It’s June and time for warmer weather. While enjoying your warm weather activities, please keep safety in mind.
Ephrata Borough
- An agreement was signed to enhance the FR provisions for the Electric Dept and to include the position of Maintenance Tech – Electrical. Employees covered by this agreement are now able to get prescription safety glasses (MA 23EPH-001).
- The agreement was signed to implement a four (4) day, ten (10) hour schedule in the Electric Department. The schedule took effect on May 15th and will end on September 10th. The parties will reconvene at the conclusion of the of the 4/10 schedule for review (MA 23EPH-003).
- The agreement was signed to Temporary Meter Reading assistance. This agreement has Public Works providing assistance, on an as needed basis, when estimates cannot be used (MA 23EPH-002).
- The parties will be meeting in June to discuss the proposed revision to the Customer Service
Please see your steward or chief steward to see a copy of the agreements.
PPL
Facilities
Facilities Management has canvassed and appointed a Bargaining Unit Safety Advocate, in line with MA 16-0040. Congratulations to Mike Sedora. I’m sure you’ll be great.
CCC
The billing issue that began in December continues to be a huge concern. The mandatory overtime for the CCC is still in effect weekly. The Company has pulled some of the bargaining unit off of the phones to focus on getting the billing corrected. However, management continues to do back-office work. To provide some resolution for management doing BU work, an agreement was reached between the parties providing compensation to Local 1600 for lost dues, permanently promoting 11 more CSA2s to CSA3 effective 5/15/23 and an agreement between the parties to meet and discuss staffing needs should the Company need to continue to management beyond 6/30/23. The parties are also working on a settlement for management working when the CCC BU is not working. I’m hoping to have this resolved within the next week. On another note, Local 1600 has been notified that the Company is using another contractor out of the Philippines to assist with the billing backlog. A complaint meeting has been held regarding this contractor.
Finally, CCC BU members, again I can’t thank you enough for the work you do tirelessly every day. You truly are the master of your skill. Know that the staff at Local 1600 is truly appreciative of your ability and as I tell everyone you ARE experts.
Dispatch
A meeting was held on May 26th, with regards to the Company proposal of revising the current schedule for dispatch. Although we discussed the Company’s wants, we are waiting for the Company to send us their revised proposal so Local 1600 can thoroughly review and respond.
Regional Office support
Local 1600 has been informed that the Company will be requiring the Regional Office Support staff (Distribution Tech, Distribution Service Techs and Sr. Tech Clerks, regional management positions, etc.) to begin a hybrid work model. Beginning approximately mid to late June the above noted job classifications, will be working in the office 3 days a week. We received many inquiries regarding this work model. Unfortunately, for those not in favor of a return to the office, there is nothing that Local 1600 can do. Management has this ability to determine the job classification/work group that work from home and that report to the office. Local 1600 has been advised that the Company is implementing this hybrid due to receiving complaints about not being able to be in contact with employees. In addition, the Company has stated this this is being done to help collaborate and build relationships within the work groups.
Healthcare Committee
The Healthcare committee met on May 10th. The majority of the discussion was around the 401k, defined contribution and the ‘true up.’ From what I gather the ‘true up’ should work as follows (based on 2023 maxed contribution of $22,500):
The employee meets their max contribution of $22,500 on October 1, 2023. This stops all contributions, both employee and Company, for the remainder of the year. The Company will ‘true up’ their contribution portion in the first quarter of 2024 (the next year). The ‘true up’ is the Company contribution on the remaining base earnings and overtime for 2023.
Example ONLY
An employee making $75000 in base earnings and overtime for the year, maxes their contribution on 10/1/23. The remaining amount of $18750 ($75000/12 mos. = 6250 per month, 6250 x 3 mos. = $18750) will be used for the ‘true up’ calculation. (These figures are not exact and are for illustrative purposes ONLY)
Grievance Resolution Meetings
The following grievances has a grievance resolution meeting:
22LEH-002 – DST/DSTT performing work above their job classification – Company is currently reviewing the training curriculum and will respond.
22LEH-007 – Distribution Techs/Distribution Service Techs performing Sr. Tech Clerk work – reconvene scheduled to have a Distribution Tech and Sr Tech Clerk in the meeting.
21GO-004 – Engineer Design Techs working outside their job description – grievance has been submitted to mediation.
21GO-006 – Steno vacancy not filled – Union is reviewing info to draft a settlement.
22GO-002 – Drafting vacancy not filled – – Information has been requested regarding contractor use.
21GO-004 – Engineer Design Techs working outside their job description – grievance has been submitted to mediation.
21SUS-009 – Steno vacancy not filled – settled with the initial filling of the vacancy with a Spec Temp.
23SUS-005 – Spec Temp language violated – submitted to mediation.
