National attention shines on Local 18 and LADWP as they bring jobs to the under-served communities of Los Angeles while also trying to meet a growing demand for qualified workers to aid repairs to the city’s growing infrastructure needs.

Los Angeles – On Wednesday, June 3 , at 9am International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Local 18 (IBEW) in conjunction with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will kickoff a new program designed to assist job seekers to find good family supporting jobs with the Department of Water and Power. The DWP and Local 18 will be opening signing books for civil service exempt “Distribution Electrical Craft Helper” positions. It is expected that these positions will be the gateway to better jobs in the future and will provide much needed on-the-job experience.

“These positions will be the gateway to better jobs in the future and will provide much needed on-the-job experience,” said Brian D’Arcy, Business Manager of Local 18. “Good jobs are important for the future of our city.”

IBEW Local 18 is also conducting outreach to under-served communities to fill the new positions. This effort is focused on local schools that offer Electrical worker-training classes like East LA and Pacoima Skill Centers, LAUSD, and LA Trade Tech.

Currently DWP/IBEW Apprenticeship program has a 55% graduation rate mainly because workers lack experience that time on the job would have provided. By creating Exempt Electrical Craft Helper positions for those seeking Apprenticeships IBEW and DWP hope to improve those graduation rates, bring more workers in from under-served communities and help fill vacancies at the DWP created by an aging workforce and a deteriorating infrastructure.

The Distribution Construction and Maintenance Section of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will be hiring these exempt Electrical Craft Helpers (E-ECH) for the purpose of qualifying them to promote to Electrical Distribution Mechanic Trainee (EDMT), Apprentice Cable Splicer or Apprentice Line Mechanic

Given the rough economy this announcement has received national attention with inquiries coming from New York and Massachusetts. As of Monday morning, there were 41 people in line outside IBEW Local 18’s offices

“Our union is honored to be working with the LADWP to bring good family supporting jobs and opportunities to Los Angeles,” said D’Arcy. “At this rate we expect a line of 300 to 400 people by Wednesday morning with some having come from as far as Massachusetts. Expanding this helper position will afford more people from Pacoima, East LA and other under-served parts of our city the opportunity to earn a living wage while pursuing a career with the DWP by passing the civil service exam, qualifying to become an apprentice and working hard to eventually graduate to an Electrical Distribution Mechanic position with the DWP.”

The DWP and IBEW have established rigorous rules to help encourage the steady progression of helpers. All positions in this helper class are required to participate in the civil service examination process for EDMT (Apprenticeship). EDMT exams are offered quarterly. Employment in the class is limited to eighteen months. The E-ECH is required to obtain an EDMT position. Failure to participate or obtain an EDMT position as required will disqualify the employee from employment.

IBEW will have 3 books available for signing on Wednesday. Those in-line will sign the book that correlates with the classes they have completed with Book 1 representing those that have completed the most prerequisites and Book 3 representing those that have completed the least. When IBEW commences with dispatch they will call through the books starting at the top of Book 1 through Book 2 and so on. A list delineating between each book is provided below.

CLASSIFICATION – DISTRIBUTION ELECTRICAL CRAFT HELPER

GROUP 1 – All applicants for employment who are members of Local 18 with a climbing certificate issued by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Training Section, or completion certificate from a recognized lineman college including, but not limited to, the Los Angeles Trade Technical College (Electrical Utility Line Worker), East Los Angeles Skills Center, or the Pacoima Skills Center.

GROUP 2 – All applicants for employment who are members of Local 18 or any applicant with a climbing certificate from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Training Section, or completion certificate from a recognized lineman college including, but not limited to, the Los Angeles Trade Technical College (Electrical Utility Line Worker), East Los Angeles Skills Center, or the Pacoima Skills Center.

GROUP 3 – All applicants with an Electrical Craft Helper completion certificate issued by the Los Angeles Trade Technical College or completion of the Powerline Systems course given by LA Unified School District or equivalent course.

View the Family Supporting Jobs PDF