IBEW LOCAL 108 Press Release- July 22, 2017

IBEW was founded on safety. As Business Manager of IBEW Local 108, my most important responsibility is to help in insuring that employees have a safe environment to work in, and that they go home at the end of their shift.

It is the goal of Local 108 to do all that we can do to see that Tampa Electric (TECO) never has another fatality. We cannot do this alone. The company must listen to its employees and work with us. Just saying that safety remains TECO’s number one priority is not enough!  We must walk the talk, even when doing so puts safety above profits. Employees that have a safety concern, and refuse to do what they consider to be an unsafe act, should not be terminated! The current safety mindset that is ingrained in TECO’s corporate culture must change.

It is Local 108’s goal to change the company’s safety culture. What we have now is inadequate and unacceptable. This recent incident and the company’s historical safety record painfully illustrates this.

Local 108 is requesting that management work with the Union and their employees in changing the safety culture throughout the company. We will not be successful on our own, but we will be relentless in our efforts.

We demand that management listen to employee safety concerns and work with us in addressing them, even when adequately addressing these concerns puts safety before profits.  We will not be silent. We will not be ignored.  We demand to be heard.  We demand change, and we demand that the Company work with us.   Prudent risk taking must stop.

Our prayers and thoughts are with the injured, their families and friends, and with the families and friends of those that have lost their lives.   

Local 108 is requesting that those who desire to assist the families that were impacted by this tragedy contribute to the TECO Family Relief Find, and encourage the Company to match all contributions.  Special thanks to all of the brothers and sisters at the FEWA and Fifth District Progress meetings that contributed on behalf of these families.

Doug Bowden

Business Manager

IBEW Local 108