Record year
Organizing played key role
By Ron Cochran
2011 was a record year for work: 191% above the five-year average.
There was a lot of work and there was also a tremendous amount of organizing of non-union contractors and adding new members to the IBEW.
A lot of credit goes to Business Manager Tom Dalzell, who negotiated top-down Project Labor Agreements with utilities and on major constructions projects: Colusa Power Plant, Marsh Landing Power Plant, Shiloh #4 Wind project, Tracy Combined Cycle Power Plant, Tracy Power Plant and Desalination Project and McHenry Solar Farm Project, to name a few The construction business representatives are working long hours to handle the logistics of all the different organizing campaigns/projects and construction projects.
Outside Line construction work remains steady with all aspects of our work being performed at some level. Indications are that total contract crews for wood pole replacement are close to the maximum numbers projected for the year, with work steady for these crews. Transmission pole replacement and substation work which includes the civil work in the substations have also been somewhat steady given the recent wet weather. There will be some more work in the wind farms in Solano County towards the summer.
The current solar projects should be about 99% complete in the next couple of weeks. We know that Cupertino Electric was awarded another 20 MW solar project and they plan to start mid-July.
Wellington recently laid off 30 exchangers/techs and 13 journeyman.
On Monday, March 26 we held a new member orientation for the new members at Deerpath Corp. They are installing Smart Meters for NV Energy. We had 46 members in attendance as well as few kids and spouses. The meeting was productive and very interactive.
Organizing
We’ve signed the following contractors in the month of March and April 2012:
California Outside Line Construction Agreement
- America Site Builders, LLC — Texas
- Shimmick Construction — Oakland, CA
- Atlas Civil dba MGE Energy — Paso Robles, CA
- Roadway Engineering — Ceres, CA
- Anderson Drilling, (PLA)
San Francisco Chapter of NECA Trolley Agreement
- Shimmick Construction
Substation, Communication, Relay Test Technician (Specialist) Agreement
- KVA Electric
- Hampton Tedder
Bargaining information
| Contractor | Agrmt Type | Ratified | Wage Increase | Expiration | Misc |
| Alco Iron & Metal Co. | Dismantling | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Transformer Technologies | Dismantling | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Eppler & Eppler | Hauling | Yes | 2.75/2.75/2.75 | 5/31/2015 | |
| Calinc (CSI) | Gas, Com, CCI, Sub | Yes | 2.50/2.75/3.00 | 5/31/2015 | |
| Canus | Gas, Hydro, Com, Sub, CCI | Yes | 5/31/2015 | ||
| Hampton Tedder | Substation | Signed | 5/31/2015 | ||
| Kva Electric | Substation | Signed | 5/31/2015 | ||
| Mcdaniel Technical Services | Gas | Co. to cancel agreement | |||
| Tulsa Inspection Resources (Tir) | Gas | Signed | 2.50/2.75/3.00 | ||
| Western Line NECA (starts 4/3/12) | NECA | Pending | 2.25/2.75/3.00 | T.A. 4/4/12- Ballot going out 4/13/12 | |
| Abascus Construction, Inc. | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Aj Excavation, Inc. | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | Opening ltr unclaimed | |
| Alvila T&D, Inc. | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | Signed under MJ Avila now | |
| Avtech Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Aztrack Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| B&B Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Byington Welding | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Curtis & Sons | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Dave Christian Construction Co | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| E.C. Smith, Inc. | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Greg Schandel Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Hutchins Paving | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| J.Jackson Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | opening ltr unclaimed | |
| Lucchetti Excavating | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Millender White Construction Co., | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | Wants to cancel if they cannot have PG&E only agreement | |
| Mj Avila Company, Inc | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Parmeter General Engineering & Services | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Sjl Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Terra Firma | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | Opening ltr returned unable to forward | |
| Tesla J. Construction Group | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | Opening ltr unclaimed | |
| Underground Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| Valley Trenching, Inc. | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| White Construction | PG&E Only | Pending | 5/31/2012 | ||
| American Power Delivery | Standard | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Henkels & Mccoy | Standard | 2.25/2.75/3.00 | 5/31/2012 | T.A. 4/4/12- Ballot going out 4/13/12 | |
| Kindness General Const | Standard | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Mge Energy, Inc | Standard | 5/31/2012 | Signed in 4/2012 | ||
| Porter & Sons Excavating | Standard | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Source Power Of Ca Lp | Standard | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Chain Link Fence | Support | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Danielson Construction | Support | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Fort Bragg | Support | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Paulson Excavating | Support | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Tri-City Fence | Support | 5/31/2012 | |||
| Asplundh Tree | Tree | Pending | 3% | One-year agreement | |
| Davey Tree | Pending | 2% | One-year agreement | ||
| Trees, Inc | Tree | Pending | 3% | One-year agreement | |
| Utility Tree | Tree | Pending | 3% | One One-year agreement | |
| Windy Tree | Tree | Pending | 3.00/3.00 | Two-year agreement | |
| Wright Tree Service | Tree | 3% | One-year agreement |
Grievances
We had two grievances scheduled for Labor Management on April 5, 2012. One was over missed meal period and the other is over violation of our referral system. We reached a confidential agreement over both issues the night before the labor management hearing.
We just initiated another 3 grievances at a power plant. Two of these grievances pertain to work jurisdiction issues and one pertaining to a contractor for failure to report hours.
We resolved a wrongful termination grievance by having the employee reinstated and made whole on his pay. This grievance was resolved in the second step.
2011/2012 Training Schedule
Crane Training: Any member interested must submit an application through the Cal-Nevada JATC in Riverside. The local will no longer keep a list. Classes will be limited to 30 members and priority will be given to members of Local 396, 1245 & 47.
OHSA ETD Classes: More dates to be added at a later time.
First Aid & CPR is the 2nd Saturday of every month at our Riverside and Sacramento facility.
Special Events
- Soccer Tournament -May 12, 2012, Mistlin Sports Park, Ripon, CA
- Clay Shoot — June 12, 2012, Dunnigan, California
- The 16th Annual 9th District Softball Tournament will be hosted by Local 595/Dublin at Big League Dreams Park in Manteca, CA. It will be held Aug. 11 and 12, 2012. We should be scouting for teams now.
- International Lineman’s Rodeo — October 10-14, 2012, Overland Park, KS
Injured Workers Fund
The balance as of March 30, 2012 was $393, 454.92. We paid out two claims in the month of April.
Out of Work Books as of April 26, 2012
| BOOK # | |||||
| L-1 | 33 | CS-1 | 12 | F-1 | 2 |
| L-2 | 99 | CS-2 | 7 | F-2 | 45 |
| L-3 | 3 | CS-3 | 4 | ||
| L-4 | 114 | ||||
| GM-1 | 12 | ||||
| ES-1 | 2 | GM-2 | 17 | ||
| ES-2 | 7 | GM-3 | 370 | ||
| ES-3 | 14 | GM-4 | 317 |
Dispatch
| April 2012 | Year to Date | |
| Lineman | 86 | 391 |
| Apprentice Lineman | 12 | 80 |
| Equipment Man | 12 | 51 |
| Groundman | 43 | 218 |
| Fabricator Tech | 26 | 79 |
| Cable Splicer | 2 | 10 |
| Total | 181 | 829 |
Apprentices
We currently have 300 Outside Line apprentices registered in our JATC program.
- 1 traveling apprentices working in our jurisdiction.
- 70 apprentices are working out of local 1245
- 147 are working out of 47
- 16 – working out of 396
- 68 are off of work (2 are on disability – 5 are on leave of absence)
- 16 apprentices have graduated this year to journeyman lineman.
- 14 outside line apprentices were indentured this year.
We have 3 traffic signal maintenance apprentices registered.
- 1 is working for Republic Electric in 1245’s jurisdiction.
- 2 are working for Republic Electric in 47’s jurisdiction.
- 17 traffic signal apprentices have graduated this year
Ron Cochran is Senior Assistant Business Manager, IBEW Local 1245