Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: coming together

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    north texas
    Posts
    7

    Default coming together

    Featured Sponsor

    Hands,

    We need your input. Recently TXU has decided to outsource all of the construction, maintenance, restoration, and technical aspects of our daily distribution and transmission opperations. Included in this change they plan on cutting double time, callout minimun, loss of paid rest, loss of hollidays, and they plan on sending us home when it rains among other benefits. Good luck getting anyone to come back to change out that bad pot that lightning just hit. Our CEO and his yes men have proposed an agreement with Infrastrux, a nationwide contracting conglomerate, to take over all of our salaries and benefits and tote an exclusive contract to maintain our current daily opperations for 10 years based on units. This was being forced down our throats when it came out. Our throats being the non union part of the company anything outside of Dallas Distribution. Thank god for local 69. Local 69 submitted to the PUC, our state regulatory commission, a pettion of review that has the whole thing on hold with no deadline as of yet. TXU corp has retained the services of the burke group, ring any bells. They are pushing hard for a no vote and if you look at the burke groups web site they almost garauntee to axe any union push. I do not know the exact numbers on how many cards were signed for representation, but I am pretty sure we have enough to pass a positive union vote. We need to get the word out and let everyone know that TXU does not hold the best interests of the employees. Was TXU worried about hiring the best union busting firm out there before we came together??? Please let us stay strong and come together, you never really know what you have untill its gone. We need to realize this and organize. We look out for one another a hell of alot better than those guys watching the bottom line.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Austin Texas
    Posts
    133

    Default

    I remember in the early 90's TXU (TU at the time) laid off and bought out a lot of the employees with a lot of time in. It Looks like they are going to screw the long term employee once again. I would suggest that you look for long term work elsewhere. Over the last 20 years I have worked with a lot of ex-TXU employees that have moved on to other companies looking for a job with dependable benifits.
    Harley
    ____________________

    Eligible to retire at anytime – when it quits being fun I’m gone

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    South East Texas
    Posts
    3,278

    Default Happened before

    [ I worked for Entergy In east Texas back in the middle 90's and when they bought out our company the first thing they did was layy off as many people as the possibly could> Then they made a designated trouble crew. This worked fine as long as tyhe trouble was lite. They also rained us out all except for the trouble crew and expected us to return for trouble. Needless to say that didn't happen. They wound up hiring just about everone back that would come back and there were many who refused having tried other avenues of linework. Truth is they shrunk the alailable pool of workers to a point where they used up thier resources too quickly and had no backup plan. My guess is that they paid some dumbass consultant to form a study which he did and used some assembly line rules to guide his findings. We all know that won't ever work but try telling that to a feller with a diploma on the wall

  4. #4
    INDUSTRY INSIDER Guest

    Default Infrastrux Sucks

    No big surprise that TXU is aligning themselves with Infrafuct. Can't say how, but I know of BS with one of the "Union" divisions of Infrastrux. The management douchebag at this "Union" division threatened several times to bring in the nonunion boys to perform work in a largely union area because of the shortage of qualified linemen in the country.

    Brother, good luck and if you need more info, encouragement, union or legal advice let me know.

  5. #5

    Default

    Porky,,,,

    I'm in the boat with you. Almost everyone at our service center is on board 90% or better. Most foremen are only worried about themselves, seein how they got a raise and all...
    Try to keep everybody informed. We found some guys in the rural areas that didn't know what was going on with the organizing. Keep in touch with those guys if you know anybody in another service center... IBEW will email them with info if they need it.

    It's just a matter of time until they force a pay cut on us or we loose everybody that's worth a damn.
    Good luck.... Hope you're voting yes.......

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    north texas
    Posts
    7

    Default coing together

    I really hope this thing is'nt slipping away. Upper management is making their way around the system speaking with employees. They are obligated to do this. Management and TXU have the best there is to offer in union avoidance with the Burke Group www.djburke.com. I am sure that if you have noticed over the last couple of years you have seen change not beneficial to the employee. The reply we get as employees when we question this change is mostly out of our realm of control. If there has ever been a time for us as employees to try and have more impact or control the time is now. We as employees feel let down, or deppression based on a changing market place and dwindeling benefits, not our ability to keep the lights on. TXU has given all of us training. This training has taken place over 5 years not overnight, 5 years is the bear minimum. We have hundreds if not thousands with alot more experience than 5 years. The response and dedication that we showed as lineman from Louisianna to Florida over the last 2 years speaks volumes to what TXU has for Lineman. We as lineman are not interested in the deregulation of the electric industry. Lets leave that worry on the shoulders of the state regulatory body, or the utilities that are involved. I know it doesnt make a hill of beans to me as a lineman who you buy your power from. All we want is to be able to have a job that will pay us some type of incentive for taking an after hours call( double time, call out minimum), not being in a rush to get a job done to meet a unit quota that we dont cover up like we should, dont be in a hurry to get some one working primary because the 2 most experienced hands just went over to the co-op. We are lacking dedicated employees based on all of the change we are facing and lack of reassurance from mamagement through a garauntee of sustained benefits. Make sure we have top of the line health care for us and our families. This is not to much to ask. TXU wants to be a pioneer with this new joint venture. I wish they would be a pioneer in making a comitment to their employees to meet their needs and take care of us like we take care of them. We as employees are the whole reason why there is a TXU. We are their biggest liability, but we are also their greatest asset. What say do we have. The answer is none, we are force fed any thing the company wants to dish up. Will the union answer all of our wants and desires, that remains to be seen. We can not afford to let this time slip by and not research this issue of organizing or not. Just remember a union is made up of working class people that are negotiating the rights of those that are members, or those made up of the bargaining unit.

  7. #7
    BIG"D"PACO Guest

    Default Get a grip!

    Featured Sponsorr

    Porky,
    You need to get a grip on reality. The company is going to do what the company is going to do. What you need to be thinking about is getting your affairs in order so you will not have to rely on what you are currently making. It's not pretty but it is most logical. I started on a linecrew (union) w/ DP&L in 85 and worked my way to a senior patrolman. Took a project managers job w/ TXU Energy for 2 yrs before they severed the org. Thought my whole world would crumble w/out the company to lean on. It didn't. There are millions of people out there who don't work for the light company and I am one of them. Do I miss it? Yeah, sometimes, but I am in a better place now.

    P.S. Don't think you can't get a good job being an ex lineman. I have got a good job (w/ the state in the same industry) with better pay and don't have a college degree. Good Luck!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •