By Tom Dalzell, Business Manager
IBEW 1245 worked hard in 2013 for the things we value: safer workplaces, better contracts, an engaged membership, respect in the community. Every year brings new challenges for our members, but I believe we have been making ourselves ready for whatever comes our way in 2014.
Safety remains our top priority. While we had serious accidents, our members worked more than 50 million hours in 2013 without a fatality. Much of the credit for this goes to our three Peer Safety groups and our Safety Stewards for gas, electric, and trees. Under Rich Lane’s leadership, these members are showing that we can be proactive on safety.
After years of playing defense in the public sector, we are finally turning the corner. The gains we are making in a number of contracts are a credit to those of you who serve on these negotiating committees. Negotiating a first agreement at the City of Lompoc was a tremendous achievement by our newest members, who ratified that agreement 89-0.
Lompoc wasn’t the only place where workers said “yes” to IBEW 1245. On January 10th, manufacturing workers at Sunoptics voted 48-29 for IBEW representation. Together with 9 contracts that we recently picked up from IBEW 2131, we have a growing presence in manufacturing—a sector where unions traditionally have been strong and need to be strong again.
Our staff members in Outside Construction continue to organize large numbers of workers at non-union companies that had been doing work at PG&E for years. In the past year we also organized the largest non-union line clearance tree trimming subcontractor.
Our long-standing concern over workforce levels at PG&E seems to finally be getting some traction. The company surpassed agreed-upon hiring levels in gas, with 516 new workers. The company also hired almost 70 journeymen on the electric side, enabling the company to reduce the use of contractors in 2014. We also pioneered with PG&E a training program for traffic control flaggers, which we hope will bring this work back in-house at PG&E, and perhaps set a precedent for bringing back other work.
My hat goes off to the many dozens of PG&E stewards and active members who volunteered for training and then conducted more than 300 meetings with fellow members to explain how to be smart users of PG&E’s revamped medical benefit. These members certainly proved the truth of the old saying that members ARE the union.
Our members are taking IBEW 1245 to some new places, with extremely positive results. In 2013, dozens of unit meetings throughout our jurisdiction reached out a helping hand to local communities. Our units sponsored blood drives, fishing derbies, youth sports teams, and contributed to schools, hospitals, hospice organizations and many other community groups. We’ve always kept the lights on, but now we are also helping keep spirits up and hope alive. In a similar vein, we’ve just recently organized a group where IBEW 1245 veterans can help each other as well as other veterans.
In 2013, our members found still more ways for making a difference in the world. We helped union members fight back against an anti-union campaign in Alaska, helped fellow IBEW members win an NLRB election in Illinois, and successfully campaigned to elect some new leadership to irrigation districts where our members work.
In Nevada, our members negotiated and ratified a four-year agreement at NV Energy with solid improvements in medical and the best-ever Paid Time Off provisions. But we recognize that big new challenges are in store in Nevada, where MidAmerican Energy just acquired NV Energy. That’s why we took the initiative to create a new alliance with six other IBEW locals that have contracts with MidAmerican. If the MidAmerican chief, Warren Buffett, decides to go after our hard-won wages and benefits, we intend to be ready for him.
In California, our biggest challenge in 2014 could be excessive zeal by the CPUC when it finally decides how much to fine PG&E for the San Bruno disaster. A fine that cripples PG&E’s ability to make needed repairs and maintain safe service would be counterproductive—and harmful to our members. We are taking steps to make sure that our members’ interests are defended as this process unfolds.
Our successes in 2013 didn’t happen by magic, they were the product of hard work by our staff and members. I hope that all of you will help IBEW 1245 meet the challenges of 2014 in exactly the same way.
Work safe. Be safe.