Maybe no shortage of companies, but will there be a shortage of techs WILLING to work for those companies? That is the important part. Keep steering torwards the best deal (NPUA), and there won't be many techs working for those other companies, hopefully. Spread the word so people know what is what. I feel like my best bet as a contractor is the NPUA. When and if I start working outages again, I will give them priority as long as they have a job for me. Yes Bartlett has to go by the contract they signed, but if they would have thought to organize people to begin with, they may not have had to sign those contracts in the first place....Not saying Bartlett is evil, but Bartlett cares about Bartlett, and it seems to be a short-sighted view. If we have the opportunity as technicians to impact our own bottom line, let's do it. Because Bartlett cares about their own bottom line first and foremost. Of course they do! Just the way the world works. If we want to take care of us, we are going to have to do it ourselves.
I don't feel like people are asking for an unfair rate of pay and bennies, if they were the utility might have more incentive to find another way to staff outages. But I feel we deserve what the NPUA is asking for. Hopefully I am correct.