PG&E training and simulation specialists are all smiles after winning their IBEW 1245 union election on February 2.
Employees of two unrepresented classifications at Pacific Gas & Electric have recently voted to become represented by IBEW Local 1245. The electrical quality control (or QC) specialists won their election on October 5th of last year, while the training and simulation specialists won theirs on February 2nd, 2023. Both groups voted unanimously to be accreted into the existing physical bargaining unit at the company.
The QC specialist position is relatively new, created by the company in 2021 to review reports from field inspectors for accuracy and thoroughness. They are headquartered throughout PG&E’s service territory. When the group approached the union about organizing, there were only four specialists, including one lineman on a rotation, yet there were eleven unfilled positions. The position requires a lineman background, the specialists explained, but few linemen have been willing to leave the bargaining unit to take the job. As a result, contractors were filling a portion of that workload gap.
The training and simulation specialists provide training to apprentice operators and other classifications and are headquartered at the Vacaville grid control center. They also provide NERC-related continuing education to transmission operators. Late last year, a member of the group reached out to Transmission System Dispatcher Mike Tilden to find out what it would take to bring the group into the IBEW bargaining unit. Tilden, who is also an organizing steward, helped arrange a meeting for them with the Local’s organizers.
Both units consist of former IBEW members who are familiar with the benefits of union representation. They organized to have a greater say in managing the scope of their duties and workloads, wage transparency and predictability, and in determining where their classifications fit into lines of progression. Though the company declined to voluntarily recognize each unit’s unanimous support for organizing, the union and company were able to agree to the details of their NLRB elections without issue.
The elections were conducted by mail, which allows for greater privacy and convenience to voters but also comes with the possibility of ballots getting lost in the mail. For the training and simulation specialists, Tilden again assisted the organizing team by following up with his pro-union peers to ensure they received their ballots.
These two workgroups will be guided through negotiations by Senior Assistant Business Manager Bob Gerstle and their future business reps. In the three months since their election, the qc specialists have significantly grown in number now that applicants know the position will be part of the 1245 unit. For the training and simulation specialists, they will begin drafting bargaining proposals as soon as the NLRB certifies the results of their election. The Local 1245 organizing team congratulates both workgroups and wishes them success in bargaining.
–Rick Thompson, IBEW 1245 Lead Organizer