Job Fair at Providence Tors Hirex, Golden Gate Steel and Its Baptist Church in San Francisco
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Volume 57 No.3 • May/June 2008 Union stewards, new PG&E VP exchange views Plumas-Sierra REC .10. number of areas and fi elded plenty of tough questions from the assembled Dalzell on Legacy Costs .2. members. Frank talk Williams got no argument with her ne of PG&E’s new top util- Letters .2. assertion that PG&E needed to “funda- ity offi cers offered some frank mentally improve the infrastructure,” talk—and cautious promises of which she has been quickly getting up- Sacramento RT .2. O Settlement change—in a March 19 meeting with to-speed on following visits to the fi eld, Local 1245 activists at Weakley Hall in including one to a San Francisco substa- Vacaville. tion that had “1940s vintage” switches. PG&E Bargaining .4. Geisha Williams, PG&E’s new Senior “Older than that” someone called out Vice President for Energy Delivery, ac- from the audience. Retirees Corner .8 knowledged company challenges in a Williams described the need to im- prove the design and increase the ca- Primary Election .12 pacity in the company’s distribution system. Davey Tree Agreement .13 “The system needs an infusion of cap- ital to make it better,” she said. Outside Line Report .14. “Who’s going to do this work?” some- one asked. “You guys and contractors,” Safety Matters .15 Williams replied. Once Williams put the issue of staffi ng Larry Pierce Retires .17 on the table, it never really left. Ignacio Araquistain, a Troubleman Unit Schedule .18 from San Lorenzo, told Williams that Local 1245 members George Lindsey, Bob Gerstle, Mike Diamond and Vince Zinkl listen as PG&E needed more bodies in-house. Geisha Williams addresses PG&E’s maintenance and staffi ng problems. A brutal News briefs continued on page 6 assault on fi ve union organizers engaging in a lawful pick- Assistant Business Manager Ron et in Los Angeles has resulted in a Cochran greets people preparing civil rights lawsuit against contrac- to attend the Job Fair at Providence tors Hirex, Golden Gate Steel and its Baptist Church in San Francisco. owner. More than 15 workers from the jobsite, some wielding iron re- bar and 2x4’s, violently attacked the fi ve organizers. Over 200,000 people partici- Job Fair pated in the “March Against State Terror” in Colombia. The organizer IBEW promotes opportunities on of the march and four other human Transmission line rights spokespeople were killed, along with four trade union leaders. Job Fair co-hosted by IBEW Lo- Project is a 5.1-mile-long underground that seeks to connect city residents with President Bush is seeking ratifi ca- cal 1245 offered San Francisco construction project for PG&E that con- work. The labor-backed A. Philip Ran- tion of a free trade agreement with residents an opportunity to ap- nects two existing substations. dolph Institute secured the church for Colombia’s government. A ply for entry-level jobs on a Black & Ve- Black & Veatch Construction Inc. made the recruiting effort and provided assis- The National atch construction project. a commitment to PG&E to hire at least tance in reaching out to the local com- Labor Relations Beginning early Saturday morning, 20% qualifi ed local hires for the proj- munity for job applicants. Board under Presi- March 29, 80 people lined up at the ect. To facilitate the selection of quali- San Francisco has a law mandating dent Bush is deny- Providence Baptist Church to be inter- fi ed local hires, Black & Veatch worked that fi rst source/local hiring require- ing workers’ rights viewed for positions to build the Martin closely with IBEW Local 1245, subcon- ments apply to all contractors and sub- in the US, in viola- tion of international to Hunters Point 115kV Transmission tractor Underground Construction Co., contractors working in San Francisco. labor standards, the Line Project. The Martin-Hunters Point and CityBuild, a San Francisco agency CityBuild is the operational arm of the International Labor City’s First Source Hiring Ordinance for Organization has all construction projects. determined. The Members mobilization proves decisive Black & Veatch staff met with City- AFL-CIO fi led the large and energetic mobilization Build staff to help them understand the complaint last fall of union members at Turlock Ir- Improvements at Turlock ID Project, safety requirements, and quali- with the ILO — an arm of the United A rigation District overcame stiff ties sought in local hires. Nations — alleging management resistance and produced CityBuild scoured its lists of graduates the Republican ma- a new agreement with many of the im- and associates to select 30 of the most jority on the NLRB provements that employees had sought. qualifi ed candidates to invite to the systematically and The four-year agreement provides March 29 interview session. egregiously re- IBEW members with a 4% wage increase CityBuild also worked with these se- duced the freedom of workers to join on May 1, along with a 3% rubber glov- IBEW Local 1245 bargaining committee lected candidates to ensure candidates unions. ing premium. It provides additional member Ken Gross urges unity at the mass were prepared for the interview session. continued on page 5 meeting of the two unions in March. continued on page 14 square, and solid as the day it was built. I could be there to participate in the dis- The same can be said for hundreds of cussions for the new contracts. For you miles of line and pipe, and of the tradi- retirees in California, our thoughts are tion of service that our past members with you during this time and hopefully established. you can make a difference for the rest of When an employer complains about us. a “legacy benefit” as an unfair drain on I enjoyed working for PG&E and wish their bottom line, they should simply be the current employees the best. Keep reminded that they are making “legacy the faith. revenue” and “legacy profits” from the Peggy K. Silva; St. George, UT work that our members who are now Got something to share with your fellow Legacy Costs, retired or deceased performed years union members? Send signed letters to: Util- Look to the future ago. Whether it is gas, electricity, tele- ity Reporter Letters, IBEW 1245, POB 2547, The 2008 negotiations are going to be Legacy Promises phone, drinking water, irrigation water, Vacaville, CA 95696. Please note that we can- tough ones to say the least. There are or tree trimming, our membership not print personal attacks or letters dealing hese days, we are hearing the several retiree needs that should be today is building a legacy for our signa- with union politics. Opinions expressed in word “legacy” a lot at the bar- “Letters” are those of the individual authors concerns of the brothers and sisters that tory employers, a legacy that will make gaining table. Employers charac- and do not necessarily reflect the views of plan to retire from PG&E. T profits long after our generation has terize long-standing commitments to IBEW Local 1245. I retired in 2007 and already feel the passed. lifelong employees and retirees such as changes of retirement all too well. I still Another legacy that we must never defined benefit pension plans and post- attend unit meetings and maintain non- forget is the legacy that union members retirement medical benefits as “legacy Hard to maintain working status with the union and am a in the past left for union members costs,” a term which is designed to Hello from St. George Utah: current member of the Retirees Club, today. Their hard, diligent, and shrewd sound much more burdensome and To all the retirees, great to see you although there is not a Retiree Club work at the bargaining table created the oppressive than describing these plans starting to write to the Utility Reporter chapter in the North Valley or north- wage levels, benefits, and working con- as fulfillments of promises made in the and expressing your comments about eastern area portion of the state. I ditions that we currently enjoy. We owe give-and-take of negotiations years ago. the upcoming negotiations between the attempted to start a Retiree’s Club chap- them our gratitude, but we owe them “Legacy” means much more than the union and PG&E. Hopefully the union ter in these areas but have not been able more. We owe them our strongest efforts sense in which it is used by employers will be able to convince the company to find much interest so far. possible to protect them in retirement, today. that the retirees need COLAs and relief I am greatly disappointed in the lack and we owe them the strength to follow For one, “legacy” calls to mind the from high medical insurance premi- of knowledge the working brothers and their example by leaving a legacy for legacy that those who came before us ums. As said by so many of you, we sisters have regarding retirement. I find those who come after us. We stand on built and then left for their employers. seem to have been totally forgotten by they have no knowledge of the cost of their shoulders. What we enjoy today is Ray Thomas, a member of our union the company that we helped to build. retirees’ medical plans and especially in the result of their hard work and the staff, tells of driving up Highway 44 to I was in customer service for almost the areas where HMOs are not available. legacy that they left for us. visit tree crews in Shingletown or the 25 years, working in San Luis Obispo, When I retired in 2007 the total cost So let’s not worry so much about Frontier and Lassen MUD members in Paso Robles, Oakland and then transfer- of my medical plan was $923 for myself “legacy costs,” unless we’re also taking Susanville.