Code 18

I received the Code 18 arbitration award late last week and the news wasn't what I wanted to hear. The Arbitrator agreed that the Company did not violate the COORS guidelines by calling employees out within 1.5hrs of their normal start time by using the COORS Code 18.

I will post this award up for everyone to read as soon as I can. There will be a link on the website to view arbitration awards as they become available.

The verdict on the Red Edge #4 has not arrived yet. I do not expect to hear back on that case until late November or early December.

Until then, work safe!

Rumors

I want to address two of the RSO rumors that have been floating around out there. First and foremost, the System Committee has not made any "deals" concerning the Company's initiative to reduce the Troublemen staffing level. This Committee does not cut deals. From time to time there may be Memorandum of Understandings ( IE..Bartow Repower) that are worked on between the parties, or grievance settlements that come out but I can assure you that we are strictly by the contract. Those of you that know me understand how I feel about deal cutting. I don't like it, period !

The other rumor concerns the SL Techs. The System Committee has and will maintain that the SL Tech position much be reduced before the Company can abolish Troublemen positions. This was clearly the intent during the 2002 negotiations concerning the SL Tech.

I will be happy to field any and all questions at the upcoming Union meeting. The next meeting will take place Monday, October 1, 2007, 7:30pm @ the Bear Lake Clubhouse. I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Red Edge #4

This week brought the final chapter in an effort to clear up any issues with Red Edge Letter #4. We were involved in a 2 day arbitration over the company's use of employees across headquarter boundary lines. I wish I could tell you the final outcome but that ruling will come from the arbitrator in about two months.



I know a lot of you do not understand why it takes so long to get a ruling, so I will take some time to explain it. Once you hear the case before the arbitrator, it takes a couple of weeks to get the transcripts back from the court reporter. Once you get the transcripts back, you generally have 30 days to turn in a written post hearing brief. Once the arbitrator receives the briefs, they tend to take about 30 days to give us their ruling. That is the short version, but it should help explain why it takes so long to get the answer.



I will post the decision as soon as we receive it. I feel like we presented a good case this week but you never know how the arbitrator received it. In contract interpretation cases the Union has the burden of proof. It is our job to show the arbitrator why our interpretation is the right one. These are generally more difficult than discipline or discharge cases as the burden of proof lies with the company.



I would like to thank everyone that was involved in this case. There was a lot of work that went into it and everyone worked really hard to present a good case. The following is a list of the members who were involved, so take a minute to thank them for their efforts if you get the chance.



Joe Adams Business Manager, SCU-8

David Edenfield Treasurer LU 1412

Mike Matson Member LU 1412

Nick Peden Member LU 682

David Price President LU 1412

Thomas Schiferl Member LU 682

Mac Todd Member LU 1412



Fraternally,

David B Price
President LU 1412

RSO Meeting

The System Committee and the company met today to discuss the company plans to eliminate 21 positions. As you all are aware, the contract gives the company the right to abolish, post and to reclassify. The issue surrounds the reduction in Troublemen positions while we still have Street Light Technician positions.

The Street Light Technician was negotiated in 2002. During talks about the position, the Union had asked and was told that the Street Light Technician positions would not have an impact on the Troublemen classification. The Union left the table with a clear understanding that if Troublemen classifications were to be reduced, than there would be no Street Light Technician positions.

Joe Adams, Business Manager SCU-8, and the System Committee made it very clear today that our stance on this issue has not changed. In order to reduce Troublemen positions, the Street Light Technician positions would have to be abolished first.

I for one believe that a reduction in forces is the wrong way to fix any financial problem we are having. Especially when it comes to highly skilled positions in an industry that is in need of more Journeymen. I would think we would be staffing up and preparing for the future.

I understand that the growth is not like it was the past several years but the key word there is growth. We are not in a declining market. We are still adding customers everyday.

I will keep you informed of any new information as it becomes available. Please continue to work safe and I'll see you at Septembers Union meeting.

Troublemen Update

I wanted to give you all an update on where we are at with the troublemen "staffing issue". As I have reported previously, the company has had a team of managers meeting to decide how best to handle this "issue". They will be presenting their findings to the Union committee on Thursday, July 26th. As soon as I can publish any information I will.

On a sad note, I would like to let everyone know that Tommy Ferguson passed away earlier this week. Tommy was a Serviceman who worked out of the Jamestown Operation Center and retired during the VERP. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family.

Who knows!!!!!

Well, it seems that there are a lot of rumors out there about the future of the Troublemen. I can honestly say I have heard at least 20 different versions of what is going to happen. Unfortunately, none of them have been discussed between Management and the Union. These are all just rumors.

Here is what I do know. Management had asked to discuss this issue with us in late June and then notified us that they were not ready to discuss it. The meeting was then going to be rescheduled for the first week or so of this month. As of today, we are still waiting on the company to set that meeting up. I will inform everyone when that meeting is just as soon as I know. The company has had a team put together to evaluate the current staffing levels and work load and they are in charge of coming up with the plan to present to us. As soon as I know what in the world is going on, I will be happy to pass on the information.

Update

I just wanted to take some time to update all of you. On Friday, June 22, 2007 the Union and the Company met at the arbitration table to hear the Code 18 grievance. I feel like we presented a good case and I look forward to getting the ruling from the arbitrator. At this time, it is looking like we will get an answer sometime around October.

The Red Edge #4 arbitration is still on track to be heard the last week of August. This is a very big case and could have a major impact on the RSO. There are several other cases on the board to be heard. The Clubhouse dues case is slated for mid August and the issue over 7 hour shifts should be heard this year.

For those of you who have not been keeping up, three of the power plants in the Carolinas voted today on whether or not to go Union. The votes will be counted tomorrow and will be published as soon as they are available. I would like to thank all of those employees in the Carolinas that had what it takes to stand up and demand a voice at work. It takes courage to do that. We sometimes forget what our Brothers and Sisters did for us so many years ago.

As a reminder, the next Union meeting is Monday, July 2, 2007. I look forward to seeing you

Vacation Period

Brothers and Sisters,

I just wanted to take some time to update you on some happenings around the local. We had an issue back in December where an employee had taken the week of Christmas off and was called out on Monday (Christmas Day). We had argued the fact that since he was on vacation he should not have been called. We have a revised second step response that the local union executive board has accepted and should clarify this issue in the future. You can view a copy of the response on the local's web page, www.ibew1412.org

While you are on a week long vacation, you are off of the list for nine days. The weekend before and the weekend after will be considered as vacation for the puposes of COORS. As far as the premium pay if you are called on vacation, the contract calls for seven consecutive days being a vacation period. You designate which weekend will be a part of that seven day period and that will be considered your vacation period for the purpose of premium pay. If you have any other questions about this issuen please do not hesitate to call me.

Elections

May 7th the local had nominations for upcoming elections. The results are as follows:

President/FS/U8 Delegate
David B Price

Vice President
Mark McGuffee

Recording Sec.
Darrell Reeves

Treasurer
C. David Edenfield

Executive Board
Craig Crawford
Gary Dotten
Al Hayes
Mike D. Matson
David Koczan (withdrawn)

System Council U8 Delegate
C. David Edenfield

Alternate Delegate
Mark McGuffee

Since no other candidates are running for office there is no need to hold full elections. The hall will not be open for voting during the day on June 4th. The Regular meeting for June will still be held on Monday the 4th commencing at 7:30 pm. All incoming officers will be sworn in that evening.

Recent Meetings

The System Council met this week for the first of three meetings this year. There were are lot of topics discussed and I will be giving a full report at our next regular meeting. One of the items that was on the floor for discussion concerned finding a better system to track grievances. The Council examined several different systems and we finally settled on a system that would allow the membership to log on and see the status of each grievance. It will take us some time to get it loaded and up to speed but the final product will provide all of us a tool to research grievances. I will be publishing that web link once we have a sufficient amount of information logged into the system.



One other topic I would like to discuss is the Florida Utility Alliance. I am currently in Gainesville meeting with all of the IBEW Locals who have jurisdiction in the utility sector. The reports from FP&L, TECO, SECO, JEA, Gulf Power and Progress are all so close you'd think it was the same managers running all of the companies listed. The number one issue concerns the staffing levels on the line crews and in the power plants. The need for Journeymen in each craft is only going to get worse and the resolution to the problem may come too late. We have been telling our management team for several years now that home grown Journeymen are the way to go and improvements to our apprentice programs has to come sooner rather than later. Unfortunately I don't think we are moving fast enough to fix the root of the problem. The companies are all looking for journeymen and the pool to draw from has been draining for quite some time now.

There were several other topics discussed at the meeting but I would like to save that for future information. My newsletter should be out in a couple of weeks and I will be giving thorough reports on both meetings at the May 7, 2007 regular union meeting. As a reminder, we have local union nominations at that meeting. I hope that all of you will attend and exercise your right to nominate the officers who will be running the local union for the next three years.

Please continue to work safe and I look forward to seeing you there on May 7th.


David B Price
President
IBEW LU 1412

Information Express

Beginning this month, I will be using this blog as another avenue to get information out to the members in the field. During the 2005 negotiations I was able to communicate each week on the local's web page everything that was taking place and it appeared to work well. Now I would like to utilize this blog for the same type of communications. Please check back often to see what is happening. I will be discussing issues like arbitrations, grievances and other issues being handled by the Local or the System Council.

Since I mentioned arbitrations, let me get you up to date with the current arbitration case load. Today, Joe Adams (BM SCU8), David Dreggors (LU1412), Jason Wilson (VP LU 682) and myself were doing the final preparations for a case involving a discharged member from Local Union 682. The day ended in a settlement prior to the actual arbitration .

The Red Edge #4 case is still waiting for a new set of dates. Joe Adams (SCU8) and the company will be on a conference call tomorrow with the arbitrator to try and reach agreement on a new set of dates for this case. I know there is a lot of questions surrounding the decision to agree on an extension for this case but I can assure you that there were extenuating circumstances. I urge you to go to www.ibewscu8.org and read the current posting by Joe Adams about this issue.

COORS Code18 is another hot topic. The date for this arbitration is set for June 22, 2007. David Edenfield (LU1412) and myself will be handling this case. Preparations are well in the works and we are looking forward to the case being heard by an arbitrator. This is one more attack on our Troublemen and I am sure that there will be more in the future. The best thing we can do to combat the company's attacks is to show solidarity and continue to work together until we can get some relief through the arbitration process.

The Clubhouse dues deduction arbitration is being handled by David Dreggors (LU1412). The case is set for August 22, 2007. This case has amazed me from the very beginning. I have no idea why the company chose to fight for this "hill". It poses no problems for the company and does nothing but make life difficult for their employees. The practice of allowing employees (Bargaining Unit and Management) to use payroll deduct for clubhouse dues deductions has always been the norm and no different than the old appliance purchase plan that was negotiated away in 2005. So that brings me back to the original question I have had all along," Why would you do something that accomplishes nothing for your business but aggravate your employees?" I suppose this case will continue to be one of those that causes you to scratch your head and wonder "what in the hell is going on?"

Please continue to check up on the blog in the future. I will have additional postings soon and I look forward to seeing all of you at the next meeting.

David B Price
President/FS
IBEW LU 1412