Remedy ? Utility Operations

I am pleased to report that we reached an agreement with the Company for the remedy in this case which we won at arbitration.

You may recall that this case challenged the decision of the Company to use contractors to place all Buried Service Wire (“BSW”) in right-of-ways, resulting in the layoff of Utility Operations members. The arbitrator sustained the grievance, but remanded the case to the parties to negotiate the remedy. The specific terms of the settlement are as follows: 

(1)   Offers of recall to all 43 laid-off Utility Operations members. 

(2)   Backpay of $20,000 to be paid in two installments to those electing to return to the payroll in the Utility Operations bargaining unit.

 (3)   Payment of $10,000 to those laid-off members choosing not to return to the payroll in the Utility Operations bargaining unit. 

(4)   Addition of jobs up to a total of 78 by the end of the year. 

Laid-off members will be recalled by seniority to vacancies in their former place of reporting. Machine Operators who relocated to keep a job will be entitled to return to existing vacancies in their former place of reporting before the Company hires off the street. Please make sure that they all have requests on file to protect their rights (see Article 6, Section D for laid off members; Article 8 for members seeking to relocate). 

It is anticipated that the addition of these jobs to the bargaining unit will impact a substantial majority of the “Full Scope” areas where contractors are now performing the full scope of the available work. 

I am requesting that Staff and Local Presidents confer to identify any members who do not currently have appropriate recall or transfer requests on file for the Utility Operations bargaining unit.