On-going budget problems continued to complicate labor-management relations between Sacramento Regional Transit and IBEW Local 1245 going into the summer.
The District and IBEW agreed to mediation in an attempt to reach a collective bargaining agreement and held their first meeting with a mediator on May 5, but no follow-up meeting has yet been scheduled. In the meantime, Local 1245 Business Rep. and crack number-cruncher Pat Waite is reviewing some figures on behalf of the union’s bargaining committee at RT.
The agreement with RT expired Oct. 31, 2009.
Up to five possible layoffs appear to have been averted thanks to the decision of five IBEW members to accept an early retirement incentive offered by the District. The window for accepting that incentive was April 23 to June 19.
Members choosing the incentive receive two years of service credit and are also able to convert sick leave toward service credit on a two-to-one basis. An employee with 600 hours of sick leave on the books, for example, could receive 1200 hours of service credit toward their retirement, according to Local 1245 Business Rep. Sheila Lawton.