Tom Hansen: Cool, Steadfast Leadership Held the Line in CSAEW’s Many Battles 

The toughest part of the job as President of the State Electrical Association is there is always the next fight, said former CSAEW president Tom Hansen, who retired earlier this month from both the Association and from his home local, IBEW #302. “Once you get a project under a PLA, there’s no time to celebrate, because you’re moving on to four or five new fights,” he said.  

“That’s how it is at the State Association as well — it’s always a fight, always a challenge. We’re not always able to move forward with something that will be helpful because we spend so much of our time playing defense. Sometimes it feels like we’re just trying to hold the line.”  

Known as a cool-headed leader who led the Association through many tough fights, he enjoyed a reputation as someone who could bring people together and helped the organization consolidate its power. 

The organization has come a long way in the past 15 years, Hansen noted, becoming more professional, with consultants, regular committee meetings, lobby days and speakers and elected officials presenting to the delegates at their twice-yearly meetings in the State Capital. “We moved our meetings to Sacramento and that made all the difference in flexing our political muscle. We wouldn’t have been as powerful to fight these fights 10-15 years ago.” 

As someone who’s been involved with the State Association for the past 20 years as a delegate, then as President, one of the accomplishments he’s most proud of is helping get the compliance groups talking to each other, face to face. “I helped facilitate getting them to share common problems and solutions. As a result, they could then recommend policy and legislation to the full organization to fix the problems,” he noted. 

“We’re facing a tough political climate in Sacramento now. We’ve lost a lot of our legislative friends to term limits. It’s a whole new world now where we’re looking at prevailing wage roll backs from elected officials who used to be our friends.” 

Despite the challenges, Hansen remains optimistic about the future for labor, and for the IBEW. “I believe the future is bright for the IBEW. It’s challenging, but there’s reason for a lot of hope. The world is becoming electrified, and that means a bright future for our industry and our members – renewables, EVs, battery storage, wind and solar and more. We just have to be sure we’re staying current on all the new technology. “ 

Thank you for your service, Tom. Enjoy your retirement!