Special meetings were held in both Marysville and Sonoma at the request of Local 1245 members working for Trees Inc. and Utility Tree Service. Attendance at the Sonoma meeting was very good, but low in Marysville due to storm work. Those at Marysville hope to have another meeting to explore the possibility establishing a tree unit there.
We are still gathering cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to increase our ability to communicate during negotiations later this year. We are doing a killer job with over 80% completion. We still need your assistance in order to complete this task. Communication is the key to building the strength of our members.
The IBEW 1245 Gold Cup Soccer Tournament is set for May 21 in Livermore. The tournament reached its capacity in less than 10 days. The door has now closed for 2011. Plan on bringing your family and hanging with your friends. Food, fun, and beverages provided. We’ll see who the best team is!
A Lineco seminar was held on March 23. The Blue Cross medical plan changes were explained in great detail. We see the positives in the changes in the plan that will benefit our members. The Linco website has been enhanced and is also in Spanish.
Northern Area Report
Davey Tree Surgery management continues to push employees to obtain Commercial Driver’s Licenses. But members report that local supervisors aren’t very accommodating when it comes to members driving one of these trucks after getting a permit. Driving and doing the Pre-Trip Inspection greatly increases the probability of obtaining the license. We have had to contact the company several times about getting “behind the wheel” time.
Terminations for falsification of paperwork—also called penciling—are increasing. As reported previously, many of these cases are clerical in nature with a minority of them being intentional.
PG&E is the driving force in these terminations on the premise that they are being charged for work that is not done. Language can be an issue since a majority of tree trimmers have Spanish as their first language.
Wage progressions are another problem. Some members do not look at their pay stubs or keep records. The company does not automatically progress employees and many employees do not track when they are due to receive progressions. In some headquarters there is a fear of harassment if they request a progression or call us about it.
We have seen some applications for what appear to be credit cards sent to tree trimmers. The outfit is called Union Credit Services from Texas. A fee of forty dollars is required with the application. On investigation the card issued is a paper card enabling purchase from a catalog and not accepted elsewhere. Not a good deal!
Southern Area Report
In the Yosemite Divisions, Local 1245 tree trimmers had an abundance of emergency work due to heavy snows. Many outages were reported in the Southern Yosemite territory. Yosemite Park has been closed. Crews had storm work in Sonora, Mariposa and Oakhurst, and San Joaquin crews were also called up for action.
Davey Tree Surgery: In Central Coast we are having concerns over how emergency work is supposed to be handled at each local headquarters. The understanding we have with management is that when the emergency call-out is made the clock starts, and after all the work has been completed you discuss with the entire crew how much time will be charged to the company, giving you the half-hour drive time to return home.
Another problem we are encountering: work requests being changed by first level supervisors. The company is requesting more information regarding these practices in order to avoid these types of problems in the future.
Trees Inc.: We held a Grievance Review Committee meeting in Yuba City on March 25.
Due to the recent storm work, Yosemite crews have been called back into the action in Jackson, Angels Camp, and Oakhurst. The company recently terminated two employees in Fresno for falsification of company documents (“penciling”). Based on our investigation we will be challenging both cases.
Information for this report was supplied by Ron Cochran, Carl Lamers, and Junior Ornelas.