Brothers and Sisters we have put another Thanksgiving Holiday behind us. I hope everyone enjoyed time with their family and had plenty to eat.
At Fox 4 our members are experiencing Corporate Greed at its best. The Company continues to maintain the position that the workers will not receive a pay increase unless we forfeit our jurisdictional language in the contract that protects our jobs. The General Manager at the station has taken a vacation to California to remodel on her additional house and play golf, has taken a vacation to Europe, and now we are not scheduled to meet and negotiate until after the first of the year because of sweeps and the holidays or vacations or any other excuse not to get a deal. The Union will continue to look for ways to reach a deal without giving our jobs away. If you have any ideas that will advance our cause please contact one of the members on the Negotiating Committee.
Oncor has sent Linemen to California to work after the devastating fires. There have been many discussions on out of town work and how the Company has taken advantage of the workers by paying straight time while they are receiving premium pay from the host Company. Corporate greed is not just at Fox 4. The Linemen at PG&E make $58.13 an hour so it makes this trip a no brainer. The Union leaders and the members will continue to discuss out of town work and how we should be paid and accommodations when working out of town. Oncor sent non-union contractors to California to work. However, the contractors turned around and came back before arriving in California. California is a Labor friendly state that protects their workers and puts people before profits. The Union is in the process of printing the contract with the new wage rates for all classifications. Hopefully, we will have the new contract books available at our January meetings. We will have a schedule of the January meetings in next month’s Craftsman Article.
Until next time may God bless you, your family, and our local union.