REGI PHELPS: SAN DIEGO LABOR COMMUNITY AWARD WINNER -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 08, 2004)
SPEECH OF HON. BOB FILNER
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, today I recognize Regi Phelps, as he is honored by the San Diego Labor Community with the 2004 Johns Fellowship Award at the Twenty-Second Annual John S. Lyons Memorial Banquet on September 11, 2004.
Regi was born and raised in San Diego, California, graduating from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics. He served in the United States Navy from 1970-1973 and completed overseas tours of duty in Vietnam and the Philippines.
His job with Bechtel began in 1976. He worked as a subcontracts administrator on the Hope Creek Nuclear Project in southern New Jersey. In 1978, he moved to Richmond, Virginia to work in labor relations for the Virginia Electric Power Company at the North Anna Nuclear Facility. In 1979, he rejoined Bechtel in labor relations in the early days of construction at the San Onofre Nuclear Project.
Regi has served at Bechtel as Labor Relations Representative, Area Labor Representative, Senior Labor Relations Representative, Labor Relations Supervisor, and Regional Manager. In 2004, he was named Vice-President and Manager/Labor Relations, with overall labor relations responsibility for Bechtel Worldwide.
He has been involved in developing the San Onofre Nuclear Project Labor Agreement-including the recently-renegotiated agreement in effect through 2010--between Southern California Edison (the owner), the San Diego Building Trades, and Bechtel. This labor agreement and project provides employment for thousands of Building Trades Craftspeople.
Regi also serves as a Director to the North American Contractors Association, and as Management Trustee to the Laborers' National Safety and Health Fund. He previously served as Vice-Chairman of the Boilermakers' Health and Welfare fund and as Trustee to numerous local union apprenticeship trusts throughout the western United States.
Regi's grandfather was a proud member of Laborers' Local 89. His father, Ray, retired from Bechtel in 1985, is a current member of IBEW Local 569, and was recently awarded his 45-year membership pin. Regi and his wife, Christine, have been married for 28 years and are currently living in San Francisco Bay area. They have two children: Kevin, who is a junior at the University of Southern California, and Lauren, who is a sophomore at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.
The banquet at which Regi will be presented his award is named in recognition of the late John Lyons of the Teamsters who was very active in the San Diego community. He was a founder of the San Diego Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America. The friends of Mr. Lyons continue to support his cause, and proceeds from the yearly banquets are used to support bone marrow testing and local research grants. Since its inception, the John Lyons Memorial Banquet has raised over one million dollars.
Regi deserves our highest praise for his dedication to the labor movement and specifically to labor relations. My congratulations go to Regi Phelps as he receives this prestigious Johns 2004 Fellowship Award from his peers.
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