Organizing Going Strong

Organizing in Outside Construction continues to accelerate at an amazing pace.

Our recent strides forward have been made possible by the organizing model adopted by Business Manager Tom Dalzell, who has blazed a trail negotiating Project Labor Agreements with several utilities.

Senior Business Rep. Ralph Armstrong and Organizer Liz McInnis, along with Local 1245 field staff, have worked tirelessly in this on-going effort to bring new members into the brotherhood. They have received tremendous support by the union’s office staff working behind the scenes at Weakley Hall. Kudos to the whole team; they are all performing at an exceptional level.

Listed a the bottom of this report you will find the contractors we have signed this year to date, bringing the benefits of union wages and working conditions to over a hundred new members.

The work outlook for Outside Construction members is stronger than ever before.  We have a large volume of work continuing from the California and Nevada utilities.  We also have increasing amounts of trolley work, and private power line construction from Nevada mining companies.

The solar work is approaching full staffing and should be wrapped up in October for this year.  We are currently advertising for the best Journeymen Linemen to travel in and help man this work. There are approximately 250 workers for all 3 projects.  These projects demand a lot of attention but we are working through each issue as they materialize. The biggest concern now is to complete the work safely with no injuries.

Construction has and will continue to ramp up with several contractors asking if we think we will be able to supply the manpower.  This looks like an increase in number of distribution crews with a couple of transmission and substation projects starting next month.  Although we have not experienced many open calls we are routinely dispatching midway through Book 2 and the dispatch office has been inundated with travelers coming in to sign the books since word has gotten out about the work picture.

The downside to the increase in work is the increase in workers who are new to the area and the system and when we increase the number of crews in the jurisdiction at a rapid pace we tend to see an increase in issues.  Some of these are crew continuity to travelers learning the specifications here.  This learning curve will take a little time but we will get through it.  Safety continues to be a top concern as well and it is up to everyone to look out for each other and make sure no one gets hurt.

AMI projects are still going on both PG&E and SMUD properties.  Some issues but nothing that doesn’t get worked out early on.

Grievances

We have had several oral grievances and a few written grievances in the last month over wrongful terminations.

With the increase in work the primary issues involve pay.  These become weekly issues, however they all get worked out as soon as we are aware of them.

One major Grievance involving missed meals has been resolved resulting in pay out of over $70,000 to several employees.

2011 Training Schedule

• OSHA 10 ET&D will be held 4-times at the union hall from 6pm-10pm on Fridays and 8am-4:30pm on Saturdays: July 8/9 and October 7/8.
• Shop Steward Grievance Training – December 10, 2011 –Vacaville, This training will be limited to 40 members.
• First Aid & CPR is the 2nd Saturday of every month at our Riverside and Sacramento facility.

Upcoming Events

• International Rodeo October 15th, 2011.  Apprentice Linemen will be selected through a blind draw from all IBEW employer work groups.  More details will be posted on the website in the coming weeks.
• 1st Annual Clay Shoot — November 12th, Dunnigan, CA.

JATC Information

JATC apprentice is scheduled for July 16th in Riverside.

Apprentice applications closed on May 31st with the first round of interviews performed this month.  A second round of interviews are scheduled later on in July.

Injured Worker Fund

The balance as of May 31, 2011 was $276,096.57.

Book Status as of 6/27/11

 

Linemen- I	24
Linemen—II	71
Linemen—III	2
Linemen -IV	161
Equipment Man—I	3
Equipment Man—II	7
Equipment Man-III	9
Cable Splicer-I	1
Cable Splicer-II	1
Cable Splicer-III	0
Groundman—I	2
Groundman—II	6
Groundman-III	120
Groundman—IV	317
Fabricator tech-I	0
Fabricator Tech-II	11

YEAR TO DATE REFERRALS:

Lineman	557
Apprentice Lineman	122
Equipment Man	109
Groundman	295
Fabricator Tech	129
Cable Splicer	23

Organizing: Contracts Signed

• T&D Power
• E.C. Smith, Inc
• Abascus Construction, Inc.
• Lucchetti Excavating
• Tesla J. Construction Group
• Highway Technologies, Inc.
• Machado & Sons Construction, Inc.
• BGN Construction
• Valley Trenching, Inc
• Ray Gonzales Backhoe Service
• Atlas-Pellizzari Electric, Inc
• Pine Valley Power, Inc.
• J. Jackson Construction
• MJ Avila Company
• AJ Excavation Inc
• Milender White Construction
• Premier Power Professionals
• CORRPRO
• Tri-City Fencing Company
• Chain Link Fence & Supply
• MK Pipelines.- Inspection Work
• McKuin Pipelines.- Inspection Work
• 3 Phase Line Construction
• Splicing Testing & Terminating
• Porter & Sons Alternative Solutions
• Curtis and Sons Construction
• Community Builders
• Dave Christian Construction Co.

Organizing: In Contract Talks With

 

• ALB, Inc
• Alco Iron & Metal Company.- Inspection Work
• Petra Solar
• Transformer Life Cycle Services
• McDaniel Technical Services, Inc.- Inspection Work
• All Valley Engineering
• Ravenel Enterprises
• Clean Harbors
• Technical Electrical
• W. Bradley Electric
• Camblin Steel
• Green Energy
• Northern California Power Co.
• M.J Electric
• Aztech Construction D&M Construction
• CK Interiors, Inc
• Leit-Ramm

Information for this report was supplied by Ralph Armstrong, Liz McInnis, and Ron Cochran.