Michael Winkler Receives Endorsement From Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for Re-Election to Arcata City Council

Press release from Friends of Michael Winkler about International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 551 endorsement:

The re-election campaign of Mayor Michael Winkler for Arcata City Council is pleased to announce the endorsement by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 551.     .

“Throughout my service on the Arcata City Council, I have always had an excellent relationship with organized labor and work with their leaders to help promote the best interests of their workers and the community.”

IBEW Local 551 and their highly trained workers are a key part of the North Coast economy and of California Economy

IBEW has existed since the early days of the electrical industry in the late 1800’s.

By maintaining a high level of safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the members of IBEW have been able to continue to provide the services vitally needed by our community.

The large-scale fires throughout the west, made worse by climate change, make the work of IBEW members more vital than ever before.

In light of these impacts, California and Humboldt County are committed to fundamentally rebuilding our energy generation systems and electric grid to be

• Based on local renewable energy
• Fire-safe
• Resilient

The workers of IBEW already have the skills to make this happen.

In my field of work as a sustainable energy engineer, the workers of IBEW have the skills to help build large-scale systems, such as floating offshore wind turbine systems.

Building this type of system will take many new highly-trained workers. IBEW can play an important role through apprenticeship programs and can work closely with HSU and College of the Redwoods to see that we develop those workers locally.