From the trenches...

           Reports from your Business Reps

Unit 1 – Electric Distribution/Transmission
By Barry Poole

• The Department of Water and Power Lineman’s Rodeo will be held on Saturday, May 17, at the Truesdale Training Center, located at 11760 Truesdale Street. There will be refreshments and a wide range of activities at this event. Family members, including children, and friends are welcome to attend.

• Three members of Local 18 attended the American Public Power Association Lineworkers’ Rodeo in Jacksonville, Florida. They were Todd Alden, Scott Barnes and Ron Beech. They finished a fine fourth overall in the competition. Congratulations!

• Twenty-eight linemen have been hired from the outside in the last 18 months. Six of them are still working here; the others have left for various reasons.

Unit 2 – Electrical Station Operators
By Bill Lewis

• I had hoped to be able to report that the Executive Employee Relations Committee had met and approved the new per diem formula. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the Committee had canceled its scheduled April 8 meeting.

• The proposed new training program is scheduled to go to the Joint Resolution Board this month for final approval. After that, we will meet with the Personnel Department to implement the necessary changes on the next job bulletin.

Unit 4 – General Construction
By Hank O’Neil

The membership meeting for this newly formed unit will be held on the second Monday of the month. A postcard will be sent to unit members with the time and place for the meeting. Please plan on attending because we will be electing unit officers.

Unit 6 – Warehouse/Stores
By Leslie Abbott

At its annual dinner meeting in April, Unit 6 (Warehouse/Stores) members presented outgoing Business Representative Gus Corona with a plaque, thanking him for his “hard work, leadership and dedication” to the unit and its members. Shown, left to right: Shop Steward Val Fernandez, Unit 6 Chair and Shop Steward Mark Miller, and Gus Corona.

Unit 8 – Clerical
By Shawn McCloud

• Half-time Civil Service: As you may be aware, the half-time update meeting has been postponed. The meeting will be re-scheduled at a later date.

• Notice of meeting change: The July 12 unit meeting has been changed to Saturday, July 26. Please mark your calendar.

Unit 8/18 – Clerical Supervisory
By Geralyn Washington-Tatum

• Clerical/Supervisory Clerical: The Bid Plan Committee is hard at work and making great strides. If you have suggestions for the committee to consider, please refer to last month’s Surge and contact a member, or fax Geralyn or Shawn at 213/739-6937. Thank you.

• A second request: If you would like to have a unit meeting, please contact Geralyn Washington-Tatum at 213/387-8274, ext. 105.

• If anyone is interested in the Worker Safety Tours, please call Geralyn or Shawn at Local 18 (213/387-8274).

Unit 9 – Electric Station Maintenance
By Gus Corona

• After much discussion and strenuous efforts to ensure absolute fairness, the transition to the new Valley units has taken place. At the same time, training for these same units has begun. Local 18’s goal was to maintain the staffing levels at the old Valley units, while getting employees trained at the new ones.

• The lists for five Control Operator and five Assistant Control Operator positions have been certified, and these slots will be filled soon.

• It is important that you all stay current about what is going on within your units. With that in mind, we urge you to attend your unit meetings on a regular basis.

Unit 13 – Automotive
By Bill Lewis

DWP management has decided to move the boom shop to Valley Center. I will be meeting with Departmental people to discuss the ramifications of this move. It will have a definite impact on current bid holders and the future day-shift bids at Valley Center. I expect a relatively short meeting with management since the bid plan is clear on what needs to be done here.

Unit 14 – Transportation
By Bill Lewis

The issuance of tools should be completed soon. The tools have finally arrived and will be sorted and distributed in the very near future. You will now be able to make those minor adjustments without running around while searching for a particular wrench. I am still amazed that it takes the Department so long to do those little things which help increase morale and productivity.

Unit 15/20 – Pasadena
By Barry Poole

• Gas Turbine 3 and 4 bids have been awarded to Sermatech. The firm will sign a “Project Labor Agreement” that ensures the building of the power plants in Pasadena will be by union workers. The bid for the job of retrofitting the existing gas turbines was awarded to ARB, which is also a union contractor. These awards and projects constitute two major victories for organized labor.

• Members of the Pasadena survey team met after the Unit 15/20 meeting. They are Mohamed Youines, Brad Secreto, Victor Jaime, John Roughan, Sonny Brassie, Mike Coil, Larry Husted, Paul Tomack, and Barry Poole. They reviewed the results of the survey, and these results will be used during the upcoming contract negotiations. If you have any questions about this survey, you can contact any of the committee members.

Unit 17 – Meter Reading/Field Service
By Nancy Romero

• A discussion concerning the topic of confrontations in the field was held at the March 19 Monthly Safety Meeting for the CSBU. The minutes of that meeting were widely circulated among all field groups, with the following information: “Employees are reminded that if they are approached or threatened in the field, they should defend themselves to insure their safety, and get away from the situation as quickly as possible. They should report all incidents to their supervisors. The Department will defend you if it becomes necessary to defend yourself in insuring your safety.” Please be aware that these minutes have been rescinded.

• All Unit 17 members are invited to join us for the Annual Dinner Meeting. We are planning to hold the event in June. We will be sending out meeting notice postcards with all the information soon.

Unit 19 – Generating Stations
By Gus Corona

We have been involved in continuing discussions with management regarding the Department-wide bid plan. The committee has been working to address management concerns, while still attempting to maintain the integrity of the bid plan. In some cases, this has proven to be difficult: there have been certain issues that management has brought forward, which we were able to deal with, but we now are getting into the area of more complex issues that we may not be able to address so easily. If we cannot overcome these differences, we will have no choice but to send these unresolved issues to the Joint Resolution Board. We will have more information for you, either at unit meetings or in the unit report in the Surge, as things progress.

Unit 19B – Shops
By Ralph Ronda, Chairman

This year, I was very fortunate (and grateful) to attend the 2003 Utility Conference. A wide range of topics was covered, including utility de-regulation, employee training and safety, and the make-up of benefit packages. The conference workshops were informative and also provided a forum for comments and suggestions from other IBEW brothers and sisters representing local unions across the country. Listening to the reports from other IBEW locals made me realize just how good we have it here in Local 18, in Los Angeles. Some of our brothers and sisters are really struggling on their jobs in their home towns!

To all members of our Unit, I just want to let you know that we are in much better shape than many of our IBEW members throughout the U.S. We are by far the highest-paid utility work force in the country! We must remember this and be thankful and grateful that we have such good representatives who negotiate great contracts for us!

Unit 22 – Electric Service Reps
By Leslie Abbott

After a year of negotiations, a bid plan specific to Electric Service Representatives (ESRs) has been completed and approved by Unit 22 members. The goal of the bid plan was to take the ESRs out of the All Craft Bid Plan and create one that would resolve issues that are unique to them.

The bid plan now goes to the Joint Resolution Board for final approval from Local 18’s business manager and the Department’s general manager. Special thanks go to Jeff Firestone, Joe Moreno and Bill Punches, who diligently represented Unit 22 members in negotiating the plan with management!

Unit 26 – Custodial
By Nancy Romero

• A worker safety tour was conducted at the Crenshaw Branch Office. The committee found severe-to-moderate water damage throughout the premises, and also a possible health hazard due to mold. We are working with ISS management to address both of these potentially unsafe working conditions. As of this writing, Department roofers are working on fixing leaks in the building, and the industrial hygienist will soon be inspecting for any air-quality concerns.

• Please remember to attend the Unit 26 – Custodial Services Attendant meeting on the third Thursday of the month, at 4:00 p.m., at the Local 18 office.

Unit 50 – Burbank
By Barry Poole

• Incumbent candidate Jef Vander Borght, who was supported by Local 18, was recently elected to the City Council. Congratulations.

• Negotiations continue over implementation of the Retired Medical Trust. The Trust documents have been completed. They are now being reviewed by Local 18 and the City of Burbank. Currently, we are working towards having the first payroll deduction for retiree medical on April 25. This will be the start of a five-year vesting period for the Trust.

• The Retiree Survivor Benefit Level is being raised from Level 1 to Level 4, effective July 1, 2003. This is a PERS insurance benefit for people who pass away during the time they are actively employed. For an employee’s survivor who would have previously received $300/month, the new amount will be about $2,000/month. This is a very significant and welcome increase.

• Brothers Glenn Harrison, Tom Robideaux and Gene Stoddard participated in the recent American Public Power Association Lineworkers’ Rodeo in Jacksonville, Florida. This rodeo was a skills event for municipal-utility workers from across the country. Hats off to these brothers for their hard work and dedication to improving safe work practices and skills as line workers, as they prepared for, and participated in, the rodeo.

Unit 52 – Owens Valley
By Hank O’Neil

• Spring brings us closer to the resumption of large projects throughout the Aqueduct District. As the increase in work continues, so does the study of what new positions will be needed and approved for the new budget year starting in July. The Joint Labor-Management Committees are working on the positions that will be required for the Owens Lake Project.

• Tours of the current operations are scheduled for Union representatives, to review the project and have a better understanding of what the work is and what classifications will be needed as the Department takes over the operation from the contractors. The fencing project for the Owens River is continuing, with new positions slated for hiring in order to accomplish this work.

• The Power System currently is conducting maintenance on the plants in the Gorge. Your input on these specific projects, or improvements in your own work groups, are not only welcome, but wanted, and should be expressed to your JLMC representative.

• Your Safety Committees have identified various projects that need attention. Telecomm is being upon to formulate and install equipment in the Long Valley and Grant Lake shaft houses in order to enhance the safety of employees working at the bottom of the shafts. The installation of gate operators on canals is now moving forward. With all the work to be done and, in some cases, a short window of opportunity to accomplish it, let’s not forget to watch out for each other and make sure that we do our work safely!

Unit 52A – Mojave
By Hank O’Neil

• Worker Safety Tours are proceeding on schedule and going well. Labor and management are working hard at jointly resolving safety problems.

• Employees are busy with the Golden Valley re-alignment project.

Unit 53 – Water Quality and Distribution
By Hank O’Neil

• Under the guidance of the Joint Labor Management Administrator, Dave Huff, the Water System and Water System Focus JLMCs have become more intent on using their meeting time more efficiently, and confining the subject matter to those issues that fall under JLMC jurisdiction. These guidelines have also been embraced by the Water Distribution JLMC.

• Joint Safety Institute Administrators Jim Barham (Local 18) and Chuck Kokoska (DWP) are working to have more employees receive Worker Safety Tour Training in order to involve more people in this process.

• The Unit 53 meetings were have been changed from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., on the third Monday of each month. This change has brought about an increase in member attendance.

• We all welcome Unit 53 Shop Steward Roy Ortega back to work! Brother Ortega, from Western Water, has returned from being out with a broken ankle, and we are glad to see him. He was missed!

Unit 55 – Communications
By Nancy Romero

• During the last two Telecomm JLMC meetings, we have been discussing the matter of excessive junk e-mails. This issue has sparked concern over what to do if employees receive junk e-mails from vendors, companies, organizations or individuals from outside the Department. All unit members should be aware that if they receive any junk e-mails, they have the following options:

1) Forward that e-mail to “SPAM” in your Global Address Book and then delete it.
2) Set up a junk e-mail folder by using Rule Wizard in Tools and those e-mails will not reach your in-box.
3) Do not use the “unsubscribe” feature in e-mails or websites (trust us, you will be added to even more lists).
4) Delete the junk e-mail.

In order to avoid future SPAM, please refrain from sending e-mails that contain multiple addresses in the heading. Instead, use the Blind Carbon Copy (bcc) feature.

For any assistance in setting up a junk e-mail folder, go to ITS Help Desk and fill out a trouble ticket, and they will help you activate this feature. Please do not call the help desk. Contact it by logging on to //itsweb and hit “enter”.

• Please remember to attend the Unit 55 – Communications meetings on the third Wednesday of the month, at 4:30 p.m., in the training trailer at the Boylston Yard.

Unit 63 – Underground Construction
By Barry Poole

• The Underground Construction Committee has been meeting monthly. A number of issues have been discussed, including training, tools, safety, and work procedures. Committee members are Chuck Adams, Steve Holzhauer, Walter Takamura, Sam Adams, Jesus Aguirre, and Ron Lona. If there are any issues that you would like brought to the committee, please see one of these members.

• The inequity for the Conduit Section was being re-submitted to the Joint Resolution Board on April 25. Please attend your unit meetings for more information on this inequity.

Unit 64 – Azusa
By Bill Lewis

• I am pleased that there was a good turnout at our Unit meeting last month. The main topic we discussed was next year’s negotiations. Even though bargaining is a year away, now is the right time to begin formulating our contract issues and suggestions.

• With the new State of California Health Department certification rules now in effect, the Water Department job descriptions are all outdated. We are beginning to research this issue, and hopefully will have some solid solutions to present to you shortly.

Unit 65 – County Sanitation Districts
By Bill Lewis

The Training Committee is putting the final touches on the course work for both new and existing employees. This committee came about as a result of last year’s negotiations, and initially management was very skeptical about its use and value. I am pleased to report that our committee members have seen a great change in management’s toward this body. The committee has progressed from hard, polarized positions to a spirit of cooperation and working together. It has been a great accomplishment to achieve the necessary changes in training procedures.