From left: Laser Operators Dylan De Los Santos and Juan Fierro Aviles celebrate their successful drive to join IBEW 1245.
On Aug. 15, laser operators at Trayer Engineering voted with a unanimous Yes to join IBEW 1245. Their election, conducted by NLRB Region 32 at the employer’s San Leandro facility, accretes them into the existing 1245 bargaining unit at Trayer. This win comes on the heels of that unit’s successful ratification vote in July for a new one-year agreement.
This marks our local’s second victorious accretion campaign at Trayer. In February 2020, the unrepresented sheetmetal unit won their union election. During that organizing effort, the company had pushed for the exclusion of the laser operator position from the eligible voter pool. At the time, there were no pro-union workers in the classification, so the union accepted the terms.
Since then, the laser operator position has grown (and will likely continue to grow as the company expands to a new facility in Livermore), and these workers have been feeling left behind by the wage advancement and better terms their colleagues have been getting under the IBEW 1245 contract. The laser operators approached Local 1245 earlier this summer with new interest in organizing, and the company maintained a neutral position, allowing the workers to organize free from interference.
Local 1245 Business Representative Cruz Serna will work with the newly organized group to incorporate them into the unit’s collective bargaining agreement. Congratulations to our new union brothers at Trayer Engineering!
–Rick Thompson, IBEW 1245 Lead Organizer