The members of UE Local 1009 settled a new three-year agreement with Hitachi Energy on July 23. The agreement includes a four percent wage increase each year and significant improvements to language on standby time and travel per diem. These are important wins for the members because many are transformer technicians who do servicing work across the country. The members also won a ten percent raise for all night shifts.
“Ten percent night shift bonus for all is great,” Local 1009 member Riley Leafstone said. “I won't mind working nights now.”
The new contract increases the daily amount they receive for meals while traveling from $69 to $75, unless they are in Alaska, Hawaii or New York, where they will receive $85, increased from $79. The members also won new “workleader” language that increases the pay of members designated as work leaders during shifts.
The contract includes increases to the safety shoe allowance, from $400 to $500 annually. The new agreement also includes an increase to their income continuation. For each full week members are laid off and do not work, they will receive $800 in addition to any unemployment benefits they are eligible to receive. This is an increase from $650.
One of the biggest wins in the contract was a new provision paying workers for standby time. While working on a site that requires overnight stay, members will now automatically be paid for eight hours. This includes any day where the member was not scheduled to work but required to stay in overnight lodging.
Local 1009 President Larry Leafstone said, “The new contract has improved upon the previous contract which was a great success. Besides the four percent per year wage increase which met our highest expectations, the one change we have been fighting for in every past contract negotiation for over a decade we finally achieved — eight hours’ standby pay when working out of town and required to stay the weekend without scheduled work. This is a huge improvement that our members have been wanting for years. Great win!”
The Local 1009 negotiating committee consisted of President Larry Leafstone, Vice President Mitch Alcorn, and Chief Steward Lou Alcorn. They were assisted by Western Region President Bryan Martindale and Field Organizer Fred Hatef.