PG&E’s Senior Power Generation Inspectors are specialized in a variety of areas, including commercial diving, electrical, tunnel safety, welding, hydropower, machining and more — but, according to the inspectors, the company hasn’t taken these specialized skills into account when determining the wages and benefits for this workgroup.
The compensation concerns prompted PG&E Senior Power Generation Inspector James Novaes to reach out to IBEW 1245 to inquire about his team of inspectors joining the union in order to have a greater voice on the job.
The 1245 organizing team met with the inspectors in late November to learn more about the issues they face at work. This unit is comprised of 15 workers who are scattered all across the system, several of whom had been in labor unions previously. We listened as they explained why they believe their compensation is too low given their exceptional skillset, and they also told us about the issues they face with their travel assignments. Traveling is a significant part of the inspector classification, but the company routinely assigns jobs to inspectors who live over 100 miles away, when there are other inspectors who live in the area and are available to do the work. This avoidable travel is inefficient and puts a strain on the workgroup and their work/life balance. The inspectors also told us that they work along-side IBEW 1245 members every day and feel like they deserve the same contractual protections as their colleagues — and we couldn’t agree more.
After securing majority support through union authorization cards, IBEW 1245 filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Feb. 12, 2024 to request a mail-in ballot union election (due to the unit members being in different locations). The ballots were mailed out a few weeks later, and on March 29, 2024, when the ballots were counted by the NLRB, the vote was unanimous — every single inspector who voted said “YES” to IBEW 1245.
We’re pleased to congratulate this workgroup on their union election! In the coming weeks, we will be transitioning the unit over to the 1245 negotiations team to begin working on the agreement to accrete them into the existing 1245 bargaining unit at PG&E.
–Charlotte Stevens, IBEW 1245 Organizer