International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125 has a message for residents of Oregon and Southeast Washington: Your electric power is safe and reliable — because union members are trained and ready to answer the call. That’s the theme of a series of full-page ads that ran in mid- to late-January in newspapers in areas served by PacifiCorp.
“Why are the lights on at PDX just hours after an outage?” asks one such ad, which ran in Willamette Week. “Because IBEW 125 lineman Jeremy Barr has a 21-year head start.”
“The communities the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 125 serves are where we live and work, and in Portland, the people we serve are our neighbors,” the ad continues. “Linemen like Jeremy train for three and a half years — longer than it takes to become a lawyer — before they go to work in your community. That training helps keep the lights on and prevents accidents. And because power outages can happen at any time, IBEW 125 linemen are on call 24 hours a day.”
“It’s an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the work our members do,” explains Local 125 business representative Marcy Grail.
The print ads — as well as a web component — were developed by San Francisco based Storefront Political Media, a firm that has done work in the past for IBEW Local 1245.
Besides the Portland ad, which featured Barr, Local 125’s ads have included members Jeremy White in Bend, Marilyn Brockey in Astoria, Butch Wilson in Pendleton, and Doug Hinds in Walla Walla.
