As a result of schedule changes based on recent moratoria on the installation of the new Smart Meters in various cities, Wellington Energy was forced to lay off approximately 65 meter installers in January. These were good-paying jobs with health care that were eliminated because of pressure from ill-informed activists who are against these new meters.
Grievances
We have resolved a grievance pertaining to the improper use of classification to perform job functions.
We had a meeting with approximately 40 members in San Rafael to discuss and resolve workplace issue over complaints with a supervisor. Meeting was with both upper management and employees to discuss what was taking place.
Compliance
Local 1245 is working with Northern Valley compliance on several fronts as well as with some of our contractors to ensure that non-union contractors are paying the correct rates on projects that are not covered under project labor agreements.
Some of the new projects targeted this month include a new substation for the City of Healdsburg that is being built by CalElectro, as well as various street light maintenance contracts, traffic signal contracts and call box contracts. We are also trying to make a presence on job walks if possible to hand out literature on prevailing wage and what we will be asking for when requesting certified payrolls. We are making every effort to ensure that our union contractors are bidding on a level playing field for these projects and that contractors who cheat on these projects are exposed and pay the correct rates.
Jurisdictional Issues
We are still moving for on the SWIP project in Ely, Nevada, although it’s been a constant jurisdictional issue. We are also working through jurisdictional issues on the next phase of the SMUD wind farms.
2011 Training Schedule
- OSHA 10 ET&D will be held four times at Weakley Hall in Vacaville from 6 pm – 10 pm on Fridays and 8 am – 4:30 pm on Saturdays: Feb. 11/12; April 8/9; July 8/9 and October 7/8.
- Crane Certification: February 21-25, at Weakley Hall in Vacaville.
- Outside Line Shop Steward Training: March 12, at Weakley Hall in Vacaville.
Organizing
Tesla Construction Group based in Fresno, CA signed the Outside Construction Agreement for work on PG&E property. They mainly perform civil concrete work in substations.
We have made contact with several other contractors either by phone or email and are in the process of setting up meetings.
Negotiations
On Jan. 3, IBEW members working for Entertouch, Inc., d/b/a GoodCents Solutions, came together to vote in person in Manteca, Ca. on a new proposed contract. Members drove from as far away as San Francisco and Selma to participate in the special meeting to review the proposed contract changes and to vote. The new contract has a two-year term, expiring Dec. 31, 2012.
- 2% wage increase effective Jan. 1, 2011 for all classifications
- 2% wage increase effective Jan. 1, 2012, for all classifications
- GoodCents will pay all increases to Health and Welfare for the term of this agreement.
We are pleased to report the members voted unanimously to accept the proposed agreement
Injured Worker Fund
The balance of the fund as of Dec. 31, 2010 was $182, 939.13. One benefit payment was paid in the month of December.
It has come to our attention that a handful of contractors have not been deducting the .05 an hour from the members’ pay to participate in this fund. There are certain criteria required in order to benefit from this fund and if the member is not participating in it they are not eligible for the pay-outs. This has impacted a couple members already. We are sending letters to the contractors who have not been taking these deductions in order to correct this. Everyone should look at their pay stubs to verify this deduction is being taken. This applies to members working under the Outside Line Construction Agreement.
Apprentice Report
- We currently have 255 Outside Line apprentices registered in our JATC program.
- 26 apprentices are working out of Local 1245
- 159 are working out of Local 47; none are working out of Local 396
- 70 are off of work (2 are on disability – 2 are on leave of absence)
- We have graduated 1 apprentice this year to journeyman lineman.
- We have indentured 13 outside line apprentices this year.
- We graduated a total of 62 apprentices to journeyman lineman in 2010.
- We indentured a total of 78 Outside Line apprentices in 2010.
- We have 22 traffic signal maintenance apprentices registered.
- 6 are working for Republic Electric in Local 1245’s jurisdiction.
- 15 are working for Republic Electric in Local 47’s jurisdiction; one is unemployed.
The Cal-Nev JATC graduation dinner for the 2010 linemen grads will be February 26, 2011.
This January we started piloting a mentoring program for the Outside Line apprentices. One apprentice did a “ride-along” to a pre-job meeting in Nevada. We also invited two others to participate in grievance handling training. It seems to be going very well so far.
BOOK STATUS:
| Linemen I | 34 |
| Linemen–II | 28 |
| Linemen–III | 1 |
| Linemen -IV | 167 |
| Equipment Man–I | 8 |
| Equipment Man–II | 12 |
| Equipment Man-III | 8 |
| Cable Splicer-I | 9 |
| Cable Splicer-II | 7 |
| Cable Splicer-III | 4 |
| Groundman–I | 21 |
| Groundman–II | 23 |
| Groundman-III | 209 |
| Groundman–IV | 171 |
| Fabricator tech-I | 0 |
| Fabricator Tech-II | 25 |
YEAR TO DATE REFERRALS:
| Lineman | 20 |
| Apprentice Lineman | 9 |
| Equipment Man | 7 |
| Groundman | 4 |
| Fabricator Tech | 2 |
| Cable Splicer | 0 |
Information for this report was supplied by Senior Business Rep. Ralph Armstrong, Organizer Liz McInnis, and Senior Assistant Business Manager Ron Cochran.