I don't know where your language on Seniority Stands... But this must be first and foremost in your negotiations. The Local 66 contract with CenterPoint stands as a testament to what can go wrong with the Unions ability to negotiate.
The CenterPoint Contract reads "Where skills and abilities are equal, seniority will prevail pertaining to promotions and lay offs".
Because "Skills and Abilities" are not defined, CenterPoint can and has chosen to lay off whom ever they wish. If you a Union Voice... ,you are in jeapordy of becoming un employed on CenterPoint Property.
With this in their arsenal, the Union Voice has been neutered...
Do not let this happen to your contract if it has not already. If it has work to change it... They will fight you to the death over this language, because they know in it resides the power to have your voice heard.
Pay attention to all undefined language! Make sure the contract defines all terms. Any open ended language is not binding, nor worth the paper it is printed on!
Do not let your view of the dollars alter your position on language... Do not... as Florida Power and many other Utilities have done... Sell your soul down the river for short term gain... In this day and age... the Lineman shortage has us in a position to bargin ... Terms at this Point are more important than dollars... They will have to pay the dollars to compete in this job market... they know that... So they will be looking at the language in our contracts to see how they can lure us in for the short term while retaining the ability to jerk the rug from under us any time they like...
I went from being instrumental in implementing a Safety Program that saved em millions, representing them at the International Linemans Rodeo, Training fellow lineman on cutting edge fault locating equipment... to the bottom of their rating system... and being laid off after twenty years of service...
all because the language in the contract allowed one fella who did not see eye to eye with me, to rate me on un defined skills and abilities. Some of the guys who lost their jobs went to court to try and make em define the skills and abilities upon which they were judged to no avail... Bad language is bad language... if you got it in your contract... Fix it... or pay the price.
Believe you me... havening the rug jerked out from under you after twenty years of sacrifice and service is a hard pill to swallow. If you have been a lineman for a major Utility for any length of time, you understand that spending your life at their beckon call is a sacrifice... You gave the best years of your life serving at all hours of the day and night... Spending Holidays away from you family etc. ... Utilities no longer value or reward that kind of loyalty... So, it is up to us to make our own conditions... and by contract hold them to it! Don't be a causality... Walk tall... keep your Nuts in tact.
Last edited by CenterPointEX; 04-03-2008 at 01:37 PM.
2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial matters? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 1Corinthians 6