From the trenches...Reports from your Business RepsUnit 2 – Electrical Station Operators • The start of the new training class, planned for September or October, has been delayed. Given the City’s hiring practices, this should not come as much of a surprise. The latest word is that the class may begin in November. • There is a graduating class in January, 2004, and this should give a good shot in the arm for sub-station staffing levels. According to Jerry Platt, the increase in operator ranks should allow the opening up of bids in various areas. Unit 3 - Electrical Testers In August, Cris Martinez, who has played a critical role on the committee that drafted the Electrical Tester Apprentice Curriculum, had an opportunity to meet with consultants hired by the Joint Training Institute. The consultants are assisting in the Department-wide evaluation of current training needs and future training development. The apprentice curriculum that was drafted this past Spring put the Testers in a position to hit the ground running on proposed future training. Way to go, Testers! Unit 6 – Warehouse/Stores Please note that Unit 6 meetings have been changed to the second Thursday of the month, at 5:00 p.m. In order to increase members participation in these important meetings, we have been varying their locations. If you would like your unit meeting to be held at a facility near your location, please contact me at the Union office (213/387-8274, ext. 110). Be sure to refer to the monthly notices that inform you where the unit meeting will be held. Plan to attend—we would love to see you! Unit 8 – Clerical • Great news! The DWP Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Half-Time Civil Service MOU at their September 16 meeting. The general opinion is that the Board is pleased to see this happening, because it has been a long time coming, and it is a way to show appreciation for our valued employees. In addition, the Board noted that the employees will be taken care of by a good benefits package. This is not the last hurdle—the next stop is the Los Angeles City Council—but it is a major one. We will keep you posted. • If you are interested in: Unit 8/18 – Clerical Supervisory With the reorganization of the Assistant General Managers at the Department, there is now a need to clarify the Utility Executive Secretary (UES) realignment. We currently are meeting with management in order to identify areas where there is concern. If you have any comments or concerns, please fax them to either one of us at the Union office (213/739-6937). Thank you. Unit 9 – Generating Stations • If you are in a classification which is permanently assigned to a generating station, you are invited to attend the Unit 9 meetings on the third Thursday of the month. • The October 16 Unit 9 meeting will be a dinner event, so please be sure to RSVP to the Union office (213/387-8274) if you plan to attend; we will send you a postcard with the information you need. Unit 12 – Senior/Principal Security Officers DWP Labor Relations dropped the ball on sending a resolution to the Water & Power commissioners to implement the new uniform and cleaning allowance, so the receipt of funds has been slightly delayed. Each covered employee will receive $100 in boot/shoe allowance once the resolution is approved. All affected employees should receive $60 per month in uniform-cleaning allowance, retroactive to September, 2003. The resolution is going to the Board on October 7. Unit 15/20 – Pasadena The Negotiations Committee put together a comprehensive bargaining proposal. It was presented to the City at the committee meeting on September 23. Unit 17 – Customer Service Field Groups • We have learned that Local 18 members in the CFR and SCFR classifications are performing work that is potentially unsafe; for example, pulling “jumpers” from the main switch. While it is appropriate for Revenue Security Unit (RSU) personnel to do this kind of work—per their DDR and training—it is not in the DDR for Commercial Field Representatives (either in field service or field collections); nor is it in the DDR for SCFRs who are Field Representatives. After much consultation with our members, we have determined that while the training unit does provide some visuals on what a “jumper” connection looks like (for recognizing theft), there has not been any training at all for Field Service/Field Collection/Field Investigator personnel on how to safely dislodge a “jumper.” Our members also have not been trained on how to identify the different ways that customers can “jump” a service. Many of our members are running a serious risk of injuring themselves by deciding to remove these “jumpers.” Some of them remove “jumpers” because they appear to be a simple connection—two little wires. For the time being, we recommend that it is best if you leave that work to someone who has been trained, and has the appropriate tools to do the work. Do not remove them yourself. All members are advised that the customers are responsible for providing safe premise and meter conditions. If you discover that there is a “jumper,” we ask you not to touch it—unless you are in the RSU—and to immediately notify your supervisor. We will work with Department management in order to try to reach consensus on how best to address this issue. In the units, there are varying degrees of consistency concerning this matter. • Other considerations to consider include getting involved in a legal dispute between DWP customers. For example, if the theft is between two customers, and you remove the “jumper,” you may be asked to testify about what you removed. Ask yourself: do you want to put yourself into the middle of their legal action? We believe that Department management should treat this situation in the same way that it treats “backfeed.” If a member discovers that there is “backfeed,” it is up to the customer to fix the problem. Only after the customer has resolved the matter, do our members return to turn on the service again. Aside from the safety concerns, please be aware that you are not to perform each other’s work. The DDRs are clear: please stay within them. • On another issue, we have received many calls regarding the August 14 CSBU memo (from Fred Puglia) about Workers Compensation Injury Treatment. Please be aware that the memo has since been rescinded (see the September 5 Interdepartmental Correspondence). I want to thank all of you who called in to tell us about this situation. Your calls assisted us in dealing with your concerns in a timely manner. • As a follow-up to the last Surge article about the computer system for the field collection side, the Department’s computer system has since been repaired, and everything has returned to business as usual. Unit 19 – Station Maintenance • Management representatives on the Joint Resolution Board have asked for more time in order to review the Electrical Mechanic Bid Plan. Unfortunately, no decision was reached at the September meeting. • The October 14 Unit 19 meeting will be a dinner event, so please be sure to RSVP to the Union office (213/387-8274) if you plan to attend; we will send you a postcard with the information you need. Unit 19b – Shops As a result of a joint Letter of Intent dated December, 2000, all incumbent D-level Welders were upgraded to the B-level on the condition that they obtain additional certifications. The deadline to get these certifications is February 29, 2004. Any B Welder who has not gotten the certifications by that date will be placed on the D-level DDR effective March 1, 2004. All Welders, and their supervisors, managers and business unit directors, are receiving memos with details concerning the required certifications and timelines. Welders are responsible for requesting both practice and test-taking time from their supervisors. Supervisors must ensure that their Welders are allowed that release time. If you have not received a copy of the memo, please contact me as soon as possible at the Union office (213/387-8274, ext. 110). Unit 22 – Electric Service Reps I am pleased to announce that the Electric Service Reps (ESRs) located at Artesian Street now have two new Shop Stewards. Rick Meza and Pat Owens were both appointed in September, just in time for Local 18’s Fall Shop Stewards’ training classes. It is a great benefit to all our ESRs to have greater communication with, and participation in, our Union’s activities. Hint: is anyone from the West Metro Office interested in becoming a Shop Steward? Unit 26 – Custodial • The new list of qualified candidates for Senior CSA and CSA Supervisors is now out, and will be available for the next two years. Congratulations to all our members who made the list! Please note, under Article 33 of our MOU, that if you are not on the list of qualified candidates, you are not eligible to be upgraded, nor to be placed on a temporary or limited assignment. • Big changes have been made to the FMBG structure. With the restructuring of the department, ISS was placed under the COO of Power, but FMBG was slotted under the Corporate Services Organization (CS), under Assistant General Manager Hokinson. CSAs will now have the following chain of command: JFB CSAs will continue to report to Supervisors Carzette Glopian and Gerald Henderson. They will, in turn, continue to report to Al Sosa. Al Sosa will now report directly to AGM Hokinson. Main Street CSAs, CSBU CSAs and Power CSAs will continue to report to Sandra Miranda and an additional Valley Supervisor (who is yet to be determined). They both will report to Ruben Flores, who has been placed in the CSO structure. As of this writing, it is not clear if he will report directly to AGM Hokinson. • We want members to know that there is a clear chain of command for all CSAs. If someone approaches you about changing your schedule, you must direct that person to your Supervisor or Senior. It is often the case that CSAs are placed in an uncomfortable position of having to do their own and also having to address the immediate needs of a customer. When there are conflicts in time or understanding, CSAs need to have the assurance that their immediate supervision is involved in the decision-making process when changes are necessary. Please note that your supervision comes from FMBG Supervisors, not Branch Managers, Yard Superintendents, etc. They must direct their concerns about your work to your supervision. They are not your immediate supervisors. They should not be discussing your effectiveness, attendance or on-time issues, etc., with you. We ask the members not to engage non FMBG CSA Supervisors in any discussions regarding these issues. • The Electric Distribution Business Unit (EDBU) is also speaking to FMBG about absorbing their CSAs. Currently, there are two CSAs working under EDBU, and it makes sense that they be transferred in the same manner that PSO and CSBU have already transferred their CSAs into FMBG. • As of this writing, interviews have been completed for the five new permanent CSA positions. We are currently in discussions with Department management about where these positions will be placed (JFB, Main Street, etc.). Please note that once these positions are designated, we want to encourage our members who wish to transfer from their current work locations to submit their requests in writing to Al Sosa. • A reminder: all members are encouraged to attend their Unit 26 meeting on the third Thursday of the month, beginning at 3:30, at the Union office. Unit 50 – Burbank • Wage negotiations were concluded. Wage increases ranged from 3.72% to 6.55%, depending on the benchmark classification. When the City of Pasadena settles its contract negotiations, an additional increase will be tacked on retroactively to Burbank salaries, based on the Pasadena increase. • The overtime negotiations were settled. All the non-continuous classifications gained an improvement in their overtime provisions. The continuous operations sections negotiated for a better-than-market overtime policy, but had to give up double time for all overtime. • Negotiations continue over the Burbank Employee Retirement Trust. The City bought its position to the table on September 16. It has decided that the Trust should be governed by ERISA rules. Local 18 will make an appropriate response in order to maintain protections and try to finalize the Trust. Unit 52 – Owens Valley • Although the Unit 52 August meeting was canceled because so many of our members were on vacation, Local 18 has continued to work hard on behalf of all our members. • First, we welcome all our new brothers and sisters who have joined Local 18 as a result of the recent elections at the DWP. We are glad to have you with us, and we hope that you will become active and productive members of our Union. • All of us mourn the recent passing of Brother Scott Wilson. He was a very active member of Unit 52, an excellent worker for the Department and, above all, a wonderful family man. • Our next unit meeting is set for Wednesday, October 15, in Independence. I hope as many members as possible will plan to attend, as we update things at Owens Lake and discuss staffing, Joint Labor-Management, and Union issues. Of course, the meeting is your chance to bring questions and concerns to your Business Rep. • Please work safely, support each other, and remember it is your involvement that we count on in order to make this an increasingly better worksite. Unit 55 – Communications • Due to budgetary constraints, the five positions in the Radio Shop have once again been eliminated. We will work with ITS management in order to figure out how best to restore these crucial positions. • The NOC bids have gone out and will be filled by using the procedures that are described in the Telecomm Bid Plan. • Due to scheduling conflicts in August, the Telecomm Joint Labor-Management Committee was unable to meet. The next JLMC meeting was scheduled for September 18. • A reminder to all Unit 55 members: we continue to hold our monthly meeting at the Boylston Yard on the third Wednesday of the month. Please make every effort to attend! Unit 64 – Azusa We held a meeting with management concerning the water certification requirements. We currently are gathering data from other utilities. As soon as the data is compiled, we will put together a committee that will discuss the findings and come to some resolution in this matter by the end of the year.
|
|
Business Manager's report |
Home | Officers
and Staff | Meetings and Announcements
| Surge + | Links