Stewards representing members at irrigation districts met at Weakley Hall on March 31. Irrigation districts represented were Modesto, Merced, Turlock and South San Joaquin.
The betrayal at Modesto sharply focused the attention of irrigation district stewards attending the Local 1245 training conference in Vacaville on March 31.
When the Modesto Irrigation District board in late 2009 walked away from a labor agreement negotiated by its own staff, the message was clear: some employers are prepared to play dirty in the current economic environment. Local 1245 responded on Christmas Eve by filing an unfair labor practice with the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) as well as filing suit in court.
At the March 31 conference, Local 1245 staff attorney Jenny Marston reported that the union is still waiting to find out if PERB is going to issue a complaint based on the union’s charges, which focus on the impropriety of the board’s vote, regressive bargaining and failure to take bargaining seriously.
Attending the conference were stewards from Modesto, Merced, Turlock and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts.
“The situation at Modesto is of great concern to all the stewards,” said Business Rep. Sheila Lawton. “The others have their own boards to deal with.”
Lawton said stewards appreciated the fight IBEW is going through at Modesto because “they know these irrigation districts talk to one another, and if IBEW prevails with our charges against Modesto then the other districts might think twice about trying to pull this sort of stunt.”
Marston also reported on the resolution of a PERB charge against the Merced Irrigation District, where journeymen were laid off instead of apprentices. One lineman was brought back and the other received a settlement.
Business Rep. Hunter Stern discussed some of the political issues facing the union, including the union’s support for a PG&E-backed ballot initiative to require a two-thirds popular vote before a city can change energy providers. This prompted some questions about the situation at South San Joaquin Irrigation District, where the union has opposed District efforts to supplant PG&E as energy provider in that community.
Local 1245’s approach, whenever there is a conflict between two IBEW-represented employers, is to support the status quo, because in most cases a change of employer would have negative consequences for the members, Stern explained.
Attendees at the March 31 conference were:
Aaron Baker
Richard Behler
Kurt Celli
Karri Daves
Diane Ermis
Michael Gomes
Ken Gross
Dale Gumm
Michael Hanson
Richard Lane
Brian Lovio
Denise Miller
Forrest Mouw
Brian Nevitt
Michael Patterson
Peter Stone
Staff:
Ralph Armstrong
Mike Grill
Sheila Lawton
Jenny Marston
Elizabeth McInnis
John Mendoza