By Ray Thomas
Our IBEW 1245 negotiating committee at Redding Electric (REU) met on Jan. 5-6 to prepare member proposals. We met with the City of Redding on Jan. 14 and explained that we did not want to commence general negotiations at this point as we expect a response from the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) on the UPC we had filed mid-2010.
The logic is that if we commence with 2011 negotiations it would end up being a waste of time if PERB ultimately does file a complaint against the City, forcing the parties to appear in Sacramento to participate in mediated settlement discussions regarding 2008-2010 negotiations.
Ray Thomas is Assistant Business Manager, IBEW Local 1245