Is Union Busting to Blame for Power Outages in DC?

[Judi Lynn]

Is Union Busting to Blame for Power Outages in DC?
Saturday, 07 July 2012 13:12 By Mike Elk, In These Times | Report

On Thursday, 15,091 Washington, D.C.-area residents were without power for the sixth day in a row, according to utility company Pepco spokesman Marcus Beal. As D.C. residents face record heat waves, many are upset and attribute the lack of power to incompetence on Pepco's end. However, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1900 members claim the failure to restore power outages is due to chronic understaffing and Pepco's shift from hiring union utility workers to non-union temporary contractors.

"We have half the linemen we had 15 years ago," says IBEW Local 1900 Business Agent Jim Griffin, whose union represents 1,150 Pepco workers. "We have been complaining for a very long time. They have relied for a long time on contractors. They are transients, they don't know our system, and we typically have to go behind them to fix their mistakes. It's very frustrating. We take ownership in our work, we make careers out of this."

Griffin says that starting 15 years ago, Pepco stopped hiring workers to replace retiring electrical workers and offered incentive-laden buyout deals to get electricians to retire. In order to address understaffing problems, Pepco has at times hired non-union temporary contractors, instead of hiring new workers. Griffin estimates that Pepco currently employs 1,150 union workers and approximately 400 non-union contractors. The understaffing has led to problems that the IBEW warned about years ago.

"Everything is keyed on dollars and cents profit," warned IBEW Utility Director Jim Hunter back in 2005. "Storm outages are longer, and utilities are asking for more and more help from other utilities. The problem is that other companies are in the same boat. And they are still not hiring."

More:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/10206-is-union-busting-to-blame-for-power-outages-in-dc

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I am concerend that is a trend in our storm heavy area, too.

I know that some meter switch outs in my neighborhood was done by contarctors, not Ala. Power regulars.
The guys doing the work were rude and churlish, which is NOT the norm down here, and had a company truck from some outfit I have never heard of.
Normally power crews are extremely responsive to outages here.
Guess we will find out, come the next storm.

[progressoid]

2. Rec.

[Fuddnik]

3. D-E-R-E-G-U-L-A-T-I-O-N!!!!

They used to be required by law to have enough crews to handle severe weather and emergencies. Now, they bring in crews from around the country. And Scabs.

[japple]

4. Scabs and Mittens. He'd have 1/2 the labor force at 1/2 the price.

[elleng]

5. Some discussion about Pepco, deregulation, etc.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002902874

[mwooldri]

6. Not directly.

Basically it seems to be a trend of all utility companies - to "outsource" rather than have their own "owned and operated" staff contingent.

However AFAIK no single utility has had the full crew always necessary on hand to recover from a natural disaster. Resources are pulled from elsewhere. If this was a hurricane event then of course a utility company can plan on this, as it is often seen coming, and they can call on other utility companies who have line crews available... and get them in for right after the storm.

But I know nothing about how Pepco runs their business (I know only a smidgen more about Duke Energy because I am in their service area and a customer of theirs) - and if they have been running under staff for quite some time to trim costs (union or non union, permanent or temporary) then when there is a sudden rush then yep... they are going to be caught with their pants down.

I remember seeing these ads on a billboard saying "if you don't have an emergency business plan, you plan to be out of business" - unfortunately utility companies don't go out of business but that company is going to have a large hit to its pocketbook... will have to re-evaluate what happened here... and get its act together for the next time.

[Bellerophon]

7. as a union member

I guarantee you the union membership does not automatically mean that the work performed is any better. Some of my coworkers can be inept of the best of days.....