Posted:
February 19, 2008
Editor’s note: This e-mail from a Local 1245 member is reprinted with the writer’s permission. It has been slightly edited for clarity. The writer’s name is withheld to protect confidentiality.
I don't really know if there is any interest on the union’s part, however it seems to me that there should be regarding the following matters.
Our company has become more budget conscious in the past
years, downsizing jobs, upsizing job duties, looking at various ways to cut
costs. All the while telling us that we, the employees, matter.
With the onset of 2R14 [Diablo Canyon Unit 2 refueling outage], more and more I
have felt that as a PG&E employee I have taken a back seat to contractors
and in fact that being a PG&E employee has penalized me in numerous ways versus
being a contractor.
1. Day & Zimmermann and SGT craft personnel are
being paid 45 minutes at either time and a half or double time (depending on
when they get out of work) to ride the bus to and from work each day.
Each of these craft personnel are being paid this 1.5 hours per day whether
they ride the bus or not. In addition to this, they are also being paid
$50 per diem for each day they work. This is all on top of their
wages. I understand that they negotiated all this but the bus ride was
negotiated as "if they rode the bus.” There are many, many that are not
riding the bus. All foremen, general foremen and many others are not riding the
bus but they are all getting the 1.5 hours in overtime daily anyway. In
addition to the above, the craft employees will also be getting a monetary
bonus at the end of the outage. I don't know the specifics of that bonus
but it is a monetary bonus. I'm sure it won't be the 5 hours or so that
we usually get. I know we are eligible for like 20 hours but a lot of it
is dependent upon safety, alara etc. which the contractors can effect. I don't
think we have any affect on theirs.
2. Parking—I know, everyone is whining about it,
however it is a huge issue. Contractors are given parking passes to park
in Lot 8 or above. Parking is first-come first-serve. SGT
contractors start their shift at 0530. Night Shift is still here.
Lot 7 is also full (many outage passes - cars parked there illegally) prior to
0600, mostly due to night shift still being onsite, contractors from nights
that shouldn't have been allowed to be in the lot in the first place are parked
there so consequently, PG&E employees are forced to at the very least park
in Lot 1 or at the upper lots and be shuttled down. The busses and Steam
Generators have cut out a ton of our parking. I have notified Security re:
folks parking down here in Lot 7 at night, but it continues to happen. If
the company would have at least had the contractors park in Lot 1 or above I
think the employees would feel a LITTLE better about it.
I may be just sounding like a whining little kid
"they got this and I didn't.” What bugs me the most is the getting paid an
hour and a half a day for nothing. They are supposed to ride the busses for the
pay but they know that they don't have to and still get the pay so they are all
just laughing all the way to the bank.
Maybe this is all just stuff to think about when you all do the next negotiations or something.
Member name withheld