Thomas "Tommy" Yarbrough oral history interview, 2005-09-15

NORMAN SLAWSKY: -- oral history with Thomas S. Yarbrough, Tommy Yarbrough, or T. S. Yarbrough, who is business manager of IBEW Local 1579 in Augusta. I'm Norman Slawsky. Could you describe your, where you are from and your family background, where you were born and just some family background for us?

THOMAS YARBROUGH: I was born in Washington County on November 17, 1935. I spent about 17 years on a farm and all of my family was on the farm all their life. Dad had worked the farm until he died. I came to Augusta in 1951 or 1952, went 00:01:00to work at a cotton mill, worked there for about five years, got into the apprenticeship program...

SLAWSKY: The IBEW apprentice...

YARBROUGH: the IBEW apprenticeship program and went to work at the Savannah River Site for the first two years, and then I was drafted into the Army in 1958, October, 1958.

SLAWSKY: Was your family from Washington County?

YARBROUGH: Yes, they was.

SLAWSKY: You mentioned that your dad was a farmer. Had your family owned that land for a long time?

YARBROUGH: No, they was share croppers and he just run a big plantation there.

SLAWSKY: What did they raise?

YARBROUGH: Cotton, peanuts, corn, wheat, oats, [inaudible], everything.

SLAWSKY: Did you work the fields, too?

YARBROUGH: Oh yes, I did.

SLAWSKY: Ok. Were you expected--did you have any brothers and sisters?

YARBROUGH: Yes I had-- there were six of us, one girl, five boys, and we all worked in the fields.

SLAWSKY: Which place were you in there?

YARBROUGH: I was number one.

SLAWSKY: You are the oldest?

YARBROUGH: I'm the oldest.

SLAWSKY: Oh no kidding, that's interesting. Anything you remember in particular? Did you have to work pretty hard in the fields?

YARBROUGH: I had to work very hard in the fields. I got up at 4:30 every morning, went to work, went out and got the tractor ready to go to the field. I'd go to the field and work till lunch, come home and have lunch, go back and work till sundown.

SLAWSKY: Now, was that in the summertime or the whole year?

YARBROUGH: It was summertime and when I went to school, I went to school, and when I came home from school, I'd get home from school about 2:30 then I would go to the fields and work all year long.

SLAWSKY: And what about your brothers and sisters, they work?

YARBROUGH: Same thing, same thing.

SLAWSKY: Because you are the oldest, was more expected of you?

YARBROUGH: Uh, no. One, two, three, there was three of us, me, my brother, and my sister, there was more expected of us than the other three. The other three 00:03:00had to work but not, not like we did.

SLAWSKY: Was your father in the field most of the time?

YARBROUGH: My father was in the field all the time.

SLAWSKY: All the time, OK. He must have worked pretty hard.

YARBROUGH: Yes, he did.

SLAWSKY: And you had to share the crop with the landowner?

YARBROUGH: Yes, I did-- yes we did.

SLAWSKY: Did you have enough to eat or was it - in other words, did you...

YARBROUGH: We had plenty to eat all the time. Clothes and shoes, you know, they were scarce; but we never went hungry. Always plenty to eat.

SLAWSKY: What about the house you lived in?

YARBROUGH: It was, you see them on the side of the road now sometimes like them old (break in audio)

SLAWSKY: You lived in one of these houses with the rusted tin roofs?

YARBROUGH: Rusted tin roof and no insulation. You could look out and see the stars at night. And we slept two to the bed. No fans, no air conditioning.

SLAWSKY: So how old were you when you left Washington County?

YARBROUGH: I was 17 years old.

SLAWSKY: Why did you leave?

YARBROUGH: I had to have a better way of life.

SLAWSKY: Did you finish high school?

YARBROUGH: I finished high school and got some college credits. I finished high school after I left Washington County.

SLAWSKY: Where did you finish, in Augusta?

YARBROUGH: I finished in Texas.

SLAWSKY: How did you end up in Texas?

YARBROUGH: I was in the Army.

SLAWSKY: Ok. Oh, after you joined the Army.

YARBROUGH: Yes.

SLAWSKY: Why did you go to Augusta?

YARBROUGH: All of my, most all of my kin-people had left the farm to come to Augusta and went to work in the cotton mills, some of them went to work there with IBEW.

SLAWSKY: Ok. So, you actually had some uncles or relatives...

YARBROUGH: I had some first cousins in the IBEW.

SLAWSKY: Is that how you found out about it?

YARBROUGH: That's how I found about it, yes.

SLAWSKY: And why did you decide to join the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: Well, I knew I had a good future in it because I had seen, you know, what they done. It was fascinating and I love it and I still love it.

SLAWSKY: Did you like the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: I loved it.

SLAWSKY: Why?

YARBROUGH: I just did. It was a challenge.

SLAWSKY: You like the wiring and learning...

YARBROUGH: I liked the wiring, the learning, I liked the challenge of the test. Never failed a test in my life.

SLAWSKY: How long was the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: Four years.

SLAWSKY: It was a four-year program. And it still is a four-year program?

YARBROUGH: It's five.

SLAWSKY: Five-year program, OK. And so, how old were you when you finished the apprenticeship program? So, if you said you were 17 and worked till you were - five years in the cotton mill that would have made you about 22.

YARBROUGH: I was about twenty--I was about 21 when I left the cotton mill. And, uh, I went into the apprenticeship program about 21. I had a two-year stint in the Army after that, after the first two years.

SLAWSKY: Which year was that?

YARBROUGH: It was the year of 1958, 1959, 1960.

SLAWSKY: That was after the Korean War.

YARBROUGH: Right.

SLAWSKY: So there was no...

YARBROUGH: Before the Vietnam War.

SLAWSKY: You did all right. (laughter)

YARBROUGH: Did it just right.

SLAWSKY: Where Did you serve in the Army?

YARBROUGH: I served in the Army out in White Sands New Mexico. I was in the 40th missile battalion out there.

SLAWSKY: What kind of work did you do in the Army?

YARBROUGH: I was in signal.

SLAWSKY: Did you use any of the skills you learned in the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: Oh yes, certainly.

SLAWSKY: Did you pick up any more skills?

YARBROUGH: Not really. Cause it was nothing except putting up communications, you know telephones and things of that nature.

SLAWSKY: You mentioned you finished high school in Texas. How did that come about?

YARBROUGH: The Army, the army sent me to full time school out there.

SLAWSKY: So, that was included in your two years?

YARBROUGH: Yeah.

SLAWSKY: Very good. So did you get a GED or regular high school diploma?

YARBROUGH: I got a regular high school diploma.

SLAWSKY: So, you actually went through regular high school and sat in on the classes. Pretty good.

YARBROUGH: Sit in classes every day. And they was nice about me.

SLAWSKY: When you finished the Army, what did you do?

YARBROUGH: When I finished the Army, I come back here and took off three days, and then went to work back out at SRS.

SLAWSKY: So, you had worked at SRS...

YARBROUGH: Right, I had my job when I came back.

SLAWSKY: And who did you work for?

YARBROUGH: I worked for Miller Dunn.

SLAWSKY: No kidding, all those years.

YARBROUGH: All those years.

SLAWSKY: Wow. What kind of work did you do out there?

YARBROUGH: We had everything out there that really an apprentice would ever run into or want. It was construction work.

SLAWSKY: Now, just so we know, you say SRS, what is SRS?

YARBROUGH: Savannah River Site.

SLAWSKY: And what do they do there?

YARBROUGH: They used to make tritium, well they still make tritium, and made the components for bombs, hydrogen bomb, atomic bombs and all that.

SLAWSKY: So, you were working for Miller Dunn who was an electrical contractor.

YARBROUGH: Absolutely right.

SLAWSKY: And did you work as part of a crew or how did you do it?

YARBROUGH: Yes, I did, I was part of a crew and in my four years of apprenticeship, they would - Mr. James Carter was the project manager out there, he would take you in, leave you with a terminal for about six months and then, he would change you to another terminal. So, you get diversified training.

SLAWSKY: Do you feel like you got pretty well trained out there?

YARBROUGH: Oh yeah. All my training was done there. I loved it.

SLAWSKY: Did you have to attend any classes when you were in the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: Yes. We--the company sent us to school out there for a half a day each week, on company time, paid for it, paid us, and then the last year we was at school, he sent us one whole day a week.

SLAWSKY: How about the IBEW, did you have to attend any classes through the IBEW apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: No, I didn't, I didn't attend that. It was all out there. It was a partnership between the IBEW and Miller Dunn.

SLAWSKY: And how many electricians worked at Miller Dunn at that time?

YARBROUGH: At that time, there was probably, they built up to around 200 electricians. And when we left from out there, when everybody was through from out there, there was only three apprentices left out there and I was one of them. That was in 1962, when I went back out there, '62 I turned out in 1962 because I had two years to go, I come back in October, 1960, and I spent '61 and '62 in school, finishing school.

SLAWSKY: Ok so by 1962, you were a journeyman.

YARBROUGH: I was journeyman yes.

SLAWSKY: Did you become a member of IBEW 1579 when you became an apprentice or when you became a journeyman?

YARBROUGH: When I became an apprentice. I went to work, actually, in November, 1956 and I joined the first meeting in January, 1957.

SLAWSKY: Why did you join the union?

YARBROUGH: Why did I join the union, because it was - I wanted to, really, because I could see the things that they was doing, doing for the journeymen and all that.

SLAWSKY: Had you had any exposure to the union before that?

YARBROUGH: Never had, never had except through my first cousins.

SLAWSKY: Who were members of the IBEW?

YARBROUGH: Members of the IBEW.

SLAWSKY: Now, had they worked out at SRS?

YARBROUGH: Yes, they had.

SLAWSKY: So, did you work under any of them?

YARBROUGH: Yes, I did at times.

SLAWSKY: So, they must have been pretty experienced by that time?

YARBROUGH: They was, yes.

SLAWSKY: And how long did you work over at Savannah River?

YARBROUGH: I worked over there until 1966.

SLAWSKY: So from-- for about six years.

YARBROUGH: Excluding the two years in the Army, I went over there in '56 and worked till about '66.

SLAWSKY: OK. And you worked for Miller Dunn that whole time?

YARBROUGH: Miller Dunn the whole time.

SLAWSKY: Where did you work after that?

YARBROUGH: After that, I had various jobs in various cities.

SLAWSKY: Were you traveling at that time?

YARBROUGH: Traveling at that time. I was traveling for about eight years.

SLAWSKY: Why did you travel?

YARBROUGH: Had no work here.

SLAWSKY: So, you became what they call a boomer.

YARBROUGH: Right. That's right.

SLAWSKY: And where did you travel to?

YARBROUGH: Well I traveled to Alabama; I traveled to Pittsburgh; I traveled to some places in Georgia, and I went to work in Atlanta, Macon. I guess Pittsburgh was where I stayed the most.

SLAWSKY: Did you take your family with you?

YARBROUGH: Always took my family with me.

SLAWSKY: How did you manage that with the kids?

YARBROUGH: I just took them out of school and put them in another school.

SLAWSKY: And did you get an apartment? Where did you live?

YARBROUGH: Most of the time, I got a house.

SLAWSKY: You were in a house.

YARBROUGH: A house.

SLAWSKY: Did you have a house in Augusta, rent a house?

YARBROUGH: I rented a house in Augusta.

SLAWSKY: So, did you actually move your furniture?

YARBROUGH: I didn't move the furniture, I stored the furniture. I rented a place that was furnished and all wherever I went. I went to a lot of places but, like I say Pittsburgh, I stayed there for about three and a half years, in one house. I loved it.

SLAWSKY: You did.

YARBROUGH: I did.

SLAWSKY: How come you didn't stay there? How come you didn't stay in Pittsburgh?

YARBROUGH: Well, I just got sort of homesick, come back to be around mom and dad and them for a while.

SLAWSKY: So, your kids went to school in Pittsburgh for a while.

YARBROUGH: Pittsburgh, yes. They went to school in Pittsburgh. They went to 00:13:00school in Atlanta. They went to school in Macon. They went to school in Alabama. They was in school in Pittsburgh.

SLAWSKY: And Helen didn't mind just picking up and moving.

YARBROUGH: She wouldn't have it no other way. You know, a family that lives together stays together.

SLAWSKY: Yeah, I guess so. Because, you know, a lot of guys just pick up and leave, but they probably will not stay married.

YARBROUGH: I have seen a lot of it over my years.

SLAWSKY: So, your family and children and Helen are very, very important to you?

YARBROUGH: Very important to me, the most important thing in my life, that and my religion, God, and country, my country.

SLAWSKY: What about--we'll talk about that in a while, but you said that you traveled for about eight years; that would take you up to about 1974

YARBROUGH: That's Right

SLAWSKY: And did you return to Augusta?

YARBROUGH: I returned to Augusta and went to work at Dwight David Eisenhower Hospital, stayed down there until it was finished.

SLAWSKY: That was a VA hospital?

YARBROUGH: VA hospital. Well, no it wasn't a VA hospital, Dwight David Eisenhower Hospital. I don't know whether you call it a VA hospital or not, that's out there on the post.

SLAWSKY: Oh I'm sorry, that's a post hospital.

YARBROUGH: That's the post hospital.

SLAWSKY: Ok, and is that at Fort Gordon?

YARBROUGH: Fort Gordon, yes.

SLAWSKY: So, that was a construction project that you worked on.

YARBROUGH: Right.

SLAWSKY: So, did you buy a house, get a house, rent a house in Augusta?

YARBROUGH: I bought here.

SLAWSKY: Ok so, you were planning to stay for a while.

YARBROUGH: I was planning to stay [inaudible].

SLAWSKY: Had work picked up in Augusta by that time?

YARBROUGH: It had picked up some. We started with Fort Gordon and when we left there, we went over to the mall. The mall was being built.

SLAWSKY: A lot of construction going on in this area?

YARBROUGH: Right. In fact, I was at the mall and I was getting ready to run for this job.

SLAWSKY: Now, who was the business agent at that time?

YARBROUGH: Tom Snyder was the business manager, the last business manager before me.

SLAWSKY: And who was before him?

YARBROUGH: Bill Carter.

SLAWSKY: And how long had Mr. Carter served in office?

YARBROUGH: He served in office probably about six or seven years.

SLAWSKY: And who was his successor?

YARBROUGH: Mr. Carter died, and then Snyder, and he served a couple of terms I think. And then I run.

SLAWSKY: And why did you-- how did you get involved in the union?

YARBROUGH: In 1978, I run for the international convention.

SLAWSKY: Why did you want to run for office? What caused you to...

YARBROUGH: I had a lot of people to ask me to run.

SLAWSKY: Why?

YARBROUGH: I really don't know. I guess because they knew I was fair and I was a hard worker and they just liked me.

SLAWSKY: Had you been a foreman or supervisor?

YARBROUGH: Oh yes. I had been a foreman, general foreman and all that, and a worker. Everybody knew that I was honest and everybody knew that I was fair, so they talked me into running.

SLAWSKY: So, when you returned to Augusta, you were working as a superintendent by that time?

YARBROUGH: No, I was working - returned to Augusta, I came back as a journeyman.

SLAWSKY: But you worked your way up as a foreman.

YARBROUGH: As a foreman and general foreman.

SLAWSKY: Did you work for any particular contractor?

YARBROUGH: No, no I didn't work for any particular contractor. I worked for Truland [inaudible] out at Eisenhower Hospital. I worked for Bagby Electric over here at the mall. I worked for [inaudible] down here at the fertilizer plant. I 00:17:00guess I was working for Bagby when I ran.

SLAWSKY: And so you said you ran for delegate to the international convention. That was in 19...

YARBROUGH: 1978.

SLAWSKY: 78. Did you get elected?

YARBROUGH: yes I did.

SLAWSKY: Where was that convention?

YARBROUGH: It was in Atlantic City.

SLAWSKY: Did you attend?

YARBROUGH: I attended and I enjoyed it.

SLAWSKY: Why did you like it? What did you see there?

YARBROUGH: I just enjoyed the way things was done there. I guess it just made me want to run a little more.

SLAWSKY: So, in other words, you wanted to be active in the union?

YARBROUGH: I wanted to be active, yes.

SLAWSKY: So, that was '78. Did you decide you were going to run for office then?

YARBROUGH: Yes, in '79.

SLAWSKY: 79. That was for--that was against the incumbent.

YARBROUGH: No, the incumbent quit. He retired. I supported the incumbent both times he ran.

SLAWSKY: So, there was an open seat.

YARBROUGH: Right, open seat. And there was five, six of us running. Me and another guy got same amount of votes, 90 votes apiece.

SLAWSKY: Absolute tie.

YARBROUGH: So, we run, and then we had to run an election and I beat him by one vote.

SLAWSKY: You got elected by one vote.

YARBROUGH: One vote and they protested the election and they overturned the election. I beat him again by one vote.

SLAWSKY: So, you had a rerun of the election.

YARBROUGH: Right. I beat him again by one vote.

SLAWSKY: Really, one vote.

YARBROUGH: They protested the election and had to rerun it twice, and I beat him next time by 60 voters.

SLAWSKY: And that was in '81.

YARBROUGH: No, that was in '79.

SLAWSKY: '79, OK. Have you been in office since then?

YARBROUGH: Yes.

SLAWSKY: And did you get elected by more than one vote the next time?

YARBROUGH: Oh yeah. Didn't have anyone running against me the next time.

SLAWSKY: Have you ever had an opponent?

YARBROUGH: Oh yes. I have had an opponent every time except three times.

SLAWSKY: Ever look back, ever decide that you want to go back in the field?

YARBROUGH: I miss it, I really do. I feel like I've done some things I wanted to do in the local union. We've got our pension plan up where we can retire and enjoy. We are taking care of the older people, now, which we wasn't doing before. And I feel like we got some pretty good relations with all of the employers and I am hoping to leave it with a man who comes along who thinks the same way I do. So, it's been enjoyable. I have been here 26 years, 26 years and three months. I got nine more months on this term and then I retire.

SLAWSKY: So, you are going to serve out this term...

YARBROUGH: I am going to serve out this term.

SLAWSKY: You are not going to retire before the term is up?

YARBROUGH: No.

SLAWSKY: Just have an open seat.

YARBROUGH: Have an open seat and

SLAWKY: And let them go for it.

YARBROUGH: Let them go for it.

SLAWSKY: The same way that you did.

YARBROUGH: That's right. I will be backing someone.

SLAWSKY: Ok. Tell me about some of the reasons that you - a couple of things, maybe - you mentioned some of the accomplishments that you had in office, kind of just hit the high points. I know you've been through some pretty flush times, very busy times, and other pretty slow times. For example, you were the business manager, I imagine, pretty early in your term Plant Vogtle was constructed, units one and units two. What was that like, because that was the largest construction project on the east coast at the time.

YARBROUGH: That's right. It was just about the only work that was going on 00:21:00during that time. I had a hundred and something local unions represented here at one time.

SLAWSKY: You did?

YARBROUGH: Yes.

SLAWSKY: You had, I remember you told me one time, you had people coming in from Alaska and everywhere.

YARBROUGH: Everywhere. I sure did. I had people working here from Alaska. I counted it up one day and I had 101 local unions that had people working here.

SLAWSKY: How many electricians were working there?

YARBROUGH: 3500

SLAWSKY: 3500!

YARBROUGH: Yes, Vogtle and SRS, yes.

SLAWSKY: Gosh.

YARBROUGH: I was writing 4,500 to 4,800 referrals a year. I done it five years in a row. People coming through and making a week or two, and just going on somewhere else.

SLAWSKY: And how long did that project go on?

YARBROUGH: That project went on for, from 1979 or 1980, really, to about the middle '80s.

SLAWSKY: Now, that was before what we call reciprocal agreements. [inaudible]

YARBROUGH: Reciprocals went into effect in 1984.

SLAWSKY: Explain what a reciprocal is.

YARBROUGH: Reciprocal is where the money follows a man wherever he works at. And…

SLAWSKY: In other words, it goes back to his home local.

YARBROUGH: It goes back to his home local and –it should have been- it's the best thing that ever happened to a construction electrician or anybody else, really.

SLAWSKY: But before that, what happened?

YARBROUGH: Before that, you would work and just leave your money at that local union and that was it, because you couldn't get vested.

SLAWSKY: So, that provided a pretty strong base for the IBEW pension fund.

YARBROUGH: It sure did. Like I say, in 1984, when we could sign reciprocal agreements, I was probably one of the first local unions to sign it.

SLAWSKY: Were you.

YARBROUGH: I felt very strongly that money should follow the man wherever he wanted to go.

SLAWSKY: That agreement is still in effect.

YARBROUGH: It's still in effect, yes.

SLAWSKY: So that was, I guess that was the biggest project you ever worked on.

YARBROUGH: Yeah, the biggest project. You talking about Vogtle?

SLAWSKY: Yeah.

YARBROUGH: That was 7-24 for me. We had the 4-10s, days, 4-10s at night; 3-11s Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the weekends, days, 3-11 night. You can imagine that I got calls at 2:00 in the morning on Saturday morning - come on out here. So, I had to get up and go. Course, it was enjoyable, very enjoyable.

SLAWSKY: And what happened when that project was running down?

YARBROUGH: When it started winding down? Well, we had some people out there 00:24:00quite a few people out there until 1989, had probably about 500 electricians out there, maybe a little more. Vogtle started winding down, I started putting a few out at SRS and then, they got saturated and I couldn't put no more out there so I started sending some off on the road. Of course, you know, I had worked over the years and I had contacts all over the country. Still have them.

SLAWSKY: So you had a lot of business agents who owed favors to you.

YARBROUGH: That's right. Absolutely. And, they repay them, they are still repaying today.

SLAWSKY: People remember and are very generous to local members.

YARBROUGH: Just about every business manager in the fifth district has worked at Vogtle.

SLAWSKY: Really. That's interesting.

YARBROUGH: You really don't know it until you get to talking to them and they tell you who they worked for and when they worked down there. Just about everyone. I really don't know of one who didn't.

SLAWSKY: You think all this talk about building another reactor at Vogtle will actually happen?

YARBROUGH: Oh, yes I do think it'll happen.

SLAWSKY: Do you think it would ever be as big as it was?

YARBROUGH: No. The reactors won't be as big. They'll come in, you know, on what we call skids, you know. Partially put together. They'll never be as big.

SLAWSKY: So, it will be constructed off site.

YARBROUGH: Right. They will come in--just like you see a house partially put together, that's the way the units will come in. They will never be like they was down there.

SLAWSKY: Built from the ground up.

YARBROUGH: Right. That won't happen no more; too much money. They ain't got that kind of money anymore.

SLAWSKY: Well, even Vogtle is very expensive.

YARBROUGH: Very expensive. It's paid off itself.

SLAWSKY: It has.

YARBROUGH: Oh yeah, around 98%, 99%. You don't find another reactor in the country that runs like that.

SLAWSKY: Really, and they don't have many problems there?

YARBROUGH: No, no problems at all.

SLAWSKY: Safety has been really good.

YARBROUGH: Very good. We have had good relations down there with those people at Vogtle and it's worked out good for us and for them.

SLAWSKY: Who's the main contractor at Vogtle?

YARBROUGH: Williams Power, Williams Plant Services. Jimmy Cleveland was the - Cleveland Electrical was the contractor down there during construction.

SLAWSKY: They did very well.

YARBROUGH: I had 25 electrical contractors down there.

SLAWSKY: 25. So, every electrical contractor in the southeast must have worked there. (laughter). Gosh. Wow. Now, after that, any other big projects besides Savannah River and Vogtle?

YARBROUGH: That was the biggest project. We haven't had any big projects. We 00:27:00have just finished up a $55 million project for the county, about as big as we had.

SLAWSKY: What kind of project was there?

YARBROUGH: It is the water treatment plant. A contractor out of Atlanta done that job.

SLAWSKY: Is that Player?

YARBROUGH: Huh?

SLAWSKY: Who did the project?

YARBROUGH: I don't know who the general contractor was on that.

SLAWSKY: Was it Player and Company.

YARBROUGH: I am trying to think. I don't think so.

SLAWSKY: Did you have any--You mentioned that some of your cousins were in the local, did you have any role models or anyone who was your mentor or you know, you followed after?

YARBROUGH: Well…no, I didn't follow after them, not after my cousins now, my cousins are very smart in electrical, but they were very dumb in other ways. So, 00:28:00no, I didn't. Now, my daddy was my role model because he was as honest as the day is long. Worked hard all his life. I am used to that, too. But as far as anybody in the electrical industry, no I didn't have any role models in that; I made – like I say, I love my cousins and all, they are very smart in electrical work, but dumb in other ways. [inaudible]

SLAWSKY: Has the union been really important to you?

YARBROUGH: Yes it has.

SLAWSKY: Why?

YARBROUGH: Very important. It's made me and my family a very, very good living, very good living. And it's done some things that was done before I come in, you know, I'm talking about [inaudible] 40 hours, eight-hour workdays, 40-hour 00:29:00workweek, you know and safety, and all this. I guess safety is probably one of the biggest things that the union has backed. When I say backed, you know we don't want any job that is unsafe. We don't want anybody hurt on the job. I guess Ed Hill preaches that more than anything else, really.

SLAWSKY: Ed Hill is general president of the IBEW.

YARBROUGH: General president of the IBEW, yes. That, and giving a day's work for a day's pay, he's big on that, I am, too.

SLAWSKY: You know I interviewed Edgar West, with the Iron Workers local 709, and he told me how much you and he negotiated and worked with Bechtel, over at Savannah River. Can you tell me about that?

YARBROUGH: Yeah, it was a fun time. You know, a fun time with Edgar West. Edgar and I and John Howanitz spent quite a while on negotiating...

SLAWSKY: Sorry, who?

YARBROUGH: John Howanitz.

SLAWSKY: Who is he?

YARBROUGH: He was the, he did labor relations at the time out there for Bechtel. Edgar West and myself negotiated with him for PLA out at SRS.

SLAWSKY: And when did that PLA come in?

YARBROUGH: In 1995.

SLAWSKY: And that covered all the craftwork at Savannah River?

YARBROUGH: All the, Davis Bacon work at Savannah River, site.

SLAWSKY: And how did it come down that you and Edgar ended up working on it?

YARBROUGH: We was elected by the - I was president of the Building Trades at the time and we was elected by the members [inaudible].

SLAWSKY: I understand it was a real smooth process without any glitches. [laughter]

YARBROUGH: It was a smooth process,

SLAWSKY: Was it a smooth process?

YARBROUGH: It was. Once we started negotiating it was smooth. Me and John and Edgar sat down [inaudible] and started to negotiate this thing and get it right. When we got it right, we brought it back to Building Trades and the Building Trades accepted, and I went around and got everybody's signatures.

SLAWSKY: How did it come about that you got a PLA? Project Labor Agreement.

YARBROUGH: I had sued Bechtel, Westinghouse, and DOE, and they asked me to go to--the day before we were supposed to go in court, they called out here and asked me would I hold up on it and let's go to arb—not arbitration—

SLAWSKY: Mediation

YARBROUGH: Mediation. I said, yeah, if you get this guy, this...

SLAWSKY: W. J. [Usery].

YARBROUGH: Right. And they says, "Let us get back with you." So they got back with me and the next afternoon because they said, "yeah, we'll use W.J. [Usery]." [inaudible]

SLAWSKY: I remembered you had called me and asked...

YARBROUGH: Yeah. So, they called back the next afternoon and said yeah, we will do it. We had set it up, already had it, so we worked over there for 3 days and we got it hammered out.

SLAWSKY: Why didn't Bechtel want to sign a project labor agreement?

YARBROUGH: It wasn't Bechtel that didn't want to sign one, it was Westinghouse. They didn't want no part—they didn't want no union people out there is really what it was.

SLAWSKY: Ok and what about the Department of Energy?

YARBROUGH: They didn't want any out there either. So, but, the Department of Energy and Bechtel, Westinghouse, and all lawyers for them was at the mediation 00:33:00and we got it hammered out and Usery said, after he told us what to do, he said, "Now, I am going to check back with you and see if you done that." And we promised them we'd do it and we did. It took us about a year to get this thing…

SLAWSKY: What was the lawsuit about?

YARBROUGH: They was doing work out there and wouldn't let other people bid on it.

SLAWSKY: This was Davis Bacon [work ?].

YARBROUGH: So, you know, I proceeded to.. .I had to do something, in court. The Electricians just did it and when Edgar came on board, with me, then he and I started working together, and I am going to tell you, he's a blessing to work with. He might say he's a dumb, old ironworker, but he ain't no dumb, old ironworker.

SLAWSKY: No, he's not. He's pretty sharp. Frankly, Edgar admires you very much 00:34:00and I know you admire Edgar...

YARBROUGH: Well I'm crazy about him. I just love him to death. I sure do.

SLAWSKY: Now, you two have actually worked together since then.

YARBROUGH: Oh yeah, we've worked together a lot of times. In fact, Edgar West and myself when we were working on that, we had to go to Florida and meet with the Building Trades secretary.

SLAWSKY: The National Building Trades.

YARBROUGH: Right, National Building and Trades and he told us not to sign that agreement until we got Paducah and somewhere in Ohio on that agreement. He said "You wait until we get them signed up before you sign." So me and Edgar come on back to Augusta and you know what we told them; we got ours signed. We got ours signed the next week. I don't know what happened to Paducah and Ohio.

SLAWSKY: Um, but you have also had other disputes with Bechtel that you and Edgar have worked on together.

YARBROUGH: Oh yes. We have had several disputes with Bechtel that we've worked on. Offhand, I can't remember all of them. I know Edgar was working on one a while back, this A Plan and B Plan thing and in fact, it's still an ongoing issue. It's not going away for a while, you know.

SLAWSKY: No it's not, until those guys retire, it's not going to go away.

YARBROUGH: That's true. But Edgar and I, I guess had the best relationship of anybody on any Building Trades that I know. And you know, I don't cuss, but Edgar could cuss.

SLAWSKY: I can't imagine. (Laughter).

YARBROUGH: And I shouldn't tell this on him, but we was up there in the Usery 00:36:00Building and he got to saying something and I kicked him in the leg. He's always remembered that. He says "When I get to saying - too much, Tom kicks me on the leg." He's retired now.

SLAWSKY: One thing that impresses me very much about both you and Edgar is you always keep your eye on the ball, which is: jobs for your members.

YARBROUGH: That's right, absolutely. That's all we care about: jobs for our members and making sure our members are treated right, making sure our members are treating the company right, too. Sometimes, that's hard to do, make the members treat the company right.

SLAWSKY: As you say, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

YARBROUGH: Right; 90% of our people does that, but you have got the 10% that screw it up for everybody.

SLAWSKY: You mentioned about your father where honesty and integrity was very important for him, is that a value that's important for you?

YARBROUGH: It's the onliest value I live by, that's the thing I live by, is honesty and integrity. If you tell a man something, a woman something, and you 00:37:00go back on it, your integrity is shot. I've always - my dad told me, he said, son, don't lie, don't steal, and work hard. He said, you will be alright through your life. I never told a lie. Now I might slip around and tell mama a lie, "I didn't do that, mama," you know, I might tell a lie for you, but I ain't going to tell you a lie. (laughter).

SLAWSKY: Interesting distinction. Have you ever been active in other union activities, besides local, Fifth District or any other IBEW...

YARBROUGH: Yes, yes I have. I was on the council for five years appointed by the president, of the CIR.

SLAWSKY: Oh, you were on CIR. OK.

YARBROUGH: I was on the safety council.

SLAWSKY: CIR is...

YARBROUGH: Council of Industrial Relations...

SLAWSKY: And that is used to resolve wage and labor disputes?

YARBROUGH: Wage and labor disputes and management disputes and all of that.

SLAWSKY: Ok, and how many labor people are in that?

YARBROUGH: We have eight labor people and eight management people.

SLAWSKY: And that's a national board.

YARBROUGH: Right. And everybody has to agree. You cannot have one dissenting vote. You have to sit there and negotiate until you get the whole 16 people to agree.

SLAWSKY: You must have had some pretty long meetings.

YARBROUGH: We did, some very long meetings. Most of the time, it was pretty well cut - you knew what the wages had to be; you knew that they had to be in that area; so, most of the time, it was pretty well cut and dry. But I have sat there for five hours at a time on one seat.

SLAWSKY: I remember for one IBEW convention in San Francisco, you were on a committee.

YARBROUGH: Yes, I was on the law committee. I spent a week in Washington, prior to going to San Francisco, and then I spent two weeks in San Francisco.

SLAWSKY: I remember, you don't like taking airplanes.

YARBROUGH: No, I don't; I rode a train out there.

SLAWSKY: You and Helen went by train.

YARBROUGH: Right, on Amtrak. That was very good.

SLAWSKY: How come you don't like going on airplanes?

YARBROUGH: I never flew on one.

SLAWSKY: You have never ever flown on a plane?

YARBROUGH: No. I had dreams about it, had dreams about them things falling. That's the reason I ain't been on one. I'm ready to get on one. My life is right, I'm ready.

SLAWSKY: How has the IBEW 1579 changed since you started in it and how do you think it's - what do you think is going to happen in the future?

YARBROUGH: Well, I have seen the change from the time that I came in until now, and I don't like the change. I don't like what I see in the future.

SLAWSKY: Tell me what you mean.

YARBROUGH: What I mean is when I was out there working in the field, you gave the man 8 for 8, you satisfied the customer. It's not like that anymore. You have got too many young people in there that wants to say, screw the contractor, screw the customer and all that. You know, they think since they've got a ticket in their pocket they can do anything. It's a pretty big band of people that's like that. You know who I'm talking about, without naming anybody. I don't like the way it's going, I really don't. Now, we got the Code of 00:41:00Excellence and we are implementing that here at this local union. A lot of other local unions that are implementing that, so that might change things. It might change, because if you don't adhere to the Code of Excellence, one way or another, you are going to get out. Kicked out, pushed out, or run out, or something. With the Code of Excellence, I can see this thing changing around. I'm afraid Ed Hill isn't going to last long enough to see it 100%. Whoever we get the next time might not feel the same way he does. I can see it changing, but it's not changing for the better, I think it's for the worst. And I hate to say that.

SLAWSKY: Do you think you've played a pretty important role in this, in local 1579?

YARBROUGH: I feel like I have. I feel like I've helped a lot of people. I feel like sometime, my goal in life is to help people and along my way, some kind of 00:42:00way, that's probably what I do, is help. When they was up or when they was down, I've always tried to help. I've enjoyed these 26 years and three months being business manager. I guess the people must have enjoyed it because they've elected me every time. They elected me, even though one of my assistants was running against me. One of my stewards ran against me, at the same time. One of my friends run against me at the same time, three of them running against me, so I still had to get 50% plus and I did. So, I guess that they still like me a little bit.

SLAWSKY: You mentioned that your family and religion is very important. Tell me about that.

YARBROUGH: Well, I--my family has always been important. I've been a family-oriented person ever since I was big enough to know anything, so, with the five of us boys and one girl—[inaudible]. So then, I had my own family and that's the most precious thing in the world to me, my own family. When I say religion, it's not religion, it's my faith in God that brought me through some very trying times.

SLAWSKY: I remember one time that Helen was very ill and that you traveled with her out to California. Tell me about that, if you don't mind.

YARBROUGH: I don't mind at all. She had cancer, breast cancer [break in audio]

[Silence]

SLAWSKY: You had taken a trip to California when Helen had cancer

YARBROUGH: Yes she had breast cancer and she had her breast taken off and about a year later, the cancer come back all over her body. And we went to see the doctor and they done an operation and found out it was all over her body so they told us she had about six months to live. And so we…

SLAWSKY: And when was this?

YARBROUGH: This was in '91. I think it was '90 or '91. And she had--we went to see the, what do they call them? The oncologist and he told us about the treatment. She says "What if I take the chemo, what kind of life would I have?" He said, some of them have pretty good lives, some are sick. Some just can't tolerate it. She said, well how long will I expect to live if I take it? He said, less than a year. She said, "I'm not going to take it." So, and she didn't. In the meantime, her friend heard about this treatment that was in Greece and so she went to a seminar they had up in Tennessee. About a month later, she had heard about a seminar up there and she talked to the people that 00:46:00had been there and done it – some cancer patients. Also talked to some of the doctors that was going to be treating it. So, she come back home and she said, I'm going. It's in Mexico, now, I'm going to Mexico now, instead of Greece. So, I sent her and her sister out to Mexico, Tijuana, and they stayed out there 25 days. She came back feeling like a different woman.

SLAWKSY: Better or worse?

YARBROUGH: Man, she looked so refreshed and all. So, when she got off the plane, I knew something was working. She had a lot of faith that she was going to last. And she, for ten years, eleven years…

SLAWSKY: This was in 1991. This is 2005 and she's still around.

YARBROUGH: That's right. In 2001, she went to her cancer doctor over here at MCG, and they found some spots on her lungs. So, we took the x-rays and went back out there.

SLAWSKY: To Tijuana?

YARBROUGH: Right, and the doctor showed us where each of those spots was and told us what it was and the cancer count was way up there. When she left there, her cancer count was normal. She took 20 something more treatments. That was in 2001. She was doing good. She's got cancer all in her bones.

SLAWSKY: Does she really?

YARBROUGH: Yes, she does, all down her femur bones, down through here, cancer all in her pelvic bones here.

SLAWSKY: She got to go back for another treatment?

YARBROUGH: Well, when she has to, she is.

SLAWSKY: How do you know when she has to?

YARBROUGH: She can tell. Yes, she will go back. I'll tell you something else. I've seen some amazing things out there with prostate cancer. People came out 00:48:00there with prostate up to 1,300, and when it gets up to 7 or 8 around here, they panic. This guy, his prostate was to 1300 something, he went out there two years before, and he comes back every six months to take the treatment. But that and my wife's faith has really…

SLAWSKY: Do you think her faith has really, has helped her a lot?

YARBROUGH: Oh yes, absolutely. If it hadn't been for that, she would've been dead. Yes, I've seen it first-hand. So, that has a lot to do with me knowing that things like that can happen. Of course, I have been a God-fearing person all my life. Ain't been a Christian all my life, but a God-fearing person. I was saved by grace back in 1956.

SLAWSKY: Now do you believe that you're--If someone didn't know you really well, they wouldn't know whether you were religious or not religious. Do you keep that to yourself or...?

YARBROUGH: I keep it to myself until I see somebody I can maybe witness to or something. I'll do that. I got a brother I try to witness to and I got a son I try to witness to. Now, my second daughter and my first son, now, they are Christians. I don't have to worry about them. I'm sure glad he is--he's going back to Iraq this week.

SLAWSKY: Now, is that Neil?

YARBROUGH: Yeah. He's been a Christian all his life.

SLAWSKY: He is in...

YARBROUGH: Special Ops. in the Air Force.

SLAWSKY: Ok. And he's married to a woman who is a major in the Army?

YARBROUGH: Major in the Army, yes.

SLAWSKY: What is he going to do in Iraq?

YARBROUGH: Well, the last time he was there, I knew what he was going to do, they put one Air Force Special Ops. with 12 Special Forces guys and that's their unit. They might be in Iraq near the Syrian border or some other country. When they first got there last time, they were at the Syrian border. Then they went down to Fallujah. That is where they stayed most of the time. But, you can't tell. They all grow mustaches, they all grow beards, and of course, they all carry a weapon, but other than that you couldn't tell them from the Iraqis.

SLAWSKY: So, they are not dressed in uniforms.

YARBROUGH: Yeah, they are dressed in fatigues and all.

SLAWSKY: What do you think--are there any experiences that you would like to put on here, either as local 1579 business manager, personal, that are important to you?

YARBROUGH: The experiences, I guess, would be my experience on the CIR. That was the most - I learned more on the CIR than I did any other time.

SLAWSKY: What did you do there? Which years did you serve on there?

YARBROUGH: It was in the 80s, in the early 80s, because I was in there for three years.

SLAWSKY: That was while Plant Vogtle was going on.

YARBROUGH: Oh yeah.

SLAWSKY: So, you were pretty busy at that time.

YARBROUGH: Yes, yes. I had two weeks, I had a week in May and a week in August 00:52:00up there, at the CIR, every year. But I guess that was the best experience and the most enjoyable, other than doing the work I do here.

SLAWSKY: Did you get to learn a lot about collective bargaining, negotiations...

YARBROUGH: Oh, yes, absolutely. You learn more about collective bargaining than you do anything else. Most of that is what it's about. You'll have a, once in a while, you'll have a grievance, a person who is terminated, all that kind of stuff, all sorts of collective bargaining. You hear from all over the United States and Canada how it's done. [inaudible] Yeah, that was probably the most - the best experience I had other than serving here. I have enjoyed serving here. I enjoy this. You have to enjoy it.

SLAWSKY: You do, it's hard work.

YARBROUGH: You have to enjoy it because sometimes, it's like people say, "How do you put up with it sometimes?" You just have to let it roll off your back and do what you are supposed to do for this membership. The first three years I was in here, it was hard to let it roll off your back. You take everything personally, you know, but you find out that you ain't got but four friends. You can count your friends on one hand. Put one of your fingers down. I always remember that, a true friend will go to death with you. How many friends you got that will go to death with you? I have got two brothers, I know they'd go to 00:54:00the death with me.

SLAWSKY: Are they living in Augusta?

YARBROUGH: No, they are electricians.

SLAWSKY: Where?

YARBROUGH: They live in Washington County; they have lived in Washington County all their lives.

SLAWSKY: Not union electricians...

YARBROUGH: Yes, they are.

SLAWSKY: They are which local...

YARBROUGH: This one.

SLAWSKY: They do, I didn't realize that. Where are they working at?

YARBROUGH: One of them is retiring and one of them is working down there with - he's the headman with the prison down in Washington County. He's the head maintenance man over all maintenance down there.

SLAWSKY: Give me their names.

YARBROUGH: Alright, you've got Charlie Trippy. And you've got, uh --

SLAWSKY: That's your brother?

YARBROUGH: That's my brother.

SLAWSKY: Charlie Trippy. How come he has a different last name? Oh, his last name's Yarbrough?

YARBROUGH: Charlie Trippy Yarbrough.

SLAWSKY: Okay. Okay. Wasn't there --

YARBROUGH: And there was a big football player --

SLAWSKY: There was a big football player named Charles Trippy.

YARBROUGH: Charlie Trippy, that's right. And there was a football player named Frankie [Sandwich?]

SLAWSKY: That's right, from Georgia.

YARBROUGH: That's right. And my daddy named one of his other sons Frankie [Sandwich]. So I got Wiley, the one that's retiring. He's an electrician. Trippy is an electrician. Wiley's boy, Boyd, is an electrician and Wiley's next to youngest son is an electrician and my daughter was an electrician and my son was an electrician out here.

SLAWSKY: Angel.

YARBROUGH: Angel was an electrician and so was Neal.

SLAWSKY: Did they all go through the apprenticeship program?

YARBROUGH: All went through the apprenticeship program. Neal went through the apprenticeship program and he made all hundreds. Never failed. Of course, he's sharp, anyway. Angel, she's very smart.

SLAWSKY: What does Angel do?

YARBROUGH: She is working with her husband. They have been working with Boardman. Right now, they are working down at Vogtle. That's what they have been doing for the last 15 years.

SLAWSKY: So she works in construction. Very good.

YARBROUGH: He has, too. He's one of the best carpenters you'll ever see. [inaudible] I think that was all of - no, I've got my sister's boy is out of this local. He's an electrician, general foreman down at Vogtle. My sister's other boy, he is a journeyman out of Albany, Georgia. Let me see if we've got 00:57:00anymore…oh yeah my first cousin, he was - the ones I told you was in here before I came, his son's in here; he works for Cleveland. Just about the whole family's electricians.

SLAWSKY: Very good.

YARBROUGH: Every one of us is an electrician.

SLAWSKY: You said you were attracted because you had cousins involved.

YARBROUGH: That's right. I got - my uncle's boy is an electrician.

SLAWSKY: Tommy Yarbrough's mother just passed away. I wanted you to tell something about her. How old was she when she passed away?

YARBROUGH: She was 90 years old back in March of this year. We were down - we were sitting out on the porch about a month and a half ago before she died and I was looking out there in the field...

SLAWSKY: She live in Washington County?

YARBROUGH: Washington County, yes. I said, "Mom," I said, "Look at these fields out here," I said, "You remember the times that we used to pick cotton and chop cotton out here," I said, "How bad it was, how hot it was." She looked at me and she said, "I sure do but it didn't hurt us, did it?" I said, "I guess not, you're 90 years old." She was quite a woman. Never complained in her life.

SLAWSKY: She live in her house for a long time?

YARBROUGH: She lived in her house until a year ago.

SLAWSKY: Did she move out of the house in which you were raised?

YARBROUGH: She moved out of the house and we had to put her in a nursing home cause everybody was working at the time and we couldn't, nobody could stay there with her. That's where we was at when we was talking about those fields. She stayed at home until a year ago.

SLAWSKY: Did she live in the same house where you were raised?

YARBROUGH: No. She had a house up there by one of my brother's, Trippy. She had stayed on Trippy's place there for the last ten or 15 years, right next to him. Of course, he was going to work every day and his wife was going to work, and we just couldn't trust her to be there by herself. We put her in nursing home up there, in a very nice nursing home up there in Washington County and she liked it. In fact, she said, how do you like my home here? I said, I like it, mom, how do you like it? She said, I love it. So, she died about two weeks ago. I didn't expect it, really, but I guess, the good Lord knows best.

SLAWSKY: She had a pretty full life.

YARBROUGH: Very full life, very full life.

SLAWSKY: How many grandchildren did she have?

YARBROUGH: She had 20—I think she had 16 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren.

SLAWKSY: Oh, 26 great grandchildren. No kidding.

YARBROUGH: I believe that was what it is.

SLAWSKY: No kidding, 42 grandchildren and great grandchildren. How about that. When did your father pass away?

YARBROUGH: He passed away in 1975.

SLAWSKY: Quite a while ago.

YARBROUGH: Oh yes. He was sort of a young fella. He was 61, almost 62 years old. He had, I guess you would say was hardening of the arteries or something like that. That's what the doctor said it was. When you eat that fatback, that ham, you cure your own food and all and you know, it's all greasy. So. They (inaudible) taking care of themselves, but –

SLAWSKY: Going to end up here, then.