Employees at the City of Lompoc voted overwhelmingly for representation by IBEW 1245.
City of Lompoc union activist Jaime Tinoco spoke at a recent IBEW 1245 leadership conference.
Operations employees voted 98-5 for representation by IBEW, a 95% yes vote. Clerical employees voted 20-3 for representation, an 86% yes vote.
“This was an incredibly strong vote. The Operations vote was nearly unanimous, and the support among Clerical was just amazing,” said IBEW 1245 Organizer Fred Ross Jr., who worked on the campaign.
The employees were previously represented by an independent union, the Lompoc Employees Association (LEA). On Jan. 29 of this year the employees voted to be represented by IBEW 1245, but the election had to be repeated due to a technical problem with the first vote.
The vote was conducted under the auspices of the Glendale office of the Public Employment Relations Board, and assures that Lompoc employees will have IBEW 1245 at their side when they resume negotiations with city management.
“It’s a relief,” said Jaime Tinoco, a leader in the former LEA and a prime mover of the campaign to get representation from the IBEW. He said there could be some bumps in the road in the short term as the city adjusts to the new bargaining relationship, but that “long term it will be much better for city employees” to have IBEW representation.
Joining Tinoco at the bargaining table on July 2 when negotiations resume will be newly-minted IBEW members Adrien Boyd, Shawn Wynne, Dave Peretti, Travis Kalin and Gary Silvaugh, along with IBEW 1245 Assistant Business Manager Ray Thomas.
Congratulations to our new IBEW brothers and sisters at the City of Lompoc!