Hello Sisters and Brothers of IBEW Local 1600. Well, it appears 2021 just said “hold my beer” as Covid-19 continues to be a struggle, then Mother Nature unleashes a barrage of snowstorms and then there is Texas! My thoughts and prayers have been ongoing for our families, friends, all our members and everyone impacted by Covid-19 and storms! I see some small steps in the right direction, the IBEW 3rdDistrict Workshop is scheduled to take place in April in New York. This is going to be a welcomed opportunity as we are all in need for some face-to-face interaction. All restrictions and rules will apply. The indoor attendance limits for us in PA would require us to rent large banquet halls to host unit meetings and that is not feasible at this time. I am hoping things improve to the point limits can be raised so we can start meeting, if not once the weather gets nice, we can start meeting and if we reach the indoor limit we could move outside. Our new Executive Board is doing a great job working with me and fellow officers to keep our business going. Another step in the right direction is we held a face-to-face meeting with the new PPL HR rep Kurt Reidinger and Ashley Tripp, in attendance was myself, Jane Biever, and Rusty Clausius was on the speaker phone. The discussion centered around CCC Progression Line, WEEVE and the Material M.A. I made our position clear; we need action not promises, all three issues are hot buttons and need immediate attention, so we all committed to meet at a minimum one time per week over the next four weeks. If the company is serious in resolving these issues then it can be done, if it fails, we will revert back to the arb. award and legal counsel for the CCC. The WEEVE is scheduled for arbitration in April and the Material M.A. will be determined by the department workers.
We will be ramping up for the Ephrata Borough contract negotiations, the CBA expires 12/31/21.
I want to thank all our members, workers who all play an important role in our success, but I must give a big shout out to our line workers and power plant workers who have been up against it in a big way, thank you all!
Stay safe and healthy,
President Frank E.G.
