My Personal Journey with the IBEW
I was born and raised in San Jose. On my father’s side, my abuelo came here from Chihuahua, Mexico, in the 1950s to work in the fields. Like a lot of farmworkers of his generation, he organized with Cesar Chavez and was active in the labor movement. On my mother’s side, my family came from Sicily. My Italian grandfather worked a union job with Ford for 25 years into his 80s until they closed the plant.
I am the son of a disabled mom and was raised on welfare. I grew up all over San Jose from King and Story, to 7 Trees, to 13th Street downtown, to Camden Avenue. We moved a lot because when you’re poor, you make do with what you have, and much like today, cheap housing was hard to come by in San Jose.
My family taught me that it’s important to be generous and to look out for one another. We never had much, but what we had was each other. I learned to be resilient, resourceful, and fiercely loyal to family.
Like many of you, I came to the IBEW looking for a better quality of life. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and college. I fully intended to teach high school and coach. I was offered a full-time position, but the pay was sub-standard with no benefits. I told my wife, “This won’t work,” so I went law school looking for better opportunities. I’m a planner and had it all laid out: I wanted to start a family going into second year (thinking it should take 6-12 months to get pregnant) and then have the baby born third year, finish school, take the bar, and live happily ever after. Well, my wife got pregnant in just two weeks, so my plans were turned upside-down.
I started some research about the trades. I spoke with a cousin’s boyfriend, and he showed me the contract with the wages and all the rules for worker protections, and I thought, “This was the way to go.” So I stood outside the JATC to sign up alongside 500 other applicants the way we used to do and started the process. I took the entrance test, interviewed, and started my apprenticeship working two jobs through the first four years, calculating every pay raise when I could quit that second job.
Upon graduation, I started teaching at the JATC and running work. I believed then – as I do now – that the environment I want to be part of is the one we help to create. There I remained learning from all the instructors on staff. Like today, we had a variety of instructors, including trustees, journeymen, foremen, general foremen, superintendents, former officers from president to recording secretary, executive board members, delegates, business agents, and committee members. Later, I ran for 332 president, came onto staff, and was recently honored to be voted in as business manager by our membership.
I am forever grateful to all the members who have helped me through the years to get to this level in our union. I believe we owe it to future generations to teach apprentices tangible skillsets, build the union’s solidarity and power, and do good in the community. Together, we can grow our families and dreams together as one union.
My Goals for the First 100 Days
I have been on Local 332 staff for the past five years and president for the last six years. I have been told for a few years, “If you’re ever in charge, you can do that.” Thanks to the members who put your trust in me as business manager, we can work to improve our local. My goal in the first 100 days is to get started on the following issues which will affect our office flow, as well as how we manage the field.
- Police Our Contracts: I will be working closely with our team to create a plan to better cover our jurisdiction from county line to county line. Our business agents need to be in the field communicating with members, tracking our jobs flows, and policing our agreement. Our tech and staffing need to be
beefed up to adequately cover our jurisdiction. - Strengthen Communication/Outreach/Cyber Security: We need to improve our member outreach and increase our cyber security to protect your personal information. We will be implementing a member information update drive in the fall. You will be hearing from us via mail, text, email, and social media. This is to increase our member outreach for union events and important information like wage allocation meetings, health and welfare/pension workshops, and the dues refund date. Please be patient, as this will be a lengthy process.
- Revitalize Our Stewards’ Program: We will be developing an updated stewards’ training program. We must increase the education and information flow to 332 job sites. Our stewards should not be punitive but preventative, police our contracts, and help the jobs flow better on behalf of our membership.
- Improve Dispatch Procedures: One of my gravest concerns is our current dispatch procedures. We need to update and ensure our procedures protect the members. I will be working closely with our team to review how dispatch operates from top to bottom and ensure we are meeting the highest standards of a dispatch hall.
- Updating the 332 Brand: In recent years, you may have noticed upgrades to our newsletter and website so it reflects our state-of-the art craftsmanship. We need to continue modernizing our documents and communications to be on par with the standards we keep in the field.
- Facilities Maintenance: Our union hall is showing some age along with some wear and tear. I will be creating a plan to do some maintenance to upgrade the patio BBQ area, bathrooms, lobby entry, and AC for the building.
I commit to rolling up my sleeves on all of these issues in the first 100 days and to present plans to the membership. To learn more, I encourage you to attend union meetings, read our emails and text messages, and visit the 332 social media pages and website. You will be seeing and hearing from us more in the near future. Finally, please have your dues receipt handy, because we will be bumping tickets regularly. =)
Always Union,
Javier Casillas
Business Manager
