Bruce to retire as head of IBEW Local 48; Edwards takes over

Jerry Bruce, business manager of Portland-based Electrical Workers Local 48, announced his retirement, effective at the end of the month. He will be succeeded by Keith Edwards, who was appointed by the union's Executive Board to fill the remaining one-and-a-half years of Bruce's term. Bruce, 64, has been contemplating retirement for several years, but was convinced to stay with the local when former Business Manager Greg Teeple vacated the union's top job for a position with the international union job in 1996.

"Taking the business manager's job was a good opportunity for me to give something back to this local for all it has done for me. I would be nothing without Local 48," Bruce said.

After his appointment as business manager in 1996, Bruce was elected outright in 1998.

Edwards has been assistant business manager of Local 48 since Bruce's appointment.

Bruce has been a member of Local 48 for 43 years, starting as an apprentice in 1957 following a stint in the U.S. Army. He graduated from Portland's Lincoln High School.

Bruce has served the union in various capacities ranging from a volunteer picket in the early years to election as president of the Executive Board and later as a full-time business representative. He sits on several health and welfare trusts and apprenticeship committees.

Bruce is a certified apprenticeship instructor, having graduated from IBEW's national training center in Knoxville, Tenn. He is a member of the IBEW's National Joint Apprenticeship & Training Committee

He has served the Oregon labor movement as an Executive Board member of the Oregon AFL-CIO, Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Columbia-Pacific Building Trades Council and Oregon State Building Trades Council.

"I'll miss the relationships I have made with other unions and I will miss this (Local 48) staff tremendously," he said.

Under his watch as business manager, Local 48 has opened an impressive new training center and union hall in northeast Portland near Portland International Airport and recently negotiated a flex benefits plan in its labor agreement with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).

Bruce is an advocate of strong labor-management programs and is proud of his relationship with (NECA. In fact, he was the first recipient of the national IBEW/ NECA labor-management cooperation award, presented to him last April.

"There is not a separation between a union and its contractors," Bruce said. "We need each other for mutual gain."

In retirement Bruce plans to golf, fish, hunt and attend motorcycle rallies around the country.

During his early years in the union Bruce raced motorcycles professionally and, in fact, helped other racers form an association that pressured track owners to allow them to join the American Motorcycle Association in order to be eligible for insurance and cash prizes.

Edwards is also a longtime member of Local 48, having completed its apprenticeship training program after graduating from Jefferson High School.

He said he learned of the electricians' apprenticeship program in 1969 through the Oregon Employment Division and the advice of a roommate.

Following a one-year probationary period, he entered the training program in 1970 and worked in the field as an electrician and represented colleagues as a shop steward until 1990, when he was hired as a full-time business representative. Bruce tapped him as assistant business manager when he was appointed to his post in 1996.

As the assistant business manager, Edwards was responsible for overseeing the union staff, handling grievances and contract negotiations. Local 48 has 4,000 members under 230 contracts, including Portland Public Schools, City of Portland, Port of Portland and others.

The local has seven business representatives, three organizers, three office secretaries, an executive assistant, operations manager and an in-house attorney.

Outside of the union, Edwards served as president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP for one year to help get that organization back on track.

"Keith has done everything I've asked of him and more" as my assistant," Bruce said. "He is a loyal and committed unionist and he will be a great business manager."