UTILITY WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA

AFL-CIO,  LOCAL 483

PO BOX 903183

PALMDALE CA 93590

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

PEPPER TREE INN SANTA BARBARA CA

                                                            10/22/05

 

Call to order   9:00 a.m.

 

Flag Salute   9:00 a.m.

 

Roll Call:          Dennis Zukowski  -  President

                        Roy Bozarth  -  Vice President

                        Lisa Guidry  -  Secretary Treasurer

 

                        Area Officers:

                        Art Thomas

                        Gary Lerch

                        Jamie Simeon

                        Bruce Cline

                        Billy Kimble

                        Dave Brown                

 

                        Trustees:

                        Erhard Hofmann

                        Mike Minor

                        Brian Burdick

 

                        Absent:

                        Robin Downs

 

Secretary Treasurer Report: 

            Reading and approval of minutes:  Roy-1/Mike-2

 

            Financial Update:  Since the company moved payroll to ADP in September, the local has not received a deposit.  I have been working with Jim Rapose to resolve the matter.  Also, an error was found on one of the check amounts on the Schedule of Cash Disbursements.  I had everyone pencil in the corrections and the financial records would be approved once all the changes were made. 

 

            Trustees Report:  Trustees could not report anything due to the error being found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storage Safety Report by Roy:

            Roy attended the Safety Action Congress (SAC) meeting where he received a summary of ratings for the workshops offered at the Safety Congress.  Transmission and Storage received high ratings.  Near misses, there are unresolved issues surrounding disciplinary action on an employee that reports a near miss.  More to follow. 

 

Pipeline Safety Report by Robin- Absent

 

Old Business:

 

T-shirts and caps

I said I would be checking with Local 132 to find out what vendor they use.  King Louie is union run, will have to look into this company.

 

Arbitration/Grievance

Arbitration is scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving on contractors doing pipeline work.  This is the one where the work group prepared for the work by clearing their calendars and ordering parts for the weld sight. Then the work was contracted out.

Honor Rancho, T&H remains on the property, 1900 hours for training purposes.  The company claims there is no school for mechanics so they brought in T&H to train them.  Farwest Corrosion-pending.  750 hours for Chuck Skelton.  Reimbursement should go to the work group affected by the grievance.   Rick Spence is instructing Station Techs how to conduct business. 

Technical Specialists are doing SCADA work.  Dennis won a grievance on this.  He encourages that you report it if you see someone performing this work that should not be.

 

New Business:

 

Election Committee:  The By-Laws state that the E-Board selects the election committee.  The issue of cost with regard to loss time wages, cost of mileage and other expenses are a concern if people are chosen from various different locations.  Some of the people in Goleta have been willing to help in this area. (Thanks to the volunteers).  Let Dennis know if there are any other volunteers.

 

 

PAQ Update:

 

The PAQ interviews went well with everyone interviewed.  Concerns were raised about the score sheets for each job and how it compares to the large data base.  To be fair, it should be compared to all other jobs at the Gas Company.  Such things as working in a noisy environment and working with fine tools, these ratings should be compared to other field jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

General business update by Dennis/Q&A.

 

Carol Cipolla is interested in the Area Officer position at Honor Rancho.  Motion to accept.  Roy-1/Lisa-2

 

Sara Frankie, the new Director of Labor Relations wants to meet with Dennis to get a feel for the inner workings of the union.  She sat in on the last set of grievances with Roy and Dennis.  Dennis explained that contracting out work is a major concern and it can’t be allowed to continue.  The company claims that the reasons for contracting out work is that there are not enough people to do the work, and that fewer people are being trained. 

 

Marti Harris from local 132 checked with the Utility Workers Unions attorneys about the company imposing the new lunch rules.  The attorneys have said the locals should not be discussing this with the company.  This is a legal issue which is far from being over.  More to follow.

 

Gary Lerch.  Donating vacation.  The person receiving the donation will receive it at their level of pay instead of the person that is donating it.

 

Near misses.  Dennis sent a letter to the company telling them to cease and dissist on the discipline for near misses.  The company responded saying they have no intention on using it as a disciplinary tool.

 

Valencia District is using the Distribution department to help on a pigging project for Line 235.

 

Dave Brown suggested that the wording “Year to Date or YTD” be added on the interest earned for the Certificate of Deposit account.   Bruce-1/Art-2 agreed to implement these  suggestions for future Financial Reports.

 

 

Area Reports:

 

Bruce Cline-Taft.  Shop committee with Claus Langer.  The idea of letting Pico run the tanks themselves was approached because the person that formerly held the position that dealt with gas analysis and chormatograph labs is gone.  The work group is willing to give up the system.  The computer system tied to it is a headache for gas analysis.  What would normally take 2 hours is turning into a day and a half job.  The tanks will now be taken to Honor Rancho.

 

Art Thomas-Aliso Cyn.  A member saw contractors doing work without being supervised.  There are people available from other locations (within the Gas Co) that can fill in on those jobs.  A grievance is pending.

 

 

 

 

Panel interviews are for senior positions.  Why are some interviews being conducted as panel when the bids are for positions other than senior. 

 

Lab assistants are performing the jobs of Lab Technicians under the management of Shahid Razzak. 

 

 

Dave Brown-Ventura.  Dave Hamburger is pulling people from Distribution and not from Olympic or other Transmission work groups. 

 

There are no restrooms in remote areas, requesting to have an Andy Gump placed at these locations rather than having to find a restaurant or gas station. 

 

Forklifts are being used by contractors when there are no Gas Company employees around.  Traffic patterns at the base are in need of correction. 

 

Gary Lerch-Playa Del Rey.  There is inexperience and unsafe practice at the supervisor level with regard to fire permits and issues.  One instance there were 12 hourly employees and Gary was the only person to stop the job for fire permit issues.  Dennis recommends that he notate everything and direct it to the area of safety.

 

Jamie Simeon-Beaumont.  Safety glasses wear easily.  $100 offered annually for prescriptions on round chipping glasses.  Regular safety glasses are available through the company. 

 

Next Meeting date and place:  January 21, 2006 in Victorville

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:04pm  Jamie-1/Brian-2.