STAFF REPORTS
March 2024
Wow, January and February are gone and March is already here.
At Avista Utilities, we have our wage opener scheduled for March 13th and hope to complete that by the end of March. Other than that, things are quiet.
At EWEB we have been bringing on the Meter Reader group with eleven new members in that group. We have also had a couple of new Utility Support Workers and a new Water Treatment Plant Operator join. We have had some concerns with the boot reimbursement and the deactivation of declared emergency.
For our Line Clearance Tree Trimmers (LCTT) working on PP&L property, things are still busy. We are scheduled to meet with the contractors again on March 5th. We are waiting on a response from the contractors in regard to our last economic proposal and have a lot of work to do in order to come to a reasonable agreement. We still have about thirty outsource crews in the area working for Asplundh, Trees, LLC. and Wright Tree. ArborWorks has completed their work on the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in Crescent City. We did resolve an issue with a contractor not wanting to provide paper paystubs for employees in Oregon. We had to educate them on ORS 652.610 (1) (c) which allows an employer to provide stubs electronically, if the employee expressly agrees and has the ability to print or store that stub. Once we educated them, they agreed to provide paper stubs for those employees who want them. We have also had some complaints about crews using red-tagged trucks and have been out in the field trying to educate the members on supporting each other by not using equipment that has been red tagged. If it is not safe, please don’t put yourself or others at risk.
For our Line Clearance Tree Trimmers working for Davey Tree and West Lane Tree on EWEB property, we met again with the Contractors on March 1st, and we have another meeting scheduled for Friday, March 8th and hope to wrap this up and get something out to vote shortly thereafter.
For our Line Clearance Tree Trimmers working for Asplundh on CPI property, things are going well. We will be bargaining this one this year and expect to send out surveys around June.
As Always, Stay Focused and Stay Safe.
Don McElroy
don@ibew659.org
541-601-0863
February was a month filled with organizing. On February 8th, we went to Klamath Falls and tried to meet up with all the Tree Trimmers and talk to them face to face in the field about any issues they were having. We had 5 of us split up and cover as much ground as we could, and we received good information on how they were doing and concerns that they had. Later that evening, Ryan Smith, Ray Lister and I went to Avangrid Renewables where they were voting on becoming union. It was a yes vote to become union with an 8-4 vote. We are now working on our information request to send to the company before we begin negotiations for our first contract. This is an extensive list, and we will be meeting with them in early March to discuss more items that would be beneficial to include. This has been a lengthy effort going back to mid-summer, and it was great to come out with a yes vote.
We also have been working with Hunter Communications and their Installers and Mercy Medical’s Maintenance Department. I’m sure Ryan’s report will talk about this, so I don’t want to bore you with the same info, but there is a lot of work going into these, and we have strong participation from both of these groups as we move forward and hope to bring them into LU 659 as well.
The third week of the month was in Las Vegas for an Organizer’s meeting. There was a lot of good information presented on improving organizing new companies and also existing contracts that have issues with members opting out. We in LU 659 have some City contracts that members can opt out of because of the Janus Act. We are thinking about how to go back and be creative about how to deal with these members and having active members become more involved with their co-workers to help deal with this.
Stay safe!
Mike Meek
mikemeek@ibew659.org
458-220-6779
CENTRAL LINCOLN:
First, I would like to thank the men and women who were part of our negotiating team: Cedar Johnson, Dave Brucha, Courtney Little, Jason Ford and Skip Shipman for their diligence in negotiations.
We have come to an agreement to take out to vote. The main points around wages and benefits are as follows:
- A four-year contract, 5% 2024, 5% 2025, a true up in wages in 2026 with a 5% increase and a 5% for 2027.
- Medical benefits for employees are a 95/5 split, and a 90/10 split for dependents. The same applies to retiree’s benefits as well.
- FR clothing was increased for the outside/inside departments from $650 to $750. New hire was increased from $775 to $1,000.
- Bereavement Leave of up to 30 hrs has been added into the CBA.
- Standby Time Pay will be 19% on all days that do not have a holiday. Holiday Standby Time Pay will be 27.5% on a workday or weekend.
Outside Line Construction:
I just want to congratulate our negotiating team on a job well done. The agreement passed with an 80% “YES” and 20% “NO” vote. I want to thank everyone that participated in the voting process.
The message has been and will always be JUST VOTE! This is your contract, and you are the ones that work under the provisions of your contract. If there is something that needs to be fixed in the contract, it is up to you to voice these concerns when it comes to filling out a survey and coming to a meeting to let the hall or your rep know what is going on and how we as a whole can change the issues.
On a further note, we have and are continuing to audit our out of work books to ensure that people do not try and “pull a fast one” and present themselves as book 1 hands. There have been those actions by some and were caught knowing they were supposed to be on book 2. This is unacceptable! Their home locals will be contacted and they will have to answer to their home local if warranted.
James Davidson
james@ibew659.org
458-220-6416
LU659 Brothers and Sisters,
The month of February was a very busy and successful month for organizing.
Congratulations to our newest bargaining group, the Operators at Klamath Falls Cogen Power Plant, who successfully won their election. We will start bargaining their first contract in the coming weeks.
We attended the 9th District Organizer Conference; the training was a great and knowledge-filled experience.
Please drive people interested in organizing their workplace to the New Tab on our website called “Need a Union” and the tab called “Why Be Union.”
Continuing P&I (Professional & Industrial) meetings with multiple groups interested in organizing. We have filed two (2) more petitions this month; one with Hunter Communications Fiber to home installers and Mercy Hospital in Roseburg.
On April 2nd and 3rd, we will be hosting a 2-day Member to Member Blitz. Where we will be going out and talking with our own members. We will be looking for volunteers for this event, so please reach out to me if you are interested in helping.
The RENEW program is still looking for more participants. We will start having Zoom links sent out prior to the meeting for more participation by all groups. So, if you would like to be added to the RENEW program text group, contact Ryan via email or phone.
In solidarity,
Ryan Smith, Membership Development Rep.
ryan@ibew659.org
(541) 326-9185
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters,
Another month has flown by, and once again, I have to say we appreciate the increase in member involvement as of late. Let's keep it going! As you all know, it has been slower lately for the Inside group, but we have been putting members to work in Northern California, Klamath Falls, Medford, and a handful in Redding. I have been helping Ryan Smith with a decent amount of organizing this month, and we have had many successes, mostly on the P&I (Professional & Industrial) side of things. However, we are making some forward momentum on some non-union Inside Contractors as well. We are also working on some programs for Local 659 that would help increase membership and market share, but this will take some time, so more to follow in the future.
As this is only my second month in, it’s nice to see through jobsite visits and unit meetings that my phone number is getting out to the members. I have received numerous phone calls from our members this month, ranging from issues arising to general information requests. Please keep these coming and spread the word. We are here to help you all!
I wanted to take a moment to bring up an issue I have received quite a few phone calls about. There is a decent number of members who have been sitting at home for a few months now but tend not to get an ROF and come sign the books. They call this “laying in the weeds.” This is done in hopes of their last employer picking back up and putting them to work. While I can appreciate the loyalty and dedication, this only hurts you all. There have been more than a handful of calls from our local for Inside Wiremen in the last month and a half or so, and some of them have been hard to fill. We have been reaching out by telephone and trying to find members who are not working and want to work but are still dispatched to their previous company. It is hard for us to know who is out of work when you are still under your previous dispatch. All this is to say, if you have questions about the ROF process, signing the books, or the dispatch process, please feel free to reach out to us. Once again, we are here to help you. For some, they haven’t ever received an ROF, whether it's because they have just journeyed out recently or maybe recently organized in, but either way, it’s a painless process that will give you a chance to get back to work quicker.
As always, please let us know if there are any questions, concerns, or comments you have.
In Solidarity,
Johnny Walker
johnny@ibew659.org
541-601-0843
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