A labor-management partnership that’s electric!

History was one of my favorite subjects in elementary school. Mrs. James, my third-grade teacher at Lakeview Elementary School, was the first teacher to explain the New Deal and why Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933.  The TVA is a wholly owned government corporation that generates electricity for nearly 10 million people in parts of seven states in the southeastern United States. The TVA also provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system, and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation. Mrs. James explained that the creation of TVA was part of a broader plan that helped states and their citizens recover from the Great Depression. The metaphor she used to help us understand the TVAs mission was how floatation devices are useful for people who can’t swim, a concept we now define as equity.

I never imagined how that third-grade history lesson would come in handy years later in my role as the labor-management partnership coordinator for the U.S. Department of Labor. Recently, I was invited to attend the Tennessee Valley Trades and Labor Council conference. I learned that the TVTLC is a 15-member council made up of union representatives, contractors and the TVA — the very definition of a labor-management partnership. 

The TVTLC can be credited with wins for workers and the TVA alike, including a new partnership opportunity with North America’s Building Trades Unions, NABTU, which represents over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States. TVA also was one of the first agencies to sign on as a partner in the RESPECT (Responsible Environment Supporting Positive Equity Culture and Treatment) Initiative, a program designed to enhance the work culture and environment for construction workers. Additionally, the TVTLC agreed on a 10-year extension of their current project labor agreements, ensuring labor peace and cooperation for another decade. 

The theme of this year’s conference perfectly dovetailed with the RESPECT initiative. The council’s goal was to provide the attendees with a better understanding of the importance of mental health awareness, specifically in the construction industry, and tools that can be used to intervene when warning signs are present. Conference attendees spent time establishing, strengthening and renewing their relationships, attending mental health related sessions, and discussing worker well-being in the construction industry.

While in Tennessee, I was able to spend time with past and current key leaders, including the current administrator of the TVTLC, David “Godfather” Beckler, who is charged with bringing together and advising the six-craft labor unions that represent over 3,400 full-time TVA employees.  He has devoted his career to carrying out the mission and vision of TVA and the TVTLC. When I asked him how labor-management partnerships have evolved at TVTLC, he shared, “Back when we started this, we had something like 55 people in a room trying to figure out how this tripartite relationship could improve the working environment for all and how we could do things differently, as partners. As I stand here 19 years later, I am sure we made the right decision, and I’m happy to see this conference and these relationships continue to grow. In other words, this partnership is electric!”

Those relationships I witnessed firsthand have worked to better the lives of workers, families, contractors and the TVA at large for many years. TVTLC is just one labor-management partnership across the country that’s empowering workers, supporting employers and strengthening communities. Please share your “electric” labor-management partnership with us.

Darnice Marsh is the labor-management partnership coordinator in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.

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