STAFF REPORTS

September 2024

Good morning, Brothers and Sisters:

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Don McElroy. I am a Journeyman Line Clearance Tree Trimmer by trade and currently work as one of Nick’s Assistant Business Managers in the Hall. My assignments include, all the Line Clearance Tree Trimming Contractors in our jurisdiction, Avista Utilities, and EWEB. In addition to JATC and LMC committees at these units, I also serve on the board of the Jim McLean Memorial Brotherhood Fund. The Brotherhood Fund was established in the mid 1990’s and since that time, we have been able to help 208 Brothers and Sisters, along with their families, with just under $106,000.00. These funds are available for those folks when they have been in a time of need and are made possible by donations, funds raised at our Local Union Picnic, at the PNW Lineman’s Rodeo and by the purchase of Local Union merchandise from our store. One way to purchase is by visiting our online gear store.

At Avista, our LMC committee has spent a lot of time over the last year and have had several subcommittees working on updating Position Descriptions. This is an ongoing project, and we still have a number of PD’s to work through. We finalized the Wage Opener for this year with a 5% increase retroactive to April 1, 2024. Additionally, we agreed to extend the agreement for one year with an additional 5% on wages starting on January 1, 2025. We did complete another Apprentice Gas Serviceman and congratulations goes out to Aaron Berry for becoming our newest Journeyman Gas Serviceman.

For our EWEB members, we have successfully added the Meter Reader and Meter Reader Lead classifications to the Bargaining Unit. We are currently working on gathering information for the 2025 wage study and subsequent wage increase for April 1, 2025.

For our members at Asplundh Tree Expert Company working on Consumers Power Inc. we have sent out an opening letter and are scheduling meetings to negotiate a successor agreement.

For our Line Clearance members working on EWEB, property we have finished bargaining a successor agreement there with both Davey Tree and West Lane Tree. This new agreement has a three-year term which includes a total of 6.5%, 7% and 7% overall increase in wages and benefits.

For our members working for the Line Clearance Tree Trimming Contractors doing the work on PP&L’s property, things are constantly changing. As PP&L moves forward to harden their system, it appears that the workload is going to remain fairly high across our jurisdiction. We have spent just about a year working on bargaining a successor agreement for this group. We currently have a package out for vote and believe that it should be ratified by the membership. Additionally, we still have several crews working on Lane Electric property.

For our Line Clearance man hours for 2023, was a new all-time high with over one-million-man hours. Some additional good news is that in 2019, prior to this big push we had an average 122 Local Journeymen Tree Trimmers and Foremen on PP&L’s property. As the push began in late 2019 and 2020, we had on average 148 Local Journeyman Tree Trimmers and Foremen, 101 outsourced Trimmers and Foremen and 55 Apprentices. Now, in 2024, we have on average 223 Local Journeymen Tree Trimmers and Foremen, 45 outsourced Trimmers and Foremen, and 112 Apprentices.

That is all I have for today. As always, Stay Focused and Stay Safe!

Don McElroy

don@ibew659.org

(541) 601-0863

Brothers and Sisters,

Another busy year has passed that has presented many unique challenges and opportunities. This job as an Assistant Business Manager wears many hats, and they are also always changing. It constantly challenges me to be adaptive and to also be creative. I feel fortunate to work with the team that we have in place. We often work together discussing and brainstorming all the situations that we see daily. We collectively use our experience and knowledge to attain the best outcome for our membership.

I have spent a lot of time this year working with Ryan Smith to organize nonmembers and their workplace this year. We worked together with Mercy Medical, Hunter Communications, and the Avangrid Cogeneration Plant. The Operators at Avangrid successfully voted to become unionized, and we are now working towards negotiations for our first Collective Bargaining Agreement. Avangrid is a 484-megawatt natural gas-fired advanced combined cycle cogeneration facility that produces both electricity and processes steam. The electricity is sold to customers throughout the West and the steam is sold to a near-by wood product plant. We will begin negotiations in mid-September and are looking forward to ratifying a contract they are proud of.

I have also spent time at the Career Fairs for high school kids. This is a great way for us to get information out to the next generation of workers hitting the workforce. It’s a great way to present the different occupations that we represent, and educate them on what is available without the debt of college. This is an endless opportunity for us to get kids interested into fields of work they are interested in.

The upcoming year will be filled with many negotiations coming up and new ones to hopefully organize.

Thanks, and stay safe!

Mike Meek

mikemeek@ibew659.org

458-220-6779

I wanted to take this time to acknowledge the Shop Stewards that give their time for the good of the Union and to help the Union employees at their place of employment.  I can not thank you enough for the tremendous effort given by all the stewards that I work with.  Thank you! I also have some contracts that do not currently have a steward.  Henkels & McCoy Teledata, Consumers Powers, and NECA Teledata.  I hope in the future we will get some volunteers for those openings.

I would like to highlight some achievements for all my current Shop Stewards (Stewards).

OSMOSE: Bruce Loose and Heath Donhoe are my Stewards.  Bruce has been a great resource for me.  Bruce has been my steward for my entire tenure at LU659.  Bruce brings a common-sense approach to all the decisions he makes.  He has become a person I can rely on for the history of OSMOSE and also helped facilitate some important talks with OSMOSE management.  Bruce also knows about every person in the industry that lives in Lane County.  He set up the introductions with Blachly-Lane to help in our continued efforts in organizing that group.  He has a great relationship with many decision makers in the industry. 

Heath just recently joined the team and has proven to also be a huge asset. Heath joined the Negotiation Committee and was able to act as a mediator when we hit a snag.  He navigated both sides through the confusion, and we hammered out the rest of the contract.

SUB: We have Mandy Hill representing Main office, Morrie Roberts representing ESC, and Matt Olsen for WSC. 

Mandy has been able to restore a union position that was vacant for eight (8) years.  She also was able to get a 10% training upgrade, kept a position from going vacant, and got the Main office a $500 bonus for working the storm this year.  Mandy has unified the main office and management always checks with her on almost every decision they make involving the main office.

Morrie has been my Steward for ESC since I started.  He is very well respected by ESC and by Labor Relations.  He is always being asked to join the conversation with Management to help make SUB the best employer it can be.  He was also able to double the comp time given. It went from 120 to 240 and could not have happened at a better time with this year’s ice storm. 

Matt has been a steward for a couple of years and has done a great job.  He was vital in negotiations.  He is also responsible for three (3) people receiving out of cycle pay increases.  He also got the office staff a $500 bonus for the storm.

All the Stewards have won every grievance for this groups.

Lane: For Unit A, we have Jeff Dau and for Unit B, we have Greg Finn. 

Jeff has been able to run the ESC operations without an Ops Manager for a couple of years now.  He has also won every grievance for his group.  He also was helpful in expressing the concerns of the group to the Board.  This helped with the Board’s most recent decision.  Jeff also helped in wage negotiations; helping us secure the biggest increase in Lane’s history.

In his short time as steward, Greg has become my right arm.  Greg has unified the group.  He has helped fight for many pay increases and LWOP payouts.  Currently, his total amount of winnings is over $109,000 given back to Union hands.  That amount is only counting retro payouts on grievances for working outside of the job description, and LWOP payouts.  Greg also negotiated the biggest increases in Lane history for his group as well.  The highest increase was over 20% and the lowest was over 10%.  The average was a 12.5% increase.  He has also won every grievance and there have been a lot.  The biggest achievement was finally convincing the board to force the current GM to retire from Lane Electric.  That was a 2-year battle that was just recently won.  It also appears we may get a very union-friendly replacement.  Greg has been to many meetings with the possible replacement and has a very good relationship.

All the Stewards I mentioned above are not only Union members, but my friends.  I have attended many of their kids’ sporting events, birthdays, BBQ’s, etc.  It has been one of the greatest privileges of this job to get to know each one of them outside of work.  Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of these get togethers.  It really gives you a sense of why we are Union.  Helping people achieve the middle class so they can enjoy time outside of work with family and friends.

Tom Hutton

tom@ibew659.org

(541) 601-0844

As we close out this year, I want to take a moment to reflect on our progress and achievements. It's been a challenging but rewarding year, and I am grateful for the dedication and hard work of everyone involved.

First and foremost, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who attended this year's Shop Steward and Officers training. Your commitment to growth and leadership is what drives our collective success. A special “Thank You” goes to Allen Frank, Sherri Zeller, Courtney Little from Central Lincoln PUD, and Jason Dutton for stepping up as a Shop Steward for 1884 Line Co. Your contributions have not gone unnoticed, and your leadership has been instrumental in our progress.

Central Lincoln PUD has remained relatively quiet this year, allowing us to focus on other matters. In Outside Line Construction, we successfully handled an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) case. The ULP was filed due to the company’s attempt to exchange information improperly, which violated the NLRA. This was an open-and-shut case, highlighting the importance of adhering to proper channels of communication and negotiation.

Looking ahead, I have one grievance set to be presented at the next Industry meeting, which involves the layoff of a Line Equipment Operator while URD Operators were retained on the project. This grievance seeks compensation for a full month’s wages as the project continued for another three months. Additionally, I have another grievance that mirrors this situation, which we will also address in due course.

This year has also seen the successful organization of several new companies, including Integrity Traffic on Outside Construction, Badger Infrastructure Solutions, Top Rock Hauling, Sturgeon Electric California, and Specialty Engineering. We are also pleased to welcome Trice Construction and Diversified Utility Services back to the Four Local Agreement.

On the Northwest Line JATC front, indentures are down this year, with only 49 Apprentices inducted so far. However, there has been a significant shift in our approach to industry experience requirements for the re-interview process. Previously, the requirement was 500 hours of line experience, but we have now broadened this to include experience across all trade classes, including LCTT and Telecom. This change ensures a more inclusive process, allowing more candidates to re-interview after gaining the necessary 500 hours of experience. In addition to this, we are now directly indenturing two VEEP candidates and two VOLTA candidates per session.

Speaking of VEEP, I am proud to announce that every local in Oregon now has a direct entry process for veterans, whether through VEEP or their own tailored programs, helping our service members transition into the electrical trades. This initiative took center stage at the Business Manager and Organizer Conference for the 9th District this past February 21-23, where VEEP and Veterans Committee state representatives were invited to share our efforts. This event marked the first-ever Veteran State Representative caucus in the IBEW, where we covered topics including what VEEP and VIPER programs entail, how to start a Veteran’s Committee, and how to gain access to military installations.

This year’s progress is a testament to the dedication and collaboration within our ranks. We have faced challenges head-on and achieved significant milestones. As we move forward, I am confident that we will continue to build on this momentum and achieve even greater success in the coming year.

Thank you once again to everyone for your hard work, commitment, and support. Together, we will continue to strengthen our union and uphold the standards of excellence that define our work.

“United We Stand”

James Davidson

james@ibew659.org

(458) 220-6416

LU659 Brothers and Sisters,

Another month has flown by, and here are some highlights from this past month:

• Assisted LU73 with their 2-day member-to-future-member Blitz, knocking on roughly 320 doors. This brings our total doors hit this year to over 3,000.
• NWO (Northwest Organizers) Meeting: Work continues to increase in our sister locals. Both LU48 and LU112 are still seeing open calls. If you find yourself on the out-of-work books, they are in desperate need of help to fill those calls. Many of these calls offer $100 in subsistence pay.
• Election Ballots for ACRT: These will be mailed out on the 27th and counted on September 18th, with more to come in the following month with the outcome. If you are working around these workers, please show them what brotherhood and sisterhood are all about. Encourage them to stay united and stand strong together acting as a union.
• Negotiations with Avangrid: Mike and I had several meetings with the negotiating team from Avangrid to prepare for the first two days of negotiations in September. I'm sure Mike will have more details in his report.
• International Membership Development Conference: As I write this, we have not yet attended the conference but hope to report back with the knowledge we gained and the successes of the IBEW over the past year.
• RENEW Program: The RENEW program is actively seeking more participants. To enhance engagement across all groups, Zoom links will now be sent out prior to meetings. If you wish to be added to the RENEW program text group, please contact Ryan via email or phone.
• New Texting Platform: You may have noticed we have a new platform for mass messaging members. This will be a great way to communicate, as many people tend to overlook emails and other forms of communication. Since this is a new system, we are still working out some bugs, so please be patient as we adjust.

In solidarity,

Ryan Smith

Membership Development Rep.

ryan@ibew659.org

(541) 326-9185

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

Another month has flown by.

We had a new member join the Inside group from the Klamath area at the beginning of the month, and they have been doing great. They took one of the calls out to the Lakeview project and are loving it there. They have also been reaching out to some of their non-union buddies, and we've been in talks with them. One even came and signed the books on the 23rd. So, if any of you have contacts in the non-union, please have them reach out to Ryan or me, and at least have a conversation with us.

I was finally able to meet with our negotiating team this month and get a plan together. We have also been trying to pick some dates that work for both sides, and I believe we will be meeting with the contractors on September 12th.

Ryan and I were able to visit a few crews this month, one in Klamath and a couple in Medford and had some great discussions. If any of you would like us to visit your crew, please let one of us know.

The latest Lakeview callout was delayed, but we hear the next one is going to come in the following weeks.  Please let me know if you, or anyone you know is interested.

The RENEW committee held a trash cleanup on Kane Creek, which ended up being a blast. We are going to try to do more community outreach around LU659, so if anyone has any great ideas, please reach out to Nate, Ryan, or me.

Ryan and I are currently at the Membership Development Conference as I type this. One of the big messages from the IBEW is the importance of organizing. Increasing our market share through organizing not only benefits each and every one of us during negotiations, but as IBEW members, it is our mission to organize all workers in the entire electrical industry. I write this to remind everyone that simple conversations you have out and about or on the job are some of the best ways to organize others. Every single one of us has the power to change another’s life. Please be open to starting conversations, and feel free to give them Ryan's or my phone number to get more information.

Thank you all!

Johnny Walker

Assistant Business Manager

johnny@ibew659.org

(541) 601-0843