UI Celebrates New Overhead Line School Graduates
After 5 weeks of intensive training, graduates are now Overhead Line Apprentices
TRUMBULL, Conn. — October 30, 2023 — United Illuminating, a subsidiary of Avangrid (NYSE: AGR), today announced the graduation of seven trainees from its intensive Overhead Line School, a 5-week training program for new hires in the UI Overhead Line Department. All the graduates are going on to become full-time Overhead Line Apprentices, a five-year program with increasing responsibility and independence that culminates in the Journeyman position. UI President & CEO Frank Reynolds joined the graduating class during a ceremony and celebration at UI’s training yard in Trumbull.
“At UI, our excellent reliability begins and ends with the men and women who work on our power lines,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of United Illuminating. “As one of the largest employers for local jobs in the communities we serve, UI has made an investment in this excellent Overhead Line School to ensure the next generation of front-line workers has the skills they need to provide our customers with reliable service, while keeping themselves and others safe. I am pleased to welcome these seven graduates to the next phase of their careers with UI, and I look forward to seeing their future accomplishments here at the company.”
The Overhead Line School is a training program led jointly by the UI Electric Operations department and the Overhead Line Crew, all of whom are members of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 470-1. From the first week of the line school, trainees learned to climb electric distribution poles of varying heights, including with gaffes and climbing belts, in addition to free climbing with fault restraints. Trainees then learned to install primary and secondary wire both on the poles and in bucket trucks, and then they practiced safety operations in emergency situations, such as bucket and pole-top rescue, in which lineworkers are recertified every year.
“Keeping our employees and our customers safe is our first priority, and we work hard to make sure all our lineworkers get home safe to their loved ones every night,” said Christine Pariseau, Senior Manager of Regional Electric Operations at United Illuminating. “Lineworkers must be prepared to respond to whatever they see in the field, which is why intensive training programs like the Overhead Line School are essential investments for us to make. These seven graduates today should be proud of the work they’ve done to get here today.”
For the graduation ceremony, UI and UWUA Local 470-1 welcomed the graduates’ families and friends to celebrate the accomplishments. Trainees demonstrated pole-climbing, bucket truck operation, and several additional skills they learned during the training course before receiving Certificates of Completion.
“Recruiting and training the next generation of lineworkers is becoming both more important and more difficult,” said Moses Rams, Chief Line Crew Leader at United Illuminating and President of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 470-1. “That’s why I’m pleased that UI’s management and the union have worked together to develop training programs like the Overhead Line School to ensure we have the trained staff we need to keep power flowing to our customers as often as possible. UI’s Overhead Line Crew is on the frontlines of this important work, and I’d like to personally welcome these seven new graduates to the next step in the rewarding career they have chosen.”
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- Sarah Wall Fliotsos
swall@uinet.com
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