Around the Local

After Housing Approval, Suburb Reverses Course

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/01/06/after-housing-approval-suburb-reverses-course/

Woodbridge zoning commissioners voted 6-0 to amend town zoning rules prohibiting future projects similar to a 96-unit mixed-income apartment complex they approved just one month earlier. The reversal came after over 150 residents gathered to oppose the December 2025 approval of the four-story development at 804 Fountain Street on the Woodbridge-New Haven border, which would include only 12 affordable units.
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Newcomers, Incumbents Bring IBEW Voices to Local and State Offices (EW)

https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/ibew-voices-to-local-and-state-offices/?ref=ew

IBEW members achieved significant electoral victories in November 2025, winning positions from town councils to state assemblies. Features profiles of three member-winners: Stephen Nowicki (Cheektowaga, NY town council), Naomi Hewitt (Fairbanks school board), and Ritch Kurtenbach (Black Hawk County, Iowa supervisor), demonstrating how union members bring worker perspectives directly into government.
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Groundbreaking Labor Leader Retires From IEC, Local 3 (EW)

https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/erikson-retires-from-iec/?ref=ew

International Executive Council Chairman Chris Erikson retires after a 50-year IBEW career, including nearly 20 years leading New York Local 3's 30,000+ members. Grandson of legendary Local 3 Business Manager Harry Van Arsdale Jr., Erikson championed diversity, mentored young leaders nationwide, and helped maintain union wages at $141/hour while serving as IEC chairman for a decade.
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Union Rights on the Ballot (EW)

https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/union-rights-are-on-the-ballot/?ref=ew

IBEW members conducted intensive get-out-the-vote efforts in New Jersey and Virginia's November 2025 elections, helping elect pro-worker governors and substantial majorities in state legislatures. The campaigns emphasized how union rights, collective bargaining, PLAs, and worker wages were directly at stake in these crucial odd-year elections.
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Introducing : Thomas Spellman, JATC instructor (EW)

https://ibew.org/electrical_worker/my-ibew-story-thomas-spellman/?ref=ew

Boston Local 103 JATC instructor Thomas Spellman shares his 35-year journey in the IBEW, from childhood dreams inspired by union electrician uncles, through a workplace injury at a non-union shop, telecommunications apprenticeship, work on Boston's Big Dig and at Logan Airport on 9/11, to becoming a full-time instructor training the next generation of electrical workers.
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