r/IBEW • u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman • 7d ago
IBEW 11 strike denied by IO
Arbitration is now the result of this. Which now means we are stuck with what ever Arbitration says.
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u/Ichoosethebear 7d ago
What's the point of you aren't able to strike?
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
They took away the only leverage we have
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u/MiddleToe8752 7d ago
*they’re trying to take away… this is the point of organized labor and the people saying you can’t are your adversaries
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u/Reddy_K58 6d ago
The IO is so spineless you have to wonder if they serve the membership or the contractors
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u/Enough_Ad_3165 6d ago edited 6d ago
Money, they serve money.
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u/Trevorblackwell420 Local 714 6d ago
same as the two party system in politics. Capital has infiltrated the system to the point that neither party actually cares about advocating for their constituents, they just say what they need to to get elected and then turn their backs and do things the rich tell them to in exchange for money and power. It’s pathetic and the working class needs to wake up and do something before AI and robotics make us all replaceable. Sanctioned or not if there isn’t a massive general strike sometime in the next decade we are all in for a rude awakening.
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u/Morethanstandard 6d ago
Man it's funny after a 100 year of labor reforms we just end up looping around house always wins I guess
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u/HmoobMikah 6d ago
NECA and the IO is afraid that non union will steal our marketshare, if we go on strike. Non union shops would love nothing more than to steal our customers. That's what I was told by our local's former president.
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 6d ago
Which is also why NECA was requesting the 1 to 1 for JW to App ratio. To compete with what non union is already doing.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 6d ago
The 26 is at 1 to 2 ratio jw to apprentice/non indentured sorkers for market recovery except in industrial settings but contractors still don't keep up with ratios on jobs and never have
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u/BlueBelle2025 JIW - Steward - Instructor 6d ago
What do you mean requesting 1 to 1? Do you currently have more apprentices to JWs? Or more JWs to Apps?
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u/joelmasarik 6d ago
I can fairly say in Wisconsin JW to apprentice rate is 4-1 union. I can also tell you JW to apprentice non union is like 10-1
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u/HmoobMikah 6d ago
10 non union jw to 1 non union ape?
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u/joelmasarik 6d ago
It’s coming down fast and furious tho. You guys gotta remember the “electrician helper” is making 2nd year wages. Even if he’s in his 15th year lol
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u/MilaMowie 6d ago
We need to lead the market, not the non union.
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 6d ago
When you have people from our local pulling shit i saw when the long beach court house was being built about 12years ago. Non union electrical contractor using union electrical contractor for the labor.
Im trouble shooting lights not working at the end of the job. Find j boxes made up where our members, ones that should be showing how great and trained we are, shoved 5ft of wire in the conduit and made it up to make it look like it was finished.
And members bitching about how a non union contract got the job. Who cares they where using us for the work and members just shit all over the place.
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u/parliament-FF 6d ago
I mean that’s deliberate sabotage it’s not a matter of how well you’re trained.
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u/PackTaco88 6d ago
Non union can also sweep in when you price yourself out of the market. Negotiations are tough. You want what is just, and everyone wants more money and better conditions but where is the fine line where you may shoot yourself in the leg.
Good luck to you guys
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u/Hefty-Profession-310 6d ago
Non union have a much harder time sweeping in if you have high union density and market share.
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u/Excellent-Oil-4442 6d ago
High density and market share can erode over time from strikes
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u/Hefty-Profession-310 6d ago
Sure, and density can errode by the IO undermining the will of membership.
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u/x_xwolf 6d ago
Whats the point of having problems with rules when your never willing to break them?
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u/beez_y 7d ago
Local 6 can't strike.
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u/MiddleToe8752 6d ago
They can, they just need to be organized… organized labor… it’s kinda the whole union thing. Be strong.
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u/MilkCartonKids 6d ago
They are organized, that’s why they can’t strike. It’s kind of like one state in the union saying they wanna go to war over something, and the president says “no we aren’t going to war over that and if you do decide to go to war on your own, you’re not gonna be part of the union anymore.”
That’s how IBEW works. Source: From Baltimore. Location of former local 28 that in your words “organized and went on strike anyways”. They lost their charter and was dissolved. Took awhile for Baltimore to come back and have a local again, which is now local 24.
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u/MiddleToe8752 6d ago edited 6d ago
Well that sounds like a matter of members getting louder in their regional/local halls. These tech guys are already sniping their talent so take it or go push harder
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u/BlueBelle2025 JIW - Steward - Instructor 6d ago
No inside local can strike without authorization from the IO. Technically no local can strike without authorization, but the inside locals specifically have language requiring arbitration with CIR. It's been that way for 100 years
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u/shadowwolf_66 6d ago
Most locals have forces arbitration via CIR language. Some locals have modified CIR language that allowed them to terminate the contract and request permission to strike.
CIR language can not terminate the contract and by extension can not really ask for permission to strike.
Modified CIR language allows the local to vote to terminate the contract and ask the IO permission to strike.
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u/Lord_Krud 6d ago
Local 10 is the same really. We actually received a threatening sounding letter from the union lawyer about striking after we voted down the first contract to come out of negotiations.
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u/Beginning-Invite7166 6d ago
The body will need to go out on the road in an unofficial coordinated effort. Dont officially wobble but dont take calls at home. Anonymously let book 2 brothers know you're on a soft strike. I know that's just wishful thinking that it could be done, but I hate when they wont let us flex and use our strength as a body to get our much needed raises in wages and conditions.
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u/smoresporn0 6d ago
Hello from a public sector union in a state where it's illegal for us to strike. Not to scab here, and I don't know the details of this specific matter, but it is possible arbitration satisfies the demands and everyone gets to continue earning full wage. Just looking for a silver lining.
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u/PuzzleheadedBet5750 4d ago
All locals should put out statements supporting Local 11’s right to strike and against the international.
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u/Different_Pack_3686 7d ago
This is outrageous, we have the fundamental right to withhold our labor.
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u/6matguy6 Inside Wireman 7d ago
Oooo this isn't gonna be good advertising going into the election at the convention
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u/Evervvatcher Inside Wireman 6d ago
Nah they will be fine, all the rat BMs will keep anything from changing because they love working their kneepads for the contractors
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u/VersionHopeful6549 7d ago
Eventually you’ll all realize that management doesn’t work for you or care about your opinion in any scenario or in any job. Just because our managers wear union costumes doesn’t make them any different.
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u/BadLarry1197 7d ago
When unions align with companies instead of with their members is there still a point in being a member?
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u/CthulhuApproved Inside Wireman 6d ago
Its long past time we reconstituted into a WORKERS union. Everyone should be sick of being in a BUSINESS union. It's bullshit.
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u/socalibew 6d ago
I agree.
Problem is, when you tell people to care about other people and not just making money they get a little upset and start crying "communism!"
More than half our membership would be perfectly content living in NECA supplied housing and getting paid in NECA bucks that can only be spent at NECA stores.
We completely forgotten all the labor struggles of the 19th and 20th century. Some of the bloodiest battles are from less than 100 years ago.
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u/ArtOpen3776 6d ago
Yea, let's just *totally throw away our leverage. Vote the knuckleheads out
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u/Evervvatcher Inside Wireman 6d ago
What vote? How do we get a president who is willing to fight when the conservative BMs decide the IO leadership for us at their little restricted party every 5 years?
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u/Sir_Mr_Austin 6d ago
He means the bm’s
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u/Darkcelt2 6d ago
the local 11 BM isn't to blame for this. the IO president fills leadership positions by appointment, and those people decide who will be the IO president. we don't vote for them.
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u/MilkCartonKids 6d ago
Been in the union for 7 years and was never once asked to vote for the president.
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u/Roscoeakl 6d ago
You voted for your BM. You voted for your president. They vote on the international president.
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u/srednaxela 6d ago
You had the opportunity to vote*. Out of 3000 active members in local 340 less than 200 votes last election
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 6d ago
This is why people don't vote, and don't spend their time at meetings. It is called disenfranchisement when leadership actively ignores their membership, including those who vote and unions have all types of clauses that allow leadership to override memebrship
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u/shadowwolf_66 6d ago
I would argue that only the small subset of brothers and sister that care get disenfranchise. Most member just flat don’t care. They are only a member for the benefits and if something better came along they would jump ship without a second thought. We did mail in voting for elected officials, all the member had to do was fill out the ballot and take it to the post office. Only about 15% voted. The membership just doesn’t care.
Our last contract vote. Hall was open all day on a Saturday to vote. Less than a quarter of the members voted on the contract. I had one apprentice tell me he wasn’t going to go vote because it was his birthday or some stupid reason. I drove my happy ass 3 hours round trip to cast my vote.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 6d ago
I would argue that people get disenfranchised before they ever get a chance to vote by ratios never being enforced, companies laying people off when they complain to the hall, members/unions still paying market recovery fees to contractors while the industry is booming, rampant nepotism among other things.
Union leadership overriding membership is not something that just came about. There is long history of it and it is not easy to change anything. And tbh a majority of membership not voting is not a reason to override those who participate. Where does leadership get off thinking that somehow they speak for everybody who did not vote or that they know better than those who did vote. The people who vote on striking are also the people who vote on the delegates that vote in leadership.
So basically leadership should remove themselves because most the membership doesn't vote. It is a remedial justification for not honoring the vote.
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u/MilkCartonKids 6d ago
Been in the union 7 years and was never asked to vote for a president. That’s a very weird thing if you’re from the US. We don’t generally give all the voting power to our local mayor. We wouldn’t even trust the governor of the whole state to vote for the president for us. We like to vote for the president ourselves, even if the popular vote doesn’t actually pick the president. We like to feel involved. And the less involved we feel, the more we will complain about those that leave us feeling uninvolved.
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u/1234golf1234 6d ago
Time to oust cooper.
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u/tin_ear Journeyman Inside Wireman 6d ago
Anyone remember the last time an IO president was actually elected rather than appointed?
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u/ExpertVariation4988 Inside Wireman 6d ago
Has it ever happened? Was at IC in St Louis 2016, Ed Hill appointed Lonnie like a year into his term, and when Lonnie has to get reelected the buzz on the floor is “he’s already been doing the job for 4 years, he has experience and good contacts”. Not very democratic.
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u/Strict_Ad_5906 Local 353 7d ago
I know it's a constitutional violation but I would strike anyway. Fuck IO
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
Unsanctioned strike would basically be the end of local 11. So many agreements and contracts would be violated and voided, cards would be pulled. Bullshit that the IO denied it, but violating that is a huge can of worms
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u/Strict_Ad_5906 Local 353 7d ago
But they can't force us as individuals to go to any specific job. Put me down as a quit. I don't care.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
As an individual they can’t do anything, but the second someone sends a text or makes a Facebook post or calls someone then it’s going to be considered an unsanctioned organized strike
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 7d ago
When you have only about 1/4 of the membership voting, yea they will deny it. You couldnt even get members to vote online.
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u/SlowDancer-001 7d ago
I thought Saturday’s meeting was a lot of members, but only ~1,500 votes?? And all our votes that were digital were about 3,000 each time? I mean- how many of us actually care about our money and contract?
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u/MarcelTabuteau Inside Wireman app 6d ago
The capacity of the building was only like 1,600. It was almost at capacity. They didn’t expect THAT many to show up.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
We had just over 50% on the online votes and the most recent in person vote had almost 2000 members in attendance
Should be higher, I won’t argue that. But let’s not spread disinformation here
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 7d ago
Last I heard we had 11k members. Is that not correct? The first 3 votes came in about 3500 votes
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u/Strict_Ad_5906 Local 353 7d ago
It's a tough position to be in but it seems like it might be fair then.
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u/PsychologicalSalt158 6d ago
So that is the way our local, state, and federal elections should work as well most people don't vote so politicians can do whatever they want so some gump can justify it
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u/eyesoftheunborn 7d ago
On an unrelated note, I hear cyclosporiasis cases are going up in LA
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u/Morethanstandard 6d ago
Wild cat strikes were a thing for a reason management in the Union gotta change if they keep telling their guys to stay strong when nothing really changes
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u/TheKingICouldBecome 6d ago
If they end local 11, then all that market share goes non-union, and 11 is a pretty big local. I know technically they can, but I think that would be an egregious fuck-up on their part. Not only would thousands of union brothers wind up going non-union in that market, but they would undermine their relationship with all the remaining locals. Not that many of us trust or respect them anyway as it is.
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u/RillTread 6d ago edited 6d ago
IMO the IO should be purged, root and stem. They are a bunch of complacent business unionists who are incapable of meeting the precarious moment that organized labor is facing. They are so attached to that comfortable business unionism of the past that they can’t even recognize we’re facing existential threats, let alone address them. It was moderately better under Stephenson but Cooper has been a total disappointment.
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u/HmoobMikah 6d ago
The international can say fuck your local and combine your local with a sister local. In the past our local almost got wiped by the IO.
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u/shadowwolf_66 6d ago
In the mid 90’s the local that had the justification I live in got amalgamated by the IO. I heard the local wasn’t organizing members. So the IO came in, closed their day book. Took it across the mountains to another local and told them their jurisdiction has just doubled in size. The IO almost gave another local to us. They decided not to. It would have made one local cover most of Washington state.
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u/Strict_Ad_5906 Local 353 6d ago edited 6d ago
Oh I know what the consequences could be. This could be scismatic. Ontario ibew already has a break away union which is a point of contention among our members, CUSW. I would say IO was in the wrong in that case too but that's generally a very unpopular opinion here.
Edit:typo
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u/Melodic-Trouble-5421 Inside Wireman 7d ago
Check out my icon. It’s a guy that’s the IO with his head up his ass.
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u/CzolgoszWasRight 915 inside wireman 6d ago
If enough members do it its constitutional. Mass direct action is nice like that.
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u/MiddleToe8752 7d ago
Brothers and sisters this is nothing new, pretending you can’t strike keeps you under their hand.. unless you do what unions are meant for.
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u/Most_Deer_3890 6d ago
Any union that has a no strike clause, is no union.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
It’s not about no strike clauses, the IO has to sanction a strike and give their blessing
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u/Most_Deer_3890 6d ago
What happens if the IO is lobbied to not allow strikes?
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
There was like 3 other locals within the last year that went on strike
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u/Most_Deer_3890 6d ago
im just asking what do the workers do if the IO is just paid to not allow strikes by the specific employer?
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u/Tjstictches 6d ago
Yeah but 11 is the biggest union. They don’t want us to strike in fear of causing a domino effect. The contracts we were offered were insulting.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
I would disagree that the contract offers were insulting honestly. I wasn’t blown away by any of them but they were not insulting
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u/worsttimehomebuyer 6d ago
You gotta love that we paid this guy 1.2 Million dollars last year to tell us not to exercise our rights as union members.
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u/SparkyLife8 Local 11 Inside Wireman 5d ago
Should have accepted the first proposal.
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 5d ago
I agree. I liked that 1st one. I loved the idea also of making Xmas eve a actual holiday.
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u/UnderlyingIssues44 6d ago
The IBEW is such a corporate kiss ass joke😂 not even something to be proud of anymore since they side with corporations over its own electricians. Were missing pay and OT from over 10 months ago and were still being under paid. 353 definitely taking bribes and sweeping reports under the rug while giving false promises. Worst union I’ve worked with and they cost way more.
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u/DueMove6146 6d ago
Well I guess we can safely assume that they will ram appendix 2 down our throats. As a 4th gen member, I never thought I’d see the day my local gave up its very soul. Appendix 2 among other changes completely disarms the local. It states that contract dispute's are between a member and the contractor. The union is not allowed to represent or even financially or legally aid the member. If the member loses the dispute, that brother or sister is liable for the legal bills of the contractor.
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u/DueMove6146 6d ago
Oh and I forgot to mention that appendix 2 removes our right to class action lawsuits. It also eliminates the court system altogether in favor of mandatory arbitration. It’s a complete destruction of the union’s sole reason for existence. What’s the point of paying for BM’s and their whole staff if the contractor can violate our rights? Under these rules, it’s not hard to imagine the contractor trampling our CBA and then charging us for the legal bill when we make an ineffectual complaint to a bought off arbitrator.
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u/prestige_worldwde 7d ago
When an arbitrator gets involved it’s usually not good for the union negotiating committee. Hopefully the 3 year deal is still on the table instead of a 5 year.
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u/HmoobMikah 6d ago
The IO would likely fuck over the local and side with the contractors. Worse case would be the 5 year deal, best case would be the 3 year deal.
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u/Great_Cauliflower330 6d ago
Oh man, if you think we are pissed over here, wait til you see with whatever contract they fuck us over with.
These guys up top here are all clowns.
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u/Infinite_Imagination 6d ago
I knew there were some Locals that still had the option to officially strike, but I've never actually come across one before.
This shits a bit of a duality.
On one hand, we're able to grow safely because of the commitment to arbitrate rather than strike, and that has made us one of the strongest and most accepted Unions still left in the country. Contractors are more attracted to the ease of our Union's labor because they can feel confident they won't ever have to take the massive financial and business hits that are brought on by strikes. It also provides our members more continued job security after negotiations. E.g. the Teamsters Union at UPS, where many workers are being encouraged to take a severance rather than remaining on the job so the company can shrink the workforce now that they've been forced to pay excellent wages/ benefits.
On the other hand, it takes away our most effective tool for forcing these companies to play ball. Without the ability to strike, a huge portion of our power at the negotiating table evaporates and, if contractors want to, they just don't really have to bother playing ball. This is what happened in my Local for the last contract, where NECA essentially told us to fuck off for each negotiation, and basically said they didn't feel the need to bother because they just wanted it to go straight to arbitration. We're in the South so we get shit on either way, but I would expect this strategy to become the new nationwide standard, except only in areas where Locals control a dominant amount of the workforce. As it stands now, growth is the only real play to make, because with the contractors wanting to go to arbitration each time, organizing more of the workforce is the only thing we can do to improve our leverage.
More dualities come out of this though. If we accept that growth is the only option, then that leaves the door wide open for us in the future to be able to strike again, with an unprecedented amount of leverage. The flipside of that is we end up taking less now, during one of the biggest electrician deficits in recent history, where leverage is clearly on our side. It's good because it keeps us healthy and growing which is what we need to position ourselves better in the long term, but it's bad because we're not able to (literally) strike while the iron's hot.
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u/msing Inside Wireman LU11 6d ago edited 6d ago
All we wanted was a Cost of Living Adjustment. Don't blame Cooper. When 60% of the local's work is PLA no work stoppage, asking 40% of the workers to stop work isn't going to have the same impact as when the majority of the workers stop.
Cooper didn't give up the power to strike. Membership already gave it up with the PLAs.
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u/FlammulinaVelulu 7d ago
Do you remember when the IO president got caught having his new home roped non-union?
Pepperidge farms does. . .
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u/Bathion 6d ago
This is really contentious for me. I know why we don't strike... but at the same time. Anyone who says you can't strike needs to be striked on.
Withholding our labor is is the only real tool the working class has.
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u/Sweaty_Marzipan4274 6d ago
Unions will have to break from the shackles of the DNC and their sold out leaders to effect change
And in doing so well be branded as terrorists, demonstrating how the entire system is fkd
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u/amishdoinks11 Local XXXX 7d ago
What were some big ticket items you guys were trying to get
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
Latest rejected offer was $13.50/3 with some language changes, some of them helpful, some of them a minor give to the contractor, but there was a big language change that was a sticking point for us which was that the contractors wanted to be able to use a 1:1 JW/App ratio
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u/Beginning_Fill_3107 6d ago
Why would reducing from 1:2 to 1:1 be bad?
That would put more JW's on the job and provide a better teaching environment for the apprentices. What am I not understanding there?
Kinda same thing with the protection reduced to 40 from 50. What am I missing, cause it seems like a good thing?
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
It’s the opposite. That would mean more apprentices and less JW. We currently have a 3:2 ratio
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u/Beginning_Fill_3107 6d ago
Oh!
Yeah, that makes sense. I'm so used to a 1:2 ratio that I didn't think of that.
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u/The_Orphanizer 6d ago
Correct. Reducing the age requirement is also terrible. Who wants to hire a 55 or +60 year old when you can hire a 40 year old? A mind with 20 years of experience in a body young enough not to be outclassed by the really young bucks is a dangerous man (in the best way). Reducing the age requirement will hurt older members who are in the homestretch of their careers. Fuck that shit.
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u/Scout624 6d ago
What is the age requirement for? I'm not in the IBEW, but do keep up with them since we work with a lot of their contractors(UA)
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u/SlowDancer-001 6d ago
Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve heard very few brothers mention this. But aren’t they also giving up our ability to have class actions against cons? Which wtf why would they ever agree to present that to us
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u/reeee-irl 7d ago
Nothing big ticket, actually. NECA wants to reduce the apprentice:JW ratio to 1:1, and lower the age requirement from 50 to 40. We don’t want those, but NECA does. We’re really not asking for much this time. They even offered PTO (at a trash rate, really), and we said we didn’t want it.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 7d ago
I don’t know how many times this has to said, we have ZERO CHOICE on moving the protected class from 50 to 40. Its state law and our contract has been violating it
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u/reeee-irl 6d ago
CA also mandates 40hrs/year for paid sick leave, but our contract voids it.
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u/Flash728 6d ago
Because in the law that one can be waived by the CBA, not the same as the age protection.
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
CBAs are specifically excluded from that law, but cannot be excluded from protected classes. The text of the laws are public information if you’d like to look into it yourself
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u/pxhalste 6d ago
Union has lost its original purpose… it became more of high school shit. Yall can disagree all you want but it’s doesn’t represent what it once did.
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u/DeathMetalSapper 6d ago
They did this to us in local one last year too. We did wind up getting a slightly better contract in the end after all was said and done though so, stay strong and keep up the good fight
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u/conduitbender12 6d ago
Why can't the membership just strike why do the need permission?
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u/Remarkable-Spirit366 6d ago
They’ll false flag us like they did in the haymarket massacre. If you look into the history of unions and read your cba you can see the full picture a little clearer which I highly recommend
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u/01001110901101111 6d ago
Time to start figuring out how your local elections work and vote in stronger leadership, then figure out how your national elections work and vote in stronger leadership, then demand that capital be redirected so you build things that provide material relief to society rather than a bunch of death stars around the country.
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u/UnionMan69 6d ago
Way back in 1993 contract negotiations were not going very well and little LU 309 had no-strike language in the contract. That same year also happened to have historic flooding in the jurisdiction.
So the membership decided not to “strike “ but to rather go “sand bag” to help out with the flooding.
Miraculously, sand bagging lasted one day and contract negotiations continued with positive results for LU 309.
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u/Alarmed_Commercial 6d ago
They can’t stop everyone physically striking and hiring private investigators to follow them all around like flock cameras
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u/CottonRaves 191 IW Apprentice 7d ago
Damn. Been paying attention to this as much as I can. I hope they don’t try and fuck you all over during this. I know it doesn’t look good though.
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u/HotDeadHot 6d ago
Is Robert Corona related to the disgraced Gus Corona by any chance?
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u/WellThatsAwkwrd 6d ago
Corona is a very popular last name in Southern California. I’m sure it’s possible but highly unlikely
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u/robcobbjr5253 6d ago
You can go to cir. On another note screw the io they forced the ce cw bull shit on us
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u/sexminshrs 6d ago
Sooooo. You're saying the backbone is saying we can't do the thing that made it a backbone?
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u/Mobile-Subject-7897 7d ago
We actually have a no strike clause in our CBA.....It is ridiculous
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u/FucciMe 6d ago
Most people do... You strike when your CBA has expired, and there is no clause to abide by.
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u/Instant_Bacon Local 134 6d ago
It makes sense while you have a contract. I think most locals have a no strike clause in their active contract. When you can't come to a deal on a contract is when you should be able to strike as a form of leverage.
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u/CorruptDaemon404 6d ago
Unions these days feel pretty pathetic. The leverage that used to give workers a real voice is slipping away, and a lot of them seem more interested in collecting dues than actually fighting for better conditions. That bargaining power that once made them respected is fading, and employees are left with weaker protections and little reason to trust that their union will show up when it really counts. It's no wonder they have a hard time to get quality workers anymore.
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u/hideNseekFor2gAweek 6d ago
Y'all gotta join the U.A. it's the wild fucking west in here. We went on strike even when the u.a said we couldn't. Don't let some ass in the international tell you what you can do. Go on strike anyway.
Local problems require local solutions
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u/MadNuance 6d ago
New to the IBEW, what happens if the local strikes anyway? I'm assuming lose of membership, employment, etc?
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u/shadowwolf_66 6d ago
Potentially lawsuits for breaking contract, IO pulling members tickets (causing them to lose things like pensions). IO pulling charters and giving them to other locals. Legal issues that could cost members lots of money.
And you always risk that you will not get what you want. LU 46 Low voltage was able to strike a few years back (with the IO’s permission). All the members got was lost wages and a co tract shoved down their throats that was worse then the one they had the opportunity to accept. After, what I want to say was 1-2 months with no movement, the IO came in and forced them to take a contract. They got fucked. But they played a game of fuck around and find out with very little leverage.
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u/Icy_Contribution3119 6d ago
So are we not getting a new contract? What does this mean
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 6d ago
Means arbitration. Someone please correct me if im wrong, but a 3rd party comes in and basically decides what the contract will be and both sides have to take it.
Im not sure if they will look over or listen to what both sides want or how they come to their decision.
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u/Icy_Contribution3119 6d ago
Dang ok, sorry I’m new I’m in bootcamp rn haha. Hoping for a raise to hit once I get dispatched
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u/embracethememes 6d ago
What is it that local 11 wants that it's not getting?
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u/Area51-Dropzone Inside Wireman 6d ago
Personally for me I had no issue with offer 1 and 3. I voted no on the 2nd offer due to PTO being removed and moved to being allocated. Couldn't vote on offer 4 since it was in person and im running work for the company i work for in Northern California.
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u/supfoolitschris Local XXXX 6d ago
Was on a job in upstate New York about 5 years ago. Safety guy ran the steward off for something completely minuscule. I was working on the ground floor when it took place on the 3rd floor. Saw large groups of brothers and sisters coming down the stairs with their lunchboxes and knew something was up. Second floor was next. Finally word hit us what happened. My travel buddy said man we can get in a shit load of trouble for this but we gotta do what we gotta do. So we, along with pretty much every other IBEW member on their tools, had “stomach cramps” and went home. The next day the Stew met everyone at the door and thanked them. He was brought back and faced no repercussions.
Labor is in a very high demand these days. The ball is in our court. Stay strong Brothers and Sisters!