Eugene Oregon, Water and Electric Board negotiates raises with Local 659

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/06/16/d16.bz.eweb.0616.html





June 16, 2004

EWEB, union turn to mediator

By Joe Harwood
The Register-Guard

After nine months of negotiations, the Eugene Water & Electric Board and its sole union are at a dead end and will present their best and final offers to a state mediator today.

The union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 659, last Wednesday declared an impasse in negotiations, effectively acknowledging that progress toward a collective bargaining agreement is at a standstill.

Though the parties are in harmony on some issues such as health care premiums and coverage options, they remain far apart on wages, shift configurations and holidays, said Ron Jones, business manager for the IBEW, which is based in Central Point. Additional details were not available Tuesday.

The union represents 157 employees, or about 35 percent of the utility's 450-person work force. The bargaining unit includes production, maintenance, mechanics and landscape positions in addition to line workers and meter readers.

About 70 percent of eligible workers voted last August to join the union - the first at EWEB in its 93 years of existence. Before the vote, EWEB was the largest utility in Oregon without a labor union.

Jones said some workers in the electrical department are among the lowest paid for their positions in comparison with workers at other utilities the union represents. "And nobody has had a raise in two years," he said.

"There's a lot of angry employees. They are not happy with the way they are being treated."

EWEB spokesman Marty Douglass said he couldn't comment on specifics until the state Employment Relations Board receives the final offers.

Under state law, once one side declares an impasse, the parties have seven days to submit their final and best offers, along with costs, to the board, Douglass said.

After a 30-day cooling-off period, which starts today, EWEB can choose to implement any part of its final offer.

The union can either decide to accept the conditions or strike. However, before workers walk off the job, the union would have to give a 10-day warning notice to the utility.

Jones said any talk of a strike is premature.

"We have a real interest in working with the utility to get a real agreement here," Jones said. "It's the customers that benefit or suffer depending on what happens."

Douglass said EWEB remains hopeful that an amicable solution can be found.

Jones and Douglass said both parties plan to continue negotiating during the 30-day cooling-off period.

EWEB's commissioners met Tuesday night in a nonpublic session to put together the utility's final offer.

After both sides submit their offers, the Employment Relations Board will make those details public.











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