2022 CC Transition Report Spreads Flat Final - Flipbook - Page 15
Employee support and coordination with labor
Coordination with labor unions
Constructive coordination with union leaders is critical
to our business. Approximately one-third of Southern
Company employees are IBEW members, and many
of our contractors employ labor union members from
nearly every craft within the North Americas Building
Trades Unions (NABTU). Across the Southern Company
system, we utilize an average of 61 million work hours
annually of craft labor (both internal and external
resources), and 71% of those hours are completed by
members of organized unions.
Transparent and continuing communication with union
leadership and members is an important element of
running our business and successfully navigating a Just
Transition. Openly engaging with union representatives
helps ensure they are involved and clearly informed
throughout the process about regulations governing our
business, coal-unit retirement timetables, what staffing
numbers look like as we approach facility closure, and
how the company plans to coordinate with unions
through decommissioning and beyond.
In addition, as our company looks to transition our
generating fleet and diversify our generating resources
(some of which occurs through power purchase
agreements, or PPAs, with third parties), we expect to
consistently leverage organized labor for major projects.
For major facilities that are constructed and owned
by Southern Company subsidiaries, many requests for
proposal (RFPs) include requirements related to union
labor. For major RFPs where we do not expect to own
the facility but rather contract via PPAs, we also typically
ask bidders for information about their planned use of
unionized workers.
Mississippi Power employee
proactively plans for future
Mark Wicks is a former coal-unit operator at Mississippi
Power who has actively managed his career to broaden his
experience and now serves to help ensure Safety First, the
system’s No. 1 value.
Indicative of Southern Company’s long-standing
coordination with labor partners, in March 2022
Alabama Power and IBEW System Council U-19
received the Edwin D. Hill award from EEI and IBEW.
This distinguished award recognizes efforts to advance
state and local initiatives on behalf of EEI’s member
electric companies and IBEW members. Under the
leadership of former IBEW International President
Edwin D. Hill, the IBEW and EEI created the National
Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee
(National LAMPAC). National LAMPAC strives to foster
collaboration and partnership among electric company
executives and IBEW leaders to address the nation’s
energy challenges and to achieve the common goals
of running a well-managed, efficient business with a
safe and highly skilled workforce.
After serving at Plant Daniel, where the company generates
electricity using two natural gas-fueled generating units
along with two coal-fired units that it plans to retire in 2027,
Wicks set out to broaden his experience and career options.
Wicks joined the plant safety team and later became its
safety advocate. In this role, he was able to flourish, taking
advantage of training and networking opportunities to
build leadership and other skills. Those skills and his past
experience ultimately supported Wicks’ transition to a
safety specialist role at Mississippi Power’s natural gasfueled Chevron Cogenerating Plant.
“I’ve enjoyed my Southern Company career path
tremendously,” said Wicks. “Having the support of my leaders
and teammates as I managed my own career path during the
transition away from coal was very empowering.”
“NABTU’s successful apprenticeship readiness programs
throughout the U.S. are changing thousands of lives,
Mike Smith, plant manager at Plant Daniel, said Wicks
worked hard to achieve the goals he set for himself as he
planned for his career beyond coal.
and these programs could not happen without the
support of partners like Southern Company. We know
the power of investing in local workers to strengthen
“As his leader, I was proud to support him and see him
thrive,” Smith said.
our highly skilled construction workforce pipeline, and
we are grateful for the longstanding commitment by
Southern Company to do it with us.”
– North America’s Building Trades Unions
President Sean McGarvey
“Having the support of my leaders and teammates as I managed my own career path during the
transition away from coal was very empowering.”
– Mark Wicks, Mississippi Power
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Just Transition Report
Just Transition Report
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