IBEW hopes to unionize solar installers
San Francisco Business Times - by Ron Leuty
Local 6 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is making another attempt to plug into the growth of solar power.
The union will try to organize solar panel installation companies in the Bay Area, said Tim Donovan, Local 6 assistant business manager. Getting more contractors to use electricians only makes sense, he said, because those solar systems must plug in to traditional electricial systems before winning approval from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for a state rebate.
The IBEW, as much as any business, wants to capitalize on the rebate-fed growth of solar panels, Donovan said. For the union, that means creating more card-carrying IBEW members.
"We're interested in organizing any contractor that needs a skilled workforce," Donovan said. "One of the issues coming up now is that there are a lot of mom-and-pop solar companies that don't have the qualified, trained electricians to do solar. We're trying to educate those contractors to their responsibilities."
Many standard residential projects cost less than $25,000 to install, with rebates of $5,000 or more.
"There's a growing curve of installations in the next few years," he said. "There's a lot of work to be done, and we want our contractors to go after that work."
Several solar power system installation companies contacted for this story, including Los Gatos-based Akeena Solar, one of the nation's largest solar system installers, said they have not yet been the focus of union-organizing attempts or heard of any attempt to organize.
David Hochschild, executive director of PV Now, a coalition of photovoltaic companies aimed at increasing the U.S. market for solar electricity, said the IBEW effort is the latest of several efforts by the union to generate more work for its members.
IBEW tried unsuccessfully to mandate that all solar installations be completed by licensed electricians rather than licensed solar installers, Hochschild said. The roughly 300 "C-46" solar licensees in the state are limited to solar photovoltaic cells.
What's more, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his rebate plan to encourage 1 million homes and businesses in the state to install solar systems, the union opposed it. Donovan said that opposition was based on the union's belief that payment of prevailing wages to installers -- which usually means union scale -- should be required to be eligible for rebates.
Ultimately, the California Public Utilities Commission launched a solar initiative without a prevailing wage provision. Its rebates are funded by utility rates.
Still, Hochschild agreed that more schooling for installers is needed. "It's a good thing that more people are trained for it."
rleuty@bizjournals.com/ (415) 288-4939
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