After 42 years of membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 175, including 12 years as an assistant business manager, and eight years as business manager/financial secretary, Barry Key formally retired on Aug. 31. His position will now be filled by Gary Watkins, who has served as an assistant business manager since 1995.
Universally acknowledged as a highly capable leader and one in whom the members of Local 175 had full confidence, Mr. Key was quoted in 2013 as saying, “My goals for this term include increasing our membership and opening more doors for other contractors to work with us.
It’s vital that we continue to foster community partnerships and fulfill our responsibility to give back to the area that has supported us for more than 100 years.”
“Barry Key is an outstanding and trusted leader who will be greatly missed,” said Mr. Watkins. “I will do my utmost to continue the progress he’s initiated during his terms as business manager.” Noting that the IBEW Local 175, which represents more than 3,100 electrical workers in Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Northeast Alabama, plays a vital leadership role among the regions’ unions as a whole, he pledged to be diligent in securing jobs and adequate pay for IBEW members, help to maintain excellence in the joint IBEW/National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) training programs and partnerships, and remain a strong influence on the area’s economic base.
In its “Chattanooga Impact Report 2012”, the local union documented how much it and its members contribute to the local economy. “In 2012, IBEW Local 175, through its partnerships with the National Electrical Contractors Association, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Member businesses and other local companies, employed over 1,600 professional electrical workers per month, providing 3.16 million annual wage hours. That translates to more than $91,000,000.00 in annual earned wages.”
“During the past 15 years, we’ve seen demand for our workers increase consistently. For that reason the number of classes in our apprenticeship school has grown. We support the goals of all Unions to improve the lives of workers. We constantly strive to improve our workforce by educating our member/workers to make them the best and most productive in the industry.” said Mr. Watkins.