If you told your family or friends who have never done what we do and how we do it, they’d probably never believe you because they haven’t lived through it. The work, the hours, the mandates and deadlines we have to meet. The protocols we have to follow in lock out/tag out, confined spaces, hot work permits, line breaking procedures, bulk delivery protocols would seem to from another planet to the uninitiated.
When a plant maintenance cycle rolls around, it stresses plant resources as well as effecting almost every person working there. That’s why we have, in our collective bargaining agreement, a caveat that permits the company to do something called “resource sharing”. During these planned maintenance activities almost every union trade is represented in the flood of contractors in our station. We have Boilermakers, Millwrights, Insulators, Laborers, Teamsters, Pipefitters, Electricians, Carpenters, Operating Engineers all working with us Utility Workers. Seems like the only people around who aren’t organized are the management and the handful of specialists, but; there is one other group of workers who aren’t organized or union affiliated, and they are our brothers from our sister plant, Fort Martin.
We are always happy and grateful for their help, and almost everyone tries to make them feel welcomed. It must be strange for them, though. We all work for the same company, doing the same work, with the same mission of keeping the lights on and the grid fed. Yet the differences between our respective work centers are startling. With such shared experiences and bonds of friendship formed over years, it’s only natural that those who are “non-bargaining” would be curious about the inner workings of our plant, as well as our union.
The pay difference between us and the Fort has been the topic of many conversations because it’s no secret that our pay scales are slightly under their nominal rates for the same jobs. This is much the same condition we had before we unionized with UWUA System Local 102 plants in Pennsylvania. Back then, our pay was slightly higher that theirs. Never mind that they had better healthcare options, a voice in their workplaces, and protected legal status as union members.
Harrison and Fort Martin is a tale of two fates. Before becoming First Energy, Harrison locked in as much as they could by electing the UWUA as its union, thus making former Allegheny Energy status-quo, until we bargained a collective bargaining contract with our new masters. At the time we were fortunate to have a strong and viable union within our company in UWUA’s System Local 102, but it still took us years to get a first contract.
Fort Martin, on the other hand, took the path of least resistance and acquiesced to the wishes of our new owner.
One thing both our stations have in common is a sea-change of retirees who have been replaced by younger personnel. Though capable, this new generation brings their own sets of values and abilities into a workforce that stubbornly holds to a way of doing things that resists change of any kind. Another commonality is a workforce laboring tirelessly to keep both aging power stations that uses a fuel source that has rapidly went out of favor.
Though both stations have had, now have, and will have their own unique challenges, the Fort chose to forfeit choice in favor of the company’s hand alone on the tiller of fate that guides their destiny, whereas Harrison chose to have a voice in their workplace by having a contract with clear and documented statutes laid out in our CBA.
Why?
The answer is simple, if it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist!
The bosses promises mean nothing if they aren’t bargained, documented, and ratified by the majority of workers. Even after that, the collective bargaining agreement also gives everyone it covers equal protection and legal status to enforce the CBA.
Call any labor lawyer, or the National Labor Relations Board and tell them that you have a problem. The first thing they are going to ask you is if you’re covered under a collective bargaining agreement. If you say that you’re not, the conversation is going to be a short one.
That’s why being a union means being Brothers and Sisters united in common cause and we welcome anyone who would like to join us and expand our family. In solidarity, UWUA Local 304, AFL-CIO!