A job for linemen: Union linemen remember the early days of the
Sacramento Municipal Utility District

On January 1, 1947, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District bought an antique from Pacific Gas & Electric—the electric distribution system serving Sacramento. Some of the equipment included in the deal dated as far back as 1895.

Transforming this antique into a reliable source of power for a growing community would be a big job. A job for skilled linemen.

However, the lineman’s skilled labor wasn’t fully appreciated by the employers of that era. Wages were low. Benefits were few. Linemen could be called out to work days on end without hot meals, without rest breaks, without overtime pay.

But even back in 1947 SMUD linemen had something that eventually would empower them to achieve the wages, benefits and conditions they wanted and deserved.

They had a union.

SMUD linemen Archie Horton,
Doug Skinner and Norm Ficker
at work in the 1950s.
Foreman was Elmer Klassen.
(Sacramento Municipal Utility District)