The PG&E Bargaining Committee and several members of the union staff met with the company’s negotiating team on Oct. 12 to begin negotiations on a new tentative agreement (TA). The first step in that process is to make sure the company understands which specific elements of the first TA caused the most consternation among the union members.
The committee provided the following report from the Oct. 12 meeting:
- The bargaining committee told the company that the union membership has emphatically rejected the proposed changes to the current sick leave system. Those on the union side of the table made it clear to the company that any and all proposed modifications to sick leave will not be considered.
- The union also stressed that letter agreements related to electric service crews and gas first responder crews (15-30 and 15-31) must be decoupled from the contract, and the company agreed to put those letter agreements aside, so they will no longer be linked to the passage of a new contract.
- The bargaining committee reiterated its preference to limit these contract negotiations to items that impact all members in both the physical and clerical units. Issues that pertain to specific workgroups should continue to be addressed in ad hoc negotiations, and any agreements that result from ad-hoc negotiations that require a vote would be voted on by just the affected members.
The company will be reviewing the union’s proposals and a follow-up meeting will be scheduled shortly.