Posted: December 3, 2009YOUR DUES KEEP US IN THE FIGHT
By Tom Dalzell, Business Manager
In the summer of 2008, our members voted to increase dues for BA (non-construction) members by half a percent. The dues increase motion passed by an almost two-to-one margin, and it did not change the fact that we still have one of the most “affordable” IBEW dues structures on the West Coast, I know that the increase was a controversial issue and that those who voted “yes” for the increase did not do so lightly.
A year later, I would like to report on what that dues increase has meant to your local.
First, though, what it has not meant. We have not reversed any of the cost-cutting measures that we put in place before asking for the dues increase. Two secretaries do the work that was once done by four in our Vacaville office. We have not increased the administrative staff in Vacaville, but instead have asked the existing staff to do more. We are still holding staff meetings only six times a year instead of 12. We are still keeping staff cars well past 160,000 miles instead of the past practice of buying new cars at 95,000 miles. We are still sending a minimum number of delegates to conferences. We have not increased the amount we spend on political donations (a separate fund unaffected by a dues increase). And the salary structure for our staff has not changed. The formula by which our salary is calculated is in our bylaws and it has not changed. None of us earned an extra penny because of the dues increase.
Now, what have we done with the increased revenue?
For one thing, we have started the important task of rebuilding our reserves. We are not yet to the level that conservative auditors would call prudent, but we are getting there.
Just as importantly, we have been able to direct significant resources toward important negotiations.
Early in 2009, our focus was on benefits at PG&E. The negotiations were long. They were expensive (including time off for bargaining unit members of the committee, actuaries, lawyers). And they were very successful.
We are currently in protracted negotiations with NV Energy. Here, too, the cost of negotiations is considerable. But we are able to press forward, and thankfully we are able to fully fund our committee’s time off and to pay for actuaries and lawyers without fear that we will run our union into the red. We won’t spend money that we don’t need to spend, but we are able to spend what we need to spend to advance our members’ interests. And nothing affects our members more than negotiations.
In 2010 we will invest significantly in shop steward training. The union staff is important, but shop stewards are really the key to effective enforcement of our collective bargaining agreements and to keeping our members involved in negotiations. We will be holding shop steward training on weekdays this year, which will increase the attendance significantly. We have planned a full and demanding agenda for the training, and believe that stewards will find it well worth their time.
Under Eric Wolfe’s direction, we are redesigning our website to make it easier for members to find the information they need. We understand the importance of electronic media to our members—especially our younger members. And we know that modern media is increasingly interactive. Our new website will feature videos, and provide members an opportunity to post their own video productions. We will also be piloting a member forum, where members can communicate directly with one another on important workplace issues. Moving forward, we will look for additional opportunities to utilize new social networking media.
We are putting considerable resources into safety. We have lost three members to fatal industrial accidents this year and are determined to do all that we can—with and without our employers—to improve safety and reduce accidents. We just finished a two-day summit of linemen from almost 20 different properties to discuss safety, and this effort will continue. We are working on plans with several employers to bring in outside speakers to discuss safety with our members, and beginning in early 2010 we will be meeting with large numbers of our members about the IBEW Code of Excellence, with a focus on safe work practices. We have ramped up substantially the work of our Local 1245 Safety Committee, and we invite you to visit our website to follow this committee’s important work.
We have increased our field staff in order to provide better service to our members. We have added two new staff and one temporary business representative who have been working with our membership at NV Energy, and at some point in 2010 their focus will shift to the PG&E Clerical bargaining unit as we prepare for negotiations on a new Clerical contract. In early 2010 we are adding another staff member to increase service to our Title 300 General Construction members at PG&E.
Lastly, the dues increase has drastically improved our ability to fight when we need to fight. In November, our Executive Board authorized two large expenditures which would not have been possible without the dues increase.
The first was to launch a ground and media campaign against the mayor and majority of the City Council in Redding, who are making plans to subcontract the work of many of our members and to place two anti-worker initiatives on the ballot.
The second was to launch an all-out campaign against NV Energy and its aggressive agenda of take-aways from active employees and retirees in the current round of negotiations. We have always done all that we can to avoid open warfare with our employers. We will still do that, but when employers attack, as Redding and NV Energy have done, we now have the ability to fight back and to fight back hard.
We know how hard you work for your wages, and we are determined to be good guardians of your dues. If you see waste, tell us. We’ll fix it. If you have ideas for ways that we can spend your dues well, tell us. We asked for the dues increase to make a stronger union. We have, and we are determined to keep building.
All good wishes for the holidays and the new year.
