The original service crews began in August 2006 as a result of LA R1-06-39. It was a pilot in four yards, where two-man crews worked Friday-Monday and were paid 5% above their base wage. It wasn’t until general bargaining in 2008 that the pilot ended.
In 2008, part of the agreement that ratified was language that ended the pilot of R1-06-39. Service crew members were now to be paid at 8% above their base rate, and could no longer work Saturday and Sunday. Included in the agreement was additional language that the business manager would discuss additional yards where service crews could be located. That never happened because there was disagreement over 212 rights outside the yards where the crews were located. The Company chose to disband the crews, although the classification still contractually exists.
In 2011 general bargaining, additional coverage was high on the list of Company priorities. After two “no” votes, and with the pension and medical changes, both sides agreed to push the issue to ad-hoc negotiations.
The first attempt at finding some common ground came in fall of 2012. With the ARCOS pilot getting off the ground, we tried an ad-hoc committee comprised of 6 members from Sierra and Kern divisions. It was a half-hearted attempt. In the end, the Union convinced the Company that using the annual list would improve response issues.
In 2013 the Company advised that they wanted to make a more serious attempt to improve emergency response. An ad hoc committee made up of 16 T200 linemen from throughout the system was brought in to negotiate a possible agreement. Paid stand-by, minimum response percentages, and alternate crew schedules were all discussed. In the end we could not get a consensus among our 16 members. It was clear that it was almost impossible to get any 2 linemen to agree on all the issues that were on the table.
In 2014, Sierra superintendent Tim Lewis informed Local 1245 staffers Dave Sankey and Bob Gerstle that he wanted to pilot some type of agreement that would give him better coverage in the six yards that his crews covered. Two members from each of the six yards met five times with Sierra supervision and Labor Relations. The result was the same; it very difficult to get a strong consensus among our own members of the committee. With general bargaining starting in 2015, both sides knew this would be a major priority for the Company.
Knowing how hard it was to get our members to agree on all the issues, we set out to find an agreement that would have improvements to the existing service crew language. LA 15-30 was our first attempt. No current employees could be forced to take a bid, or a shift. The 8% premium was raised to 10%, plus the second shift differential. While the 2008 agreement allowed three-person crews, LA 15-30 called for only two-person crews. There were 212 protections that were not part of the 2008 agreement.
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