1977-02 February IBEW Journal.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

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Electric Car
f),oth., Joe Sawlno, Locel 2230. Patchogue. N.Y ••
,. shown In ' he .1~ l rk Clr he buill for hi. Wl f • •
for his wife. Dorothy. to usc around lown
for ~hoppi n g and [0 10 10 lind from her job
with the Bayport, Bluepoint Public Schools,
because he realized Ihnl t llch year it was
~om i n g increasingly more expensive \ 0
lise his internal combustion engine car for
these purposes. He docs not now have \0
replace oil, fill ers, hoses, a ntifreeze, muffitrs,
a nd spark plugs, to mention a few items, on
his electric car.
The car is II converted 197 1 Si mco, which
has 12 six-volt ball erics located in the rear
of the car. housed in specially designed
boxes. The three.speed, semi-automatic
transmission was retained through an adaptor
plalc designed by Brother Savioo and
his 17·)car.old ~n, Mll.:e. He also designed
and built his own 72- ... 01t electric hellier and
I.:ept the original 12· ... olt battery for the contacton,
lights. radio, and other accessories.
The charger to restore the balleries WllJ designed
nnd built by him and the batteries
can be charged o ... ernight during the o ffpeal.:
houn.
The dashboard instruments were replaced
with a ... o ltmeter. which took the pilice of
the gas gnuge and a D.C. llmmetcr 50 the
driver l nows the amount of current being
drawn fro m the bnlleries for va rious dri ... ing
situa tions. The car attai ns a top speed of
40 miles per hour on le ... el grade and has a
rnnge of up to 50 miles, depending on road
and dri ... inS conditions.
Curb weight of the vehicle is just under
3.000 pounds with the on·board charger and
balleries. Special shock absorbers were used
10 h:mdle the added weiGht. The car starts
instantly with a slight whine. A click is
heard w'hen the accelerator is depressed and
the cnr is in motion. Step on the pedal and
the car moves a lillie fas ter. This cnn be
done in each of the three speeds or you can
select one and stay in it.
Brother Sa ... ino's wife comments, .. It's an
eerie feeling to drive the cnr. When you stop
for a light or a stop sian it is so quiet not
elen Ihe whine is henrd. And dogs don't
chase it. I think the whine scares them."
People on the streets stop and stare when
the car is in motion. It sounds different but
they don't know why. Po .... er is used only
.... hen the cor is moving.
Although he is pleased with the car's performance,
Brother Sovino anticipates a better
range in miles and increased tOp speed.
He is constantly e .~perimenti n g with finer
tun ins and adjustmentJ to altain a longer
fllllGe belween charGes and greotcr speeds.
F. bruory, 1917
The gasoline· powered ear hns been preferred
over the electric since the 19005;
ho ..... ever, the Sa ... ino family f«ls that the
big 3E problems of loday (enerIY, en ... iron.
ment, economy) ..... ill infiuence more widespread
use of electric \'ehicles in the future.
The officers and members here at Local
2230 are proud of Brother Savino'. accomplishment.
Congratulations. l oe, and stick
with it.
CIIARLES G EOSIi!, I R., PRES.
Local Faces
L. ft 10 right Irl LoclIl 2286. Suumont. T . . ..
President Georel C •• wlord. J.l n Mouton, lo,m. r
"E" S Oll rd member, Ind Busln ••• Mln.e.' Blil
Tholborn.
II grou p shot 01 the membe.. 01 the U ke
Charles. LI .. unil 01 l o c~ 1 2286.
Accidents Outnumber
Grievances
I .. U. 2286. BEAUMONT, TEX._Busi ness
Manager Dill Tholborn has been going over
changes in the safety monllal with Gulf
Slales Utililics Company. There are about
45 changes involving all phases of our work.
These changes came about due to liugges·
tions from yOIl, the members.
Brother Tholborn has been reporting for
Ihe past few months on the increasing num·
ber of accidents. These range from minor
fl ashes to aUlomobi le accidents. So far ..... e
hove been fonunate Ihal no one has been
injured seriously, We urge all Ollr Brothers
and Sisten to observe all of the safety rules
nnd 1001.: out for the other guy.
Our lotal has received a leiter of thanks
from the Texas Special Olympics. We had
pu~hased a ~ page ad in their magazine.
At this time .... e h8\'e two arbilralion cases
pending. We are in hopes of sell ling these
wilh the company nnd avoiding any arbitra·
tion oction.
The "E" Boord has agreed 10 pay e~penses
for Brother Tholborn 10 attend Ihe 1977
Utility Conference to be held in Phoenix,
Arizona. At the conferenCe some important
discussion on the monning of nuclear power
plonts will take place.
Money was abo appropriated for Brother
111olborn to attend the Inter· Union Gas
Conference to be held in Houston, Texas,
on l anuary 12, 13, and 14, 1977.
Business Manager Tholbom and President
George Crawford atlended a labor leadership
5C'minar held in POrt Arthur, Texas, on
December 4, 1976. The seminar was spon·
sored by the Tuas AFL-CIO.
ROB ERT PARSONS, P.S.
Local 2325 Writes
First Letter to Journal
I .. U, BU. WORCESTER. MASS.- This is
the first article being submined by this local
to "local U nes" and .... e hope the first of
many more. Local 2l2S CO\'ers the central
Massachusetts area of the New England
Telepho ne Company. We ha ... e appro:ti.
mately 1,800 Brothers and Sisters in this
local. At the present time we are divided
into fi ... e units. By Ihe time this article is in
print, the memben will ha vCl vOled on se ...·
ernl local bylaw changes, one of which will
be to merge the fi ve units inlo one meeting
per month at one location. that location
being Westboro or Marlboro. preferably, as
they are the most centrally located. The
local', nev.ly elected slate of officers for the
ntxt three yean is as follows: Business Manager
Toby Brigham; Assistant Business Manager
Cliff Cox; President Larry Staples; Vice
President Ken Cox; Recording Secretary
Barbara Dusek: Treasurer Joan McGuirk;
Ellecutive Board oflken, Chip Wheeler.
Framin£ham; Ronnie High, Worcester: Joe
Scanlon, Marlboro; Dick Schuren. Filch·
burs: Bob Burns, Milford.
November brought 10 our local the first
Supcr tltnrket concept loeated on Route 9
in Natick. All one has to do is go to the
business office in Notick, pick up their
phone nnd take it home and plug it in.
AliloOllllion a nd modular equipment nrc
rea lly starting to take their toll on our jobs
in the telephone industry.
TSI'S, ESS, AIS and Cen traliled Repair
Service arc four new concepts in telephone
Ihot arc really stnrting to show what auto·
mation and centralization are doing to
hinder the futu re jobs of our Brothers and
Sisters. This has created surplus conditions
throughout the entire property with III),offs,
rearrangements, and trnnders of some personnel
with over 20 years of loyal un'iu
to Ma Dell.
Well, I could go on and on to no a ... nil
but il seems a ~hllme that such II large le£al
monopoly can be so grossly mismanogcd
that it hos to layoff people with over six
)'ears' service due to gross mismanagement
and overhiring in the past.
This local is making an attempt to form
II Coordinoted Safety Commillee belween
the union and management. We arc still
waitins to henr from management.
We hn\e started a bimonthly newsletter
and can use any and a ll information acquired
through our membership. Please call
the union office or sec your steward.
RCOIenlber. the strength of yOllr local is
05 Slrong as }'Oll make it.
Bon BURNS, P.S.
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