Utility worker internship levels the playing field for all CT students

As the 21-year president of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 470-1 and a 35-year veteran of United Illuminating, developing the current and future front-line union workforce of Connecticut’s utility companies is one of my most important priorities.

As Connecticut relies even more on the electric grid for everyday uses, developing a front-line workforce that is up to the task of maintaining it, executing plans to improve it, and restoring our customers quickly during its outages is becoming even more essential. That requires us to identify young people, including students, who can succeed in this critical field. By identifying them early, we can ensure they get the very best hands-on training and internships to set them up for success.

That’s why UWUA Local 470-1, United Illuminating (UI), and UI’s parent company Avangrid are proud to have partnered to build one of the first internship programs in the country that develops the skills of high school students to succeed as future front-line utility workers. Through this work, we’re doing more than investing in the future of Connecticut’s energy system. We’re also doing the real work of equity, leveling the playing field so all the communities we serve have an opportunity to build a stable, rewarding career path at an electric utility.

The internship program that UWUA, UI, and Avangrid have now unveiled in its second year offers a 10-week paid internship for rising seniors who attend trade high schools in UI’s local service area. It’s an on-the-ground training program in utility lineworking, where members of UI’s line crew teach students how to climb poles, use lineworking equipment, operate a bucket truck, identify solutions to power outages, and much more, all with safety top of mind.

Our team spent much of this past school year visiting trade high schools across the UI service area and recruiting students for the program. No matter if we were at Bullard Havens in Bridgeport, Emmett O’Brien in Ansonia, Eli Whitney in Hamden, or somewhere else, it was clear students were hungry for the opportunity we were presenting.

Was building this program a simple process? No. It took several years of planning between UWUA, UI, and Avangrid to bring the trade internship program to life. It took hours of collaboration, brainstorming, time-intensive meetings, and presentations to all our leaders before there was complete confidence that a real, effective, hands-on training program for 17- and 18-year-olds could be done safely.

But as we continue to push onward with our second year of this program, and as we are now considering even more opportunities with other schools and organizations to teach our essential skills to the next generation, I can say one thing with certainty: it’s worth it.

In a culture where college is often the first — or even the only — choice presented to high school students, we’re offering another path for the ones who may be better suited for a career in the trades.

We don’t care where those students grew up, what they look like, or what language they speak at home. Come to the UI Yard any morning of the week, and you’ll see diversity in action, as all of us — men, women, Black, white, Hispanic, you name it — get ready to get the job done for our customers. This internship program shows young people first-hand that no matter who they are, they’re just like us, and they have a chance to build a tremendously bright future for themselves and their families. That’s leveling the playing field. That’s equity.

And while it’s certainly a benefit to students, it’s a great opportunity for all of us, too. After all, the team of lineworkers who supervise them, as their role models, are encouraged and inspired to be the best versions of themselves, and company management can demonstrate to all their stakeholders, including Connecticut policymakers, that we at Avangrid and UI are fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I’d also add that it’s a boon for Connecticut, which reaps the reward of having a local union workforce trained up in a 125-year-old company based in and serving our state.

State policymakers can be an asset and resource to build incentives for more businesses to say “yes” to the important work of building equity through hands-on internship programs. One thing’s for certain, it will be a team effort: neither government, nor unions, nor businesses can do this work alone. But the example we’ve set in south-central Connecticut shows that a little partnership and a lot of hard work can go a long way as we build the front-line union workforce of tomorrow.

Moses Rams is the President of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 470-1 and the Chief Line Crew Leader at United Illuminating (UI).