IBEW 1245 members at Paradise Irrigation District ratified a new three-year agreement by a vote of 16-11.
The agreement calls for a 1.5% wage increase upon ratification, and another increase on January 1, 2015 based on the Social Security Index, which is expected to be between 1.5%-1.7%. The agreement also includes wage increases in January 2016 and January 2017, based on the Social Security Index for those respective calendar years, for a total of four wage increases over the course of the contract.
The agreement also features a number of other improvements, including:
- An increase in bereavement leave from 3 days to 5 non-consecutive days
- Emergency call-out on holidays, paid at double time
- Double time for over 12 hours in a day
- Increase in sick leave accrual from ¾ days per month to 1 day a month
- Simplified anti-discrimination language
- Probationary employees can be eligible for benefits immediately upon hire
- Increased number of vacation days for workers with fewer years of service
- The addition of prescription safety eyewear and safety toed boots to the MOU
- One new contractual holiday (Caesar Chavez Day)
- Holiday wage at 1.5 time for water treatment plant operators when they work on an actual Holiday
- An additional health plan option of a high deductible plan with a HSA. Employees also have the option of retaining either the Classic plan or the Advantage.
The bargaining committee was comprised of Jeremy Gentry, Laura Capra and Rick Stier, and the ratification vote took place on September 29.
–Sheila Lawton, IBEW 1245 Business Rep