlock and extremism that is destroying our country.

Due to the expulsion of Republican George Santos from Congress last month, Governor Kathy Hochul has called for a special election to fill the vacant seat in the 3rd Congressional District. We know that our rights, such as being members of a union, are always at risk if the wrong people are elected to represent us in government. The special election is scheduled for Tuesday, February 13th with the early voting period open from Saturday, February 3rd through Sunday, February 11th. Local Union No. 3 has endorsed past Representative, Tom Suozzi, in this race. He also has been endorsed by the Democratic Party. We believe Tom to be the best candidate to represent the interests of union members like us.

Suozzi is the pro-union, pro-worker candidate who will best support working people in Congress. He served three terms in this District, and he has a record of over 30 years of public service. Tom’s grandfather was a member of Local 3 for 50 years. He understands our needs and interests, along with all the constituents of the 3rd Congressional District, and he will serve again admirably. Tom Suozzi will bring with him to Washington, D.C. his common-sense approach to governing. Over and over again, he has rejected the unsettling politics of the extreme factions of both the left in the Democratic Party and the right in the Republican Party. His focus is in the middle just like most of us, and his priorities will be on tough issues like crime, taxes, schools, and energy policy.

The Republican Party has selected Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip. Pilip is the typical Republican candidate with a thin record who will be expected to toe the MAGA party line: anti-worker rhetoric and support for “Right to Work”. Her values and priorities, tied to today's extreme Republican Party, do not and will not line up with the trade union movement. This special election is critical to our strength and future, and there is only one acceptable candidate on February 13th, and that is Tom Suozzi.

Local 3 will be making a major effort over the next six weeks engaging with our members and other IBEW members and union members in New York’s 3rd District. We will need volunteers for phone banks, labor walks, and canvassing. Show up and give an hour or two. Now is the time to get involved and make sure we help ourselves by electing our friends. Vote for Tom Suozzi in the 3rd District on February 13th!

Increased Contributions to the IBEW Political Action Committee (PAC)

Image courtesy of Atlantic Offshore Terminals.

Business Manager Christopher Erikson recently had an opinion article published on SILive.com supporting New York’s ambitious climate and energy goals – including 9 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035 – while stressing the need for union jobs and more investment, specifically at the Arthur Kill Terminal on Staten Island. This site received a federal grant in 2022 to begin construction, but it suffered a setback when it was not included in the State’s most recent round of funding toward renewable energy projects.

“Offshore wind is exactly the kind of high-growth, sustainable, and essential industry union workers are made to support,” Business Manager Erikson writes. Click here to read his op-ed. “We urge the governor to direct her agencies to give Arthur Kill Terminal the funding it, and we, deserve.”

Arthur Kill Terminal is one of a few sites in New York that has been proposed as a staging location for the assembly of wind turbines, nacelles, and towers that will be installed in offshore wind farms in the New York Bight (waters between Long Island and New Jersey) and potentially up and down the U.S. East Coast. This would translate into hundreds if not thousands of jobs for IBEW members and other unions for years to come. Unfortunately, none of these sites are operational yet, causing New York’s first operational utility-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind, to use machinery assembled out of state. Another round of offshore wind solicitation awards by the State is expected to be announced early in the new year.

On National Wreaths Across America Day (Saturday, December 16th), the Veterans Club of Local 3 volunteered to lay wreaths at the eternal resting places of military veterans in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn. Last year, Wreaths Across America placed 2.7 million wreaths at over 3,700 locations nationwide and abroad. The second day of this two-part tradition is Saturday, January 20th, when volunteers from Local 3 and the community will go retrieve this year’s wreaths. All are welcome to participate.

As we celebrate the holidays and enter the new year, please remember those who came before us and made the sacrifices to build our union and our country into the greatest in the world.

The world-famous New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square is a union job! Local 3 IBEW Sign Division members with union signatory employer AMA Sign & Electric were ready when the clock struck midnight at One Times Square! Have a happy and healthy new year!

Keep on tagging @lu3ibew in posts and stories on Instagram and Facebook to share updates for and by the best electricians in the world!

General Membership Meeting - Thursday, January 11, 5:00 p.m. Electrical Industry Center Auditorium, 67-35 Parsons Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11365.

EWMC 34th National Leadership Conference - January 10-14. Atlanta, GA.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Monday, January 15.

Special Election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District - Tuesday, February 13. Early Voting begins on February 3 and goes through February 11.