Have you considered where your labor power will come from for your next project you’ve won? How you can get a well-qualified, highly educated labor force? How you can make your workplace safer for your workers? How you can help support your workers in a meaningful way to achieve a dignified retirement? Or, how you can support your own dreams of retirement?

At local 490, it really is a team effort. From the first day of an apprentice on the job, to the owners of companies, everyone has to work towards the same goal, a great life. Below we’ll go over some of the ways that we can work towards a great future, together.

For small business owners’ life can be very stressful. We can help reduce this stress by securing a retirement that can provide a safety net for your own future. The same pensions, annuity, and health insurance that is offered to your employees, can also be offered to you. As a participating member/owner, you can enroll and pay into those retirement plans. No one can predict the future, but we can help protect against catastrophe by offering the same security of a growing retirement, while still being in control of your company’s future.

But how else can we help? Let’s start with safety. Union job sites have been proven through many studies to be safer than non-union work sites. Knowing your workers will be working safe and are less likely to lose time due to injury, is a great benefit to becoming a union contractor.

When it comes to training and education, unions consistently put out higher trained candidates into the field of their study. With a focus on field specific training, and a well-rounded education in safety, union workers bring solutions to the problems encountered on construction sites.

If you’re a large company, how does the prospect of growth look? With labor shortages hitting construction companies hard, union shops have fared better then non-union shops. The ability for IBEW members to move freely to other locals to take work, means you have access to a larger pool of workers than your competition does.

Local 490, as with most Unions, establishes certain pay standards. You, as the contractor will be given a schedule of rates covering everything from apprentices, through General Forman. A competitive wage package is negotiated on a 3-year contract basis between NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) and Local 490. This relieves you of the burden to negotiate different rates and raises for every individual employee. The contract is a minimum and you as the contractor could always go above and beyond if you choose.

In today’s world, maintaining an abundance of benefit programs such as healthcare, 401k plans, etc. takes time and money. That’s time that can be better spent actually running your business. Local 490 in conjunction with NECA maintains a health and welfare plan, as well as a comprehensive pension program. The IBEW/NECA partnership offers you the security of knowing there is a dedicated team managing a full suite of benefit plans for your employees so you don't have to.

Local 490’s staff is familiar with the multitude of regulations and requirements in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We are on point with updates on licensing, zoning and permitting changes. We not only stay informed on legislative and regulatory changes, we also actively lobby for new laws and ordinances that make our industry safer and provide more opportunities for responsible contractors to get work in both the public and private sector.

These are only a few of the great advantages you can expect from a partnership with local 490. We encourage you to reach out to us with any further questions you have, and we can’t wait to start building together. Please send all inquiries to Info@IBEW490.org.