Firstenergy Workers! Published Quarterly by Volume LIX, No
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UTILITY WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO Volume LIX, No. 1 January/February/March 2014 ‘One Day Longer, One Day Stronger!’see page 4 Labor rallies for locked out FirstEnergy workers! Published quarterly by Volume LIX, No. 1 Utility Workers Union of January/February/March 2014 America, AFL-CIO Volume LIX, No. 1 / P.N. 312840 January/February/March 2014 FEATURES President D. Michael Langford 6 UWUA Files Complaints Challenging FirstEnergy Executive Vice President Customer Service Violations Steven VanSlooten Charge inadequate staffing levels result in estimated bills and violate Vice President consumer protections John Duffy Secretary-Treasurer 10 Keeping the Lights On, the Furnace Stoked, Gary M. Ruffner and the Water Flowing! National Executive Board Members Jim Anderson Severe winter doesn’t stop UWUA members from getting the job done! John Capra Nicholas Caracappa 12 Noel Christmas West Virginia Toxic Spill Puts American Water Mike Coleman on the Hot Seat! Kelly Cooper Pat Dillon Did Company’s failure to perform maintenance compound the problem? Daniel Dominguez Harry Farrell 14 Arturo Frias Sierra Club Adopts Union Position on Rich Harkins “ Stranded Workers and Communities” Keith Holmes Daniel Hurley Protecting good jobs is key to a clean energy future David Leonardi Nancy Logan Frank Meznarich Andy O’Connell Richard Passarelli Charlie Rittenhouse DEPARTMENTS James Shillitto James Slevin 3 Michael Smith President’s Message David Thompson Robert Whalen 8 Speaking Out ON THE COVER Associate Editor Employers are locking out workers George Manoogian from their jobs rather than bargaining Send all editorial material, local collectively for fair contracts. How do news, change of address, letters and you think working men and women subscription to 815 16th Street, N.W., should respond to these aggressive Washington, DC 20006. Postmaster: attacks on their rights? Send address changes to The Utility Worker (ISSN 1937 4232), Utility 19 Retiree in the Spotlight: UWUA members and brothers Workers Union of America, 815 16th and sisters from other unions Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006. Marty Baronner hold the line against a Periodical postage paid at Washington, FirstEnergy lockout. DC and additional mailing offices. 21 Saluting our UWUA Retirees 2 THE UTILITY WORKER • January/February/March 2014 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Winter of Our Disrepair D. Michael Langford his winter clearly revealed the extent of our to the Midwest and Northeast. And in California, con- nation’s disrepair. The decrepit state of our sumers were urged to cut their electricity usage as the Tphysical infrastructure was on full display for cold weather caused shortages of natural gas there. the world to see as large numbers of American citizens experienced conditions associated with third-world Darkness before the dawn countries — no electricity, no heat, and no water. But, as the saying goes, the darkest hour precedes Corporate profits and the misguided policies of the dawn. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The elected leaders who serve them, have brought us to the UWUA and its members have allies. Our call to action level of a third-world country. Unless action is taken to repair America’s human and physical infrastructure to invest in our human and physical infrastructure, we is being heard. And action is being taken. will become an underdevel- As this winter proved, we can oping nation. no longer continue down this “Unless action is taken path of underdevelopment and Time for a reality check to invest in our human degradation of our infrastructure. When one of the largest pub- We are taking an “all of the above” licly traded electric utilities, and physical infrastruc- approach to repairing America. In FirstEnergy, locks out 142 ture we will become an states where we are strong, we are workers at its Penelec subsid- working at the state level. In Il- iary just before Thanksgiv- underdeveloping nation.” linois, for example, we successfully ing, something is seriously supported legislation to invest wrong in America. Especially in rebuilding Chicago’s gas lines. when the company continues And in New Jersey, we are working to get Energy Strong to lock them out in the most severe winter in memory. implemented to add billions of dollars to the state’s American Water, the largest publicly traded water infrastructure investment. and wastewater utility company, seeks to cut staff levels In Washington, DC, we are advocating for passage in a West Virginia system that loses up to 37.5% of its of legislation setting up an infrastructure bank to spur water due to leaky pipes and bad valves. When, as in the investment nationwide. Maintaining and improving case of Charleston, WV, there is a toxic spill and they infrastructure creates good domestic jobs for a lifetime. are unable to respond adequately to protect the public, The UWUA is talking to whoever will listen about set- something is seriously wrong in America. ting life sustaining priorities — heat, light, power, and PJM, the electric transmission authority in 13 mid- water. People are paying hundreds of dollars a month Western and mid-Atlantic states, including Washington, for cable and other entertainment amenities. What DC, approved the shutdown of coal fired power plants about paying a few dollars more per month to keep the to rely more on gas. When they were then forced to tell lights on, the furnace stoked and the water flowing? 61 million consumers to cut their power usage during Our message is starting to hit home. We can cre- the day, something is seriously wrong in America. ate millions of good jobs and fix our environmental As coal-plant workers were being laid off, gas-pow- problems by repairing America. To do so, we have to get ered plants were being knocked offline. Gas pipelines people to engage in the process, to go to their elected were unable to carry the necessary volume to serve both officials, their public service commissions, and their residential consumers and the generation facilities for communities. Together we must drive home the mes- the grid. sage that the path we currently are on is not sustainable For the first time in its history, the Federal Energy and changes must be made. Regulatory Commission (FERC) invoked its emergency Regardless of political affiliations, we are talking powers to order a pipeline owner to send gas from Texas about common sense: repairing America. January/February/March 2014 • THE UTILITY WORKER 3 CONTRACT FIGHT FirstEnergy Continues Lockout Despite Massive Winter Storms irstEnergy is continuing a vicious lockout of 142 UWUA members “This company made a serious miscalculation Fat its Penelec utility in central Pennsylvania, even as winter storm when it launched these unjustified attacks on systems sweep across the northeastern U.S., knocking out electric power for UWUA members. Our entire union is commit- hundreds of thousands of families. ted to standing with FirstEnergy workers for The Akron, Ohio-based company locked out the members of UWUA Lo- as long as it takes to win justice.” cal 180 – a branch unit of System Local 102 – three days before Thanksgiving to – UWUA National President Mike Langford try to coerce workers to accept massive concessions during ongoing contract negotiations. FirstEnergy is demanding similar concessions in healthcare and retirement security from nearly 1,000 other System Local 102 members across Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia at the company’s West Penn Power and Potomac Edison subsidiaries. Hundreds of thousands without power “It is inexcusable for FirstEnergy to keep skilled linemen and other utility workers out of their jobs performing essential public services during mas- sive power outages – all for the sake of padding the corporation’s profits at the expense of public safety,” observed UWUA President Mike Langford. ‘One Day Longer, One Day Stronger!’ Locked out for months by FirstEnergy’s Penelec subsidiary, UWUA FirstEnergy top brass suddenly ordered System Local 102, Branch Local 180 members continue to hold the line against corporate greed. local management to lock out Penelec workers on November 25, even though Pennsylvania alone as a result of Winter in Akron should place the public safety the local union had consistently made Storm Nika. ahead of short-term profits by bringing clear its willingness to continue working UWUA members know first-hand that Penelec employees back to work im- while the parties try to hammer out a winter ice and snow storms can severely mediately.” new agreement. The UWUA believes the strain electric power systems throughout lockout is part of a FirstEnergy scheme an entire region, as power outages force Management demands to pressure Local 102 to also accept pain- utilities to scramble to find sufficient ful cutbacks demanded by management takeaways at three bargaining for the larger unit. skilled workers to restore service. tables Management has rejected numer- “It is nothing short of reckless for The labor agreement at Penelec expired ous UWUA proposals that FirstEnergy FirstEnergy to keep nearly 150 skilled late last year, while the System Local 102 should immediately return all locked utility workers sidelined while hundreds contract covering the four-state region is out workers to their jobs to cope with of thousands of customers go without up for renewal at the end of April 2014. regional power outages caused by harsh power during a winter storm,” declared Meanwhile, UWUA members are also winter storms. In early February, for System Local 102 President Bob Whalen. battling against FirstEnergy demands example, 849,000 people lost power in “Top executives in their corporate suites for cutbacks in West Virginia, as the 4 THE UTILITY WORKER • January/February/March 2014 CONTRACT FIGHT FirstEnergy Continues Lockout Despite Massive Winter Storms Locked out Branch Local 180 members receive critical support from their union brothers and sisters. On February 1, hundreds of union members and their families rallied in Altoona, PA in solidarity with them.