The Chapter held its annual Fall General Member Meeting and Awards Dinner last week at the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton. Over 130 attended the event, networking with peers and making new acquaintances. We were honored to have special guest Marco Giamberardino, NECA National's Executive Director of Government Affairs in attendance. Marco spoke about what his team is working on in Washington, D.C., the importance of our annual meetings in May, followed by current politics.

The evening began with a welcome from Executive Director, Greg Armstrong and Chapter President, Kurt Brinkman. Allied Crane Inc. and ZECO Electric Company were both honored with a plaque for 25 years of membership with the Northern California Chapter, NECA. 

The Gillespie Award is given to a NorCal NECA Member for their years of dedicated service and outstanding contribution while serving the NorCal Chapter, and the Electrical Contracting Industry. This year, the Gillespie Award was presented to Jody Brahmst of Niles Electric Co., Inc.  The Meritorious Service Award was established by the NorCal NECA Chapter to honor individuals within the industry who distinguish themselves by demonstrating exceptional achievements that reach beyond the bounds of the Chapter. The recipient of the 2016 Meritorious Award was Jess Zuniga of ZECO Electric.

The annual Marv Jensen Safety Awards, recognizing job site safety and awareness, were presented to: Mike Wolff and Con J. Franke for the Cal Sheets project; Brien Brown and Con J. Franke for the Riverbank Water Waste Treatment Plant project; Timothy Osterdock and Lloyd F. McKinney Associates, Inc. for the Coronado Elementary School project; Steve Pedersen and SilMan Construction for the Berkeley Farms project; and Justin Neely and SilMan Construction for the United Spiral Pipe Mill project. The NECA/IBEW Joint Safety Committee motto is "Safety First = Family First," and we congratulate the teams for doing just that.

This year, thirty Project Excellence Award entries were received. To keep the awards selection process fair to all of our members, projects are judged by industry professionals based on criteria including originality, aesthetics, workmanship, and difficulty of installation. We are excited to announce that thirteen projects were selected to receive Project Excellence Awards. Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Arktos Incorporated - San Francisco International Airport Air Traffic Control Tower, San Francisco
• Columbia Electric, Inc. - East Bay Greenway, Oakland
• Con J. Franke Electric, Inc. - Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant, Elmira
• Del Monte Electric Co., Inc. - Chu Hall, Berkeley
• Del Monte Electric Co., Inc. - Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation, Berkeley
• H.A. Bowen Electric, Inc. - Whole Foods Market, Dublin
• Lloyd F. McKinney Associates, Inc. - Coronado Elementary School, Richmond
• Long Electric Company - ICON Aircraft, Vacaville
• Morrow-Meadows East Bay  - Delta Americas, Fremont
• Prime Electric, Inc. - University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
• Prime Electric, Inc. - Veeva Systems, Inc., Pleasanton
• SilMan Construction - Berkeley Farms, Hayward
• Woltz Electric, Inc. - Napa Methodist Church, Napa

As customary, the evening concluded with a raffle prize drawing. This is always a well-attended popular event, and we hope that many more will be inspired to participate with us next year.

Greg Armstrong and Scot VanBuskirk, along with Dan Chivello and Greg Bonato from IBEW Local 595, recently attended a Labor Law and Labor Arbitration conference in San Francisco. This two-day conference was geared toward learning the latest in laws, arbitral principals and strategies that are part of effective labor-management relations. An important portion of the conference included sample case studies followed by roundtable discussion from a panel of experienced labor relations arbitrators.

One of the main benefits of your NECA membership is representation in labor relations matters. This includes employee discipline. While you all have employee handbooks that employers are required to adhere to, issues can arise both in the field and/or the office setting. The rules of discipline revolve around "Just Cause." Just Cause refers to a standard of reasonableness used to evaluate a person's actions in a given set of circumstances. For example:

• Was there a clear violation of the company's policy?
• Was the company's policy reasonable?
• Did the employee know the conduct was cause for disciplinary action, or should they have known?
• Was there a fair and objective investigation?
• Was there substantial evidence regarding the employee's violation of the policy?
• Was the discipline reasonable / did it fit the offense?
• Did the employer act reasonably?

Be sure you are doing your part when dismissing an employee as "Just Cause" trumps an employer's zero-tolerance policy most every time. A key takeaway is to not dismiss an employee on the spot, rather perform an investigation and be sure the discipline fits the employee's offense.