IBEW 1245 Members at Liberty Energy/Calpeco ratified a new collective bargaining agreement in early September by a vote of 34-19. The Bargaining Committee was comprised of Casey Kelley, Haliegh Martin, Jon McCue, Derek Olijar and Joel Kuntz.
The employer was looking for some fairly dramatic cuts in compensation benefits for employees, such as a reduction in their cash balance pension plan and increased cost sharing to 20% of employee share of medical premiums. The employer also proposed reducing sick leave accrual from 12 to 5 days per year, along with many other working rule concessions, but the Bargaining Committee was able to get company to withdraw many of the working rule proposals, including the sick leave proposal.
The final agreement includes:
- A 6.5% base wage increase for all employees in 2014, and a general wage increase of 2.5%, 2.5%, 2.5% for each year of CBA (3 year term)
- Universal Utility Worker, Equipment Operator, Service Tech and Fleet Mechanic classifications will get an additional 2% each year of CBA as an inequity.
- Billing Customer Service Representatives get an automatic progression to Senior Billing CSR after working two years in Billing.
- Fire Retardant (FR) clothing allowance of between $500-$1,000 per year depending on classification.
- Cell phone allowance of $25/month for employees who voluntarily use a smart phone.
- Employee share of medical premium cost share is 10% in 2015, 11% in 2016, and 12% in 2017.
The final agreement is still pending signature by the employer.
–Pat Waite, IBEW 1245 Business Rep