What's with the story about electric crews being turned around?

[rppper]

I caught about 4 seconds of it flipping through channels....Faux news with o-hannity and frankenkrauthammer....

Any truth here....I can't find anything reliable enough to believe...

[Kaleva]

1. It's been debunked.

There are a couple of threads here in GD that discuss it.

[rppper]

2. Thanks....couldn't find any threads....

....but I'll dig a little deeper....3rd shifter here! Lol

[Live and Learn]

3. This

Ala. utility crew returns home
Associated Press – 7 hrs ago

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama utility crew heading to New Jersey has returned home, claiming it had to affiliate with a union to help with the recovery effort after Superstorm Sandy. But union officials, a New Jersey utility company and the governor said Friday they are mistaken.

Ray Hardin, general manager of Decatur Utilities, said a six-member crew left Wednesday for Seaside Heights, N.J. It got as far as a staging are in Roanoke, Va., where it waited for clarification of documents from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He said the documents implied the non-union workers had to agree to union affiliation while working in New York and New Jersey.

<snip>

IBEW spokesman Jim Spellane said he did not know what papers the crew was given, but "there appears to have been a misunderstanding."

He said the papers may have dealt with a requirement that crews are paid the prevailing wage in the area where they are working. In New Jersey, where electrical workers are heavily unionized, that wage is set by collective bargaining.

[RobertEarl]

4. If true

Then that means the Decatur bosses told them they would not pay their workers union wages and made them come home.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. See my post below. nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Updated story

Confusion causes utility crew to return from recovery effort

DECATUR, AL (WAFF) -

<snip>
Decatur Utilities later released a statement expanding on that, "Upon arriving at a staging area in Virginia, crews were held in place pending clarification of documents received from IBEW that implied a requirement of our employees to agree to union affiliation while working in the New York and New Jersey areas. It was and remains our understanding that agreeing to those requirements was a condition of being allowed to work in those areas."

Late Friday at a press conference, Hardin said the documents actually came from Electric Cities of Alabama, a coalition of the state's municipally owned utilities.

Bottom line, it appears now that Decatur Utilities wrongly assumed they would have to agree to the union contract before traveling to New Jersey to help with recovery efforts. The IBEW said in times of crisis, help is welcomed from union and non-union utility workers.

Hardin said as they waited for confirmation on the documents, crews received word that Seaside Heights had received the assistance they needed from other sources.

http://www.waff.com/story/19981857/some-nonunion-ala-crews-turned-away-from-sandy-recovery

[Live and Learn]

12. Oops, it actually is the same story I was just sticking to the

4 paragraph rule and forgot the link. Thanks for posting it.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. Sure thing!

The pertinent stuff is at the bottom. I should edit out the top now.

[RobertEarl]

15. Yep Didn't want to pay union wages

I see no other excuse for the reasoning that

"...Decatur Utilities wrongly assumed they would have to agree to the union contract..."

Besides, the union can't tell workers where they can and can't go, just the utilities the government and the workers bosses.

Once again, bosses end up screwing everybody because they don't want to pay what a worker is worth.

[RobertEarl]

18. It is so very obvious: Decatur bosses had a hissy fit:

"Ack!! Unions for workers?!?! Pull back!! Unions are scary!! Unions have cuddies!"

[onethatcares]

21. more like

"let's get outa here Clem, afore you know it, our workers will want a decent wage if we let em have it this time".

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. It was a whole lot of confusion and FOX misinformation.

See my post above. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1699077

[freshwest]

9. Sounds like a Fox stunt to smear the IBEW. Look for more of these 'rescuers' finding fault.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. That was pretty much my take on it as well.

You know how they are, it doesn't have to be true for them to exploit it.

[SJMULE]

8. Not turned away from helping

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57544237/ala-utilities-our-crews-not-turned-away-from-n.j/

[rppper]

10. Thanks again y'all !

NT

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. The short story, different gear and equipment

they were not turned down...

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. Saw something on Twitter about "non-union". No idea if it's true.

[WCGreen]

17. One thing that everyone forgets is that Unions require a certain level of certified ability...

In NJ, I gather, you have to be certified as a Union Electrician in order to be hired on by a crew. Perhaps the whole initial dust up was due to people making sure that the people who were going to be working with electrical transmission equipment were certified and able to do such work.

First and foremost, that is what Union Certification signifies. The rest is negotiations on terms of work. When that guy signs in as a Union Electrician, he is signing in as a competent worker with a certain level of skills.

[RobertEarl]

19. Alabama Linesmen are not capable?

Are the Yankee wires and poles all that different from Southern wires and poles?

No. But the pay scales for the workers are.

[Live and Learn]

20. Think it might have more to do with companies that are willing to pay

are also willing to train and ensure their workers actually know what they are doing.

[coldwaterintheface]

22. No they are not capable nor can they be trusted

unless they have some legitimate certification stating they are fully qualified I would never trust them either.

[WinkyDink]

26. And if so, good for us Yankees.

[WCGreen]

28. I'm not saying that at all...

What I am merely stating is that they don't have to check references if the guy shows up with a certified Union card.

[LannyDeVaney]

23. BS

I live about 1/2 hour from Decatur. This was the lead story on every local newscast yesterday.

I was actually expecting the utility guy to say "No way were we missing the bama-LSU game, those yankees can freeze! God Bless America!"

He didn't say that. He actually gave the "we were not turned away" line. Of course, the comments in the local paper say there are tapes of them being cussed out and called scabs. Nobody seems to have the tapes though.

[coldwaterintheface]

24. Riddle me this rppper…would you let a non-qual flip switches and turn valves

on the boat without supervision?

[WinkyDink]

25. TYPICAL Right-Wing LIES.

[OneGrassRoot]

27. Here's the press release from Decatur Utilities:

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wsfa/linkedwebdocs/Press%20Release%20Hurricane%20Sandy.pdf


I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. I still think it was a huge miscommunication, but their press release seems to want to keep the union restriction in play.

I have a relative who is a linesman in Alabama, now in the NYC/NJ region, though I don't believe with Decatur Utilities.

I'm anxious to hear his thoughts and experience.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

29. I agree

I think that Decatur Utilities misunderstood the paperwork they received.