From the trenches...

           Reports from your Business Reps

Unit 1 (Electrical Distribution/Transmission/Trouble/Street Lights)—The new Unit One Officers are: Unit Chair, John Blondeel-Timmerman; Vice-Chair, Jack Bell; and Recording Secretary, Dave Schneider. Congratulations to the new Officers.• Bids closed Oct. 21 and people should be moved to their new bid positions Nov. 2. • Two more Senior Electric Distribution Mechanics will be hired. New Electric Distribution Mechanic Supervisors will be hired to fill positions in Pole Spotting and two lead crews. The Union is working with management to see how many Patrolmen will be hired.

Unit 2 (Electric Station Operators)—Congratulations to Clarke Bertram as the new Unit Chairperson and to Martha Barnidge as Vice Chair. • With the shortage of staffing and the hemorrhage of operators leaving West LA, management has withdrawn all substation bid vacancies from the bid sheet. It is expected that the positions will return when staffing improves. As of this writing the exam is still being scored in personnel. With any luck a list should be established soon and a new class hired by the end of the year.

Unit 6 (Warehouse/Stores)—Nomination and election of Unit officers took place at the October meeting. Newly elected officers are Mark Miller, Chair; Ben Jimenez, Vice Chair; and Angelica Roberts, Recording Secretary. On behalf of the members of Unit 6, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the outgoing officers, Jan Deichen, Chair, and Tom Kwan, Recording Secretary, for unselfishly giving of their time for the benefit of their Union sisters and brothers.

Unit 8 (Clerical)—We have been working on the issues surrounding emergency response in the Clerical Worker Safety Committee. Sadly, we had a trial run on Sept. 11, when the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked. We found there are areas that need to be tightened up, and we are working with the Department to do so. As part of this effort, mail handling guidelines have been developed and distributed. See Page 7 for highlights. • The Clerical Training Review Committee has summarized the results of the Clerical Survey, and we have begun prioritizing the training. Available training opportunities and Survey results are being sent to Clerical employees. • The Mail Room at the JFB has a new floor as a result of a Safety Tour conducted by our Joint Worker Safety Group members earlier this year. On Oct. 4, a Safety Tour was conducted in General Construction at Main Street, and on Nov. 7, a Safety Tour was conducted in Fleet Operations at Truesdale. The Tours have been successful in getting the focus back on safety for clerical workers. • A subcommittee of Delivery Drivers is meeting to try to develop new routes based on current DWP needs. This is being done to see if it is feasible to move the Drivers out of separate Business Units and combine them all under ISS. • See
Unit 8 &18 report for more info. • The Committee continues to work on drafting the language that defines the fringe benefits for part-time civil service employees. The goal is to have the draft completed by the end of February. The next phase will be to brief Local 18 Business Manager and the Employee Relations Manager on the benefits and intent of the language. Updates and announcements of the additional phases will be in the next newsletter. • Thanks to Annemarie for all her hard work for Unit 8 and 18. Her knowledge, skills, abilities and smile will be missed. Good luck Annemarie!

Units 8 and 18 (Clerical/Supervisory & Admin-istrative)—We are starting MOU negotiations with the Department. The Clerical negotiating committee members are Lilly Calvache, Debbie Ferrer, Lynette Lee, Judy Litowitz, Elena Sotelo-McCrary, Billie Washington and Ann Woodmore. Our Supervisory Clerical and Administrative members are Vickie Rose, Nance Walker-Bonnelli and Geralyn Washington-Tatum. Good luck to all the committee members, and thank you for all your hard work! • The Department has hired a full time Ergonomist on staff in Corporate Safety, Marc Hendon. Marc is currently working alongside Omega Solutions, the contractor providing ergonomic analysis and training to the Water System. He will be developing a comprehensive ergonomic plan for the Department as his first assignment. This has been a long time coming and we applaud the combined efforts of the Clerical Worker Safety Committee, the Worker Safety Committee, Corporate Safety and the Joint Resolution Board for making this happen. • A realignment of the Principal Clerk Stenographer classification has just been finalized. The Department is in the process of filling vacancies and terminating temporary appointments. The PCS Classification is in the process of being retitled as Utility Executive Secretary. The steno skills requirement is being eliminated, which will allow for more promotional opportunities. Look for the bulletin to be coming out at the end of December.

Unit 9 (Steam Generation)—Our annual dinner meeting was a great success. It was nice to see so many show up. The dinner was great, the questions challenging and every one had a good time. Current Unit officers were unopposed and reelected. Congratulations to Jon Pokorski, Chairperson, Mike Powers, Vice Chair and Jim Acosta, Recording Secretary.

Unit 12 (Supervisors)—The proposal for double time for Supervisors has been resubmitted to the Executive Employee Relations Committee (EERC) of the City Council. One year ago, Local 18 and management agreed to this proposal. It was submitted at that time to the EERC and was not approved. No reason was given for not approving it. We are now awaiting the EERC’s decision on our current submission. • Questions on cell phone and pager use have again been raised. DWP management seems to believe if they give you a phone or pager you are on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is not true. Pagers and phones are just another tool. IBEW members “are not, and have never been, on call employees.” We do not have stand-by workers on nights or weekends. So do not let management try to have you carry these items with you at all times.

Unit 14 (Transportation)—Remember, you are the responsible person when operating a commercial vehicle. If you are cited for speeding or other DMV violations, you will have to pay for such violation unless it is a mechanical problem for which the DWP is responsible. • ISS Fleet Operations is trying to staff up with Equipment Operators and Heavy Duty Truck Operators, which are definitely needed.

Units 15/20 (Pasadena)—Unit elections were held in October. New officers are Mohamed Youines, Chair; Russell Kruczynski, Vice Chair; and Executive Committee members Tom Brown, Mike Coil, Metric Edwards, Greg Heltsley, Victor Jaime and Brad Seceto. We also have two new Stewards: Tom Martinez in Overhead and Geoff Barsi in Underground. • Business Rep Barry Poole has met with some of the membership to get a handle on outstanding issues. He is prioritizing and following up on all issues identified so far. Congratulations to Ovan Preston (pictured), recipient of a 45-year service award from Pasadena Water and Power

Unit 17 (Customer Service Field Units)—Nomination and election of Unit officers took place at the October meeting. Elected officers are Tony Marufo, Chairperson; Laura Kellgreen, Vice Chair; and Theatrice (Skip) Westbrook, Recording Secretary. Congratulations on your reelection, and thank you for your past and future commitment to the membership of Local 18.

Unit 19 (Electrical Station Maintenance/Elect. Mechs.)—Congratulations to Dave Huff and Gene Canzano on being elected to Local 18 Executive Board and Recording Secretary, respectively. • Unit officers elected at the October meeting are Dave Huff, Chair; Steven Leyva, Vice Chair; and Gene Canzano, Recording Secretary. On behalf of the members of Unit 19, thanks for your commitment to the sisters and brothers of Local 18.

Units 19B and 60 (Mechanical Shops/Generating Station Crafts/FMBG/Waterworks Mechanics)—At the Unit Dinner Meeting on Oct. 23, the following Unit officers were elected: Ralph Ronda, Chairman; Ed Sanfilippo, Vice Chair; and Pat Moore, Recording Secretary. They will be serving three-year terms.

Unit 24 (Water Supply)—There are still deficient service areas with the Nextel phones. Vee Miller is addressing this issue. According to Nextel, they have submitted their conditional use permits to the City of Los Angeles, so it should be another few months before the repeater sites are installed at our facilities. • A complete list of safety tours from June 2000 to June 2001 was passed out to all Worker Safety Group members. The list was prepared to identify the areas and personnel that have been toured by the WSG. In the reporting year, 33 safety tours were performed.

Unit 50 (Burbank)—New Officers for Unit 50 are: Chair, Mike Lemos; Vice Chair, Tom Wilke; Recording Secretary, John Washington. Congratulations to the new officers. • The contract vote was counted Nov. 5 at the Burbank Union Office by the Negotiations Committee. The new contract was approved by the membership.

Unit 52 (Owens Valley)—Unit Officers elected for three year terms are Don Kunze, Chairman; Bruce Zigtema, Vice Chairman; and Nancy Fullingim, Recording Secretary. Congratulations to outgoing Vice Chair Tim Dunn, who is retiring in November. He has always been there for the Union when needed. All who have been acquainted with Tim know he is a “hell of a good man” and will be missed. We wish him a great retirement.

Unit 52A (Mojave)—The following Unit Officers were elected at the October meeting: John Miller, Chairman; Judy Fuentes, Vice Chair; Pat Whitherspoon, Recording Secretary. Thanks to these three for accepting the positions.

Unit 53 (Water Quality and Distribution)—Training is being enforced in the Water Distribution Business Unit. Training for the Water Distribution Certificate, which is now a requirement from the State Health Department, has been moving along with many of the rank and file being trained continuously. • Employees who are planning to retire by Jan.1, 2007 should know there is a policy being written to take care of this action. As soon as it is finalized, you will be given a copy. • Safety Peak Performance training is on-going with the new Joint Safety Institute and is to continue until all employees are trained. • Unit officers for the next three years are Jim Schrein, Chairman; Steve Otero, Vice Chair; and Albert Perez, Recording Secretary.

Unit 55 (Communications)—The Joint Labor/Management process was explained to a large group of ITS employees at a joint meeting held Aug. 23. The Worker Safety and Employee Safety Processes were also explained. The meeting was co-chaired by Cecilia Weldon (ITS Chief Communications Officer) and Hank O’Neil (Local 18 Business Representative). Presentations were made by committee members and Unit Chair Carlos Saldana. Also making presentations were Joint Safety Institute Administrators Frank Miramontes and Chuck Kokoska, and Hal Lindsey, Director of Corporate Safety. JL/M Administrator Jim Barham gave an excellent presentation. This meeting gave Communication’s employees the opportunity to better understand the JL/M process.

Unit 63 (Underground Construction)—New Officers for Unit 63 are: Chair, Chuck Adams; Vice Chair, Barry Jones; Recording Secretary, Jesus Aguirre. Congratulations to the new Officers.

Unit 64 (Azusa)—Local 18 has been trying to work with management to resolve issues rather than going to grievances, but Human Resources has not been cooperative. Local 18 is trying to schedule a meeting with Rick Cole, the City Administrator, to try and get a better working relationship as soon as possible.

Unit 65 (County Sanitation District)—The Sanitation District’s classification study of the Power Plant Operator series is still proceeding. • Local 18 and your Unit Chairperson, Jeff Lambert, are trying to set up a meeting to revisit the one-man shifts.