Brenda Bazan photo
Celebrating 100 years, IBEW Local 461 will hold its 100th anniversary celebration Saturday, Oct. 5 at Timber Creek Inn and Suites in Sandwich. The union’s longest-serving member shares his thoughts on his 63 years of membership.
By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013
This year marks 100 years of operation for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 461, and one member thanks the union for enriching his life and making sure things never got dull during his 63 years of membership.
“Many things I’ve done, the average person won’t experience,” said Richard Underwood, who retired in 1993 and is a Local 461 member with the longest service record. “I’m grateful for that, it’s been extremely interesting.”
Underwood said his work has “run the gamut” and he said things have changed a lot since he entered the field as an electrician in 1956.
“The biggest change is computers. Obviously these didn’t exist functionally in 1956. Now there are computer controlled motors and computer circuitry,” he said. “When I started, there was a lot of open wiring, lead dip pots, rubber tape and tar and paper Romex. The tar would get all over your face, and you’d look like you had the measles when you got home. Now everything is plastic.”
He reminisces from this important source that his best job he worked on was right in Aurora, as a project manager on the expansion of the air traffic control center.
“That was just a great job, we worked with terrific pipe benders, and the type of installation done — well, it turned out wonderful,” he said. “I had my hand in overseeing the whole thing, and it meant a lot to me.”
Not every job went as planned, but improvisation was key, as well as smarts.
At Fermilab, Underwood had to engineer a solution for a high voltage cable installation in the cooling pond when the job moved from winter to spring.
“The original plan was to lay the cable on the ice, then when it melted, the cable would drop into the cooling circle of the water. The job shifted into the spring, and there was no ice,” he said.
The solution was to drop it in via helicopter and Underwood had to design special pulleys to maintain the correct geometry so the cable wouldn’t kink. The plan worked.
“It was quite an installation and it worked fine. It cost them a little more, but it really worked well,” he said.
He said new recruits need to brush up on their education.
“There’s a big diversity today in the electrical field. The more training you do, the better off you are, but it takes determination. This is a tough industry.”
“The Lord has blessed me with all sorts of work, from working on housing, to being an industrial foreman, to superintendent. It’s large scopes of work. It’s great variety, and I really appreciate that. Every day getting up was a blessing, and I don’t think I’d have gotten that without union labor,” said Underwood.
IBEW Local 461 will hold its 100th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Timber Creek Inn and Suites in Sandwich. For further information, call the office at 630-897-0461.