NECA

Former NECA President Rod Borden Earns 2009 Comstock Award

The Comstock Award, NECA’s highest honor recognizing contributions in the field of labor relations, will be presented to Dillard R. “Rod” Borden during our National Convention, which will be held in conjunction with NECA 2009 Seattloe in September. Throughout his 39-year career since beginning work for Tri-City Electric of Miami and becoming active in NECA’s South Florida Chapter and the national organization, he has remained a progressive force in developing and implementing effective labor relations policies.

Mr. Borden’s term as president of the chapter was marked by a revitalization of the chapter’s relationship with a local union, the establishment of a highly effective market recovery program, and unprecedented growth in market share that was directly attributable to his leadership. He brought the same dedication and insight to his continued push for innovative approaches to labor relations issues throughout the Southeast as vice president of NECA?District 3.

As NECA’s national president (1998-2001), he worked diligently to continue and strenthen the NECA-IBEW relationship. Through his work with the union’s president, the IBEW issued the Repeated Discharge (or “three strikes) policies to help address contractors’ concerns for dealing constructively with workers, provisions allowing contractors to schedule full eight-hour shifts, and other changes to increase labor productivity. He also promoted specialized training and specialized labor agreements for new high-tech work that differs from traditional electrical contracting.

His term as association president was followed by service as NECA’s trustee for the National Electrical Benefit Fund. There, he helped put in place strategies to preserve and grow NEBF assets that have served well in this downturn in the financial markets.