BEND—Tim Frew, a 32-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), succeeded John Mohlis as executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council (OSBCTC), effective Sept. 1. Frew has job shadowed Mohlis for the past several months, including during the short session of the Legislature in February.
Frew, of Eugene, is a member of IBEW Local 280 based in Tangent. He said he will make the commute from Eugene to Portland, where the building trades office is located.
“I will be wherever I need to be to represent the building trades council,” he said.
Frew, 58, joined IBEW Local 177 in Jacksonville, Florida as an apprentice in 1984. Prior to that he spent a year at Florida State University, then joined the U.S. Navy, where he was an electricians mate.
With his journeyman card in hand, Frew traveled with his girlfriend (and future wife, Jackie) to several states, working along the way. They settled in Eugene in 1991, where he became an active member of Local 280.
Frew volunteered as an organizer and steward. He chaired the IBEW-NECA Safety Committee, and attended Oregon AFL-CIO conventions as a delegate for the local. He served one term as vice president of Local 280, and two terms as business manager, from 2009 to 2015.
Frew currently sits on the Oregon Elevator and Electrical Board, as well as the Construction Industry Energy Board.
Because Frew is a member of the IBEW, OSBCTC president Gary Young, business manager of IBEW Local 48 in Portland, had to resign. The council’s constitution states that leadership positions cannot be held by members of the same union.
So, delegates elected Joe Bowers, business manager of Iron Workers Local 29, to finish out Young’s term as president.
