Work remains very steady

Outside Construction Report

By Ron Cochran

Work remains very steady. There is a little of everything going on right now, from pole replacement work to thermostat replacement work with a lot in between.

Local 1245 has created a level playing field for all the contractors to work from with PG&E’s help through LA09-41.

We are starting to see some contractors using Inside rates for Outside work in the substations. It seems someone is always trying to game the system to gain a competitive advantage. This issue has escalated to the National NECA level and we are wasting man-hours dealing with this. We find it very intriguing that the contractor in question had no PG&E work until LA09-41 was executed and now has just a small amount of work. It all boils down to greed.

Solar

The 50MW phase of the PG&E Solar Projects is just starting to ramp up. Cupertino Electric was awarded two of the sites with the third to be determined. Cupertino has sub-contracted some of the work out to Machado & Sons, KVA, TTR and Underground Construction. We expect when all 3 solar projects are going that they will employ upwards of 300-400 members.

Organizing

We’ve signed the following contractors in the month of August:

• Integrity Data & Fiber Inc — Communication & Installer Agreement
• Peter’s Drilling & Pump Service, Inc — One-time PLA to the OSL agreement

Recent Grievances

There is a lot of activity, with around a dozen grievances at Step I and Step II.  A couple of Grievances have advanced to Step III.  For the most part the NVE AMI project has not gone very well; it borders on a hostile work place.  We‘re getting several phone calls a day from that project.  We recently fought two different OSL termination cases that involved apprentice linemen. Both cases were overturned. We have a wrongful termination grievance headed into Step 4 of the process against OSMOSE Utility Services, which centers around an employee not meeting the company- imposed daily quotas.  Paycheck issues are also occurring on a routine basis and we continue to work through those issues as they arise and we are made aware of them.

PG&E Hiring Hall

The PG&E Hiring Hall still remains somewhat chaotic with all the calls coming through. There have been a few Hiring Hall Special Agreements made in the past few months, all where recommended by the local area business representatives and approved.

Training Schedule

OHSA ETD Classes: Members can sign up in our dispatch office for any up-coming classes offered through the Cal-Nev JATC. Members will be contacted directly by the JATC regarding dates and location of future trainings. Future classes will be held at the Hedge Road facility.

First Aid & CPR is the 2nd Saturday of every month at our Riverside and Sacramento facility.

Special Events

• International Lineman’s Rodeo — October 10-14, Overland Park, KS.
• Golf Tournament — October 20, Vacaville, CA.

Injured Workers Fund

The balance as of was July 31, 2012 $474, 166.13. We had no claims submitted in the month of August.

Dispatch

	As of Aug 31, 2012	Year to Date
Lineman	176	957
Apprentice Lineman	23	148
Equipment Man	22	149
Groundman	63	480
Fabricator Tech	18	193
Cable Splicer	2	38
Total	304	1965

 

Apprentices

We currently have 285 outside line apprentices registered in our JATC program

• 3 traveling apprentice working in our jurisdiction.
• 99 apprentices are working out of Local 1245
• 149 are working out of Local 47
• 16 are working out of Local 396
• 24 are off of work (3 are on disability – 10 are on leave of absence)
• 27 apprentices have graduated this year to journeyman lineman.
• 14 outside line apprentices have been indentured this year.

We have 3 traffic signal maintenance apprentices registered.

• 1 is working for Republic Electric in Local 1245’s jurisdiction.
• 2 are working for Republic Electric in Local 47’s jurisdiction.
• 17 traffic signal apprentices have graduated this year.

Ron Cochran is Senior Assistant Business Manager, IBEW Local 1245