PAGE 4 | December 18, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
IBEW Local 125 members ratify contract
at Pacific Power by 72 percent margin
In votes counted Dec. 14, mem-
bers of International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW) Local 125 approved a
new four-year contract with Pa-
cific Power by 72 percent.
Local 125’s previous collec-
tive bargaining agreement with
Pacific Power expired Jan. 26,
2015. In June and again in Au-
gust, members voted down
company proposals by over-
whelming margins, and on Sept.
1, 2015, they authorized the
union to call a strike. But the
two sides continued to negoti-
ate, and they reached tentative
agreement Dec. 2 after the com-
pany improved its wage and
health insurance offers. The
union bargaining committee
recommended that members ap-
prove the deal.
Under the new agreement,
workers will get 2 percent wage
increases immediately, followed
by 2 percent increases on Jan.
26, 2016, and Jan. 26, 2017, and
a 2.5 percent increase on Jan. 26,
2018. They’ll also get a one-time
stipend of 1 percent of gross
wages dating back to January
2015 in lieu of retroactive pay.
Most other terms and condi-
tions remain the same, including
the company’s health insurance
contribution. The biggest item
of contention earlier was Pacific
Our members have
the power to make
the season bright.
Enjoy Your Holiday Season
from
IBEW Local 125
17200 NE Sacramento, Portland, OR
503-262-9125
Power’s demand that employees
pay 25 percent of the premium
in the final year of the con-
tract— up from the current 22
percent, which already amounts
to $400 to $600 a month out of
paychecks. In the end, the two
sides agreed that members will
continue to pay 22 percent, un-
less premiums rise above a set
threshold.
The new agreement expires
Jan. 25, 2019. It covers about
320 linemen, meter readers,
substation wiremen and other
workers at the utility in a service
area that includes parts of Ore-
gon, Washington and Montana.
Pacific Power and parent
company PacifiCorp are owned
by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire
Hathaway Energy.
May Your Holiday
be filled with
the Joy of
the Season
from
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco
Workers and Grain Millers
Local 114
OFFICERS, EXECUTIVE BOARD,
MEMBERS & STAFF