NPUA

[smallwave]

What do flowers and getting married have to do with this subject toooo much BS

[Fluffy Bunny]

What do flowers and getting married have to do with this subject toooo much BS

Good point, but then who died and made you coach?  You beat the Buffalo Bills 15-10 and all a sudden, you are telling everyone how to play the game.

[MeterSwangin]

Wrong.  It definitely is a reflection of a persons "worth" as an employee. If a tech accepts work at $27 per hour then that is exactly what they are worth to an employer.  If a tech thinks he or she is worth more, accept nothing less. 

Detroit is full of unionists who clung to this same "worth" paradigm too long.  Find the lucky ones now flipping burgers.

[Camella Black]

Should of asked your husband what he thought about the florist, since it was his money you were spending, also.  I know you other guys were thinking the same thing,  but were scared to tell the truth.   I wonder why no woman will ever marry me?

You have got to be kidding right?    What century are you living in?  On topic, I was attempting to show that no matter how good something looks or sounds people can be turned off by the wrong attitude.

[Already Gone]

Camella,
You seem to be talking to the one person who is least likely to get your point.

[BigMo]

It could do us bad depending on the process to do contract negotiations. The Utilities will go with the lowest bid/contract they can get. Even if there is representation doesn't mean they have to use the folks that have requested the representation. They can hire a bunch of Jr. qualified people, including within their existing organization as temporaries (secretaries, internal labor support, management personnel), and have their house Sr. techs oversee them. I have seen them do this many many times over the last 36 years Ive been in this mess. Or.....south of the border folks come in on a much lower wage (like they have been doing with Bartlett Mexico) and take the contract and be happy. They are just dying to get our jobs in this market.
A simple scaled wage for the various job descriptions, including Supervision and Engineering, and taking time/loyalty in the industry into account, with a minimum of $5/hr increase across all the scales would be a start. Pay per diem at least CLOSE to the Conus rate cause the cost of living sure as hell isn't going down any. And if a reasonable claim is made, pay full travel without cap. Expecting too much or making demands too high will get you nothing but the Utilities finding ways to eliminate our positions and work leaner. Its happened before and will happen again. They can do temporary hiring through their own organization, eliminate the middle man entirely, pay what they want, and get the people they need. If you haven't noticed, people are out of money and about to lose their possesions, and will take work no matter what.....
Have you seen any outages that came to a halt because they couldnt fully staff???!!! Hell no, if they dont get what they want, it doesnt matter, the outage goes on without. Its all about the big picture.....OUTAGE BUDGET.....you can boycott, whine, or whatever, but bottom line, they will get around it and get the unit back on line.

[techtoolong]

I am willing to risk it.

[HenryBlack]

It could do us bad depending on the process to do contract negotiations. The Utilities will go with the lowest bid/contract they can get. Even if there is representation doesn't mean they have to use the folks that have requested the representation. They can hire a bunch of Jr. qualified people, including within their existing organization as temporaries (secretaries, internal labor support, management personnel), and have their house Sr. techs oversee them. I have seen them do this many many times over the last 36 years Ive been in this mess. Or.....south of the border folks come in on a much lower wage (like they have been doing with Bartlett Mexico) and take the contract and be happy. They are just dying to get our jobs in this market.
A simple scaled wage for the various job descriptions, including Supervision and Engineering, and taking time/loyalty in the industry into account, with a minimum of $5/hr increase across all the scales would be a start. Pay per diem at least CLOSE to the Conus rate cause the cost of living sure as hell isn't going down any. And if a reasonable claim is made, pay full travel without cap. Expecting too much or making demands too high will get you nothing but the Utilities finding ways to eliminate our positions and work leaner. Its happened before and will happen again. They can do temporary hiring through their own organization, eliminate the middle man entirely, pay what they want, and get the people they need. If you haven't noticed, people are out of money and about to lose their possesions, and will take work no matter what.....
Have you seen any outages that came to a halt because they couldnt fully staff???!!! Hell no, if they dont get what they want, it doesnt matter, the outage goes on without. Its all about the big picture.....OUTAGE BUDGET.....you can boycott, whine, or whatever, but bottom line, they will get around it and get the unit back on line.

You said a mouthfull of the truth there Big! I guarantee that the outages will come and go even if they can only get a handful of folks to come in and work. I have worked outages that were 30 techs short and it isn't fun,  but it happens pretty regular now. If they can't reach the numbers they want, then they just change the numbers to what they get.

[techtoolong]

National Labor Relations Act Section 7 protects your right to form, join or assist in forming a union at your workplace.  The NLRB insures your  legal right to a free choice and prohibits your employer from discriminating against you as a result of your union activity. I think Big Blue learned this the hard way last time around.

[JsonD13]

I think the problem is that the NPUA isnt going after ALL the contract companies.  If they did that, it might be harder to undercut a union.

[techtoolong]

They are following the legal process.  Big Blue is next.

[cairnit]

The RP contract companies who are providing services to Commercial Nuclear Power plants = 2.
So they are going after 50% right now.
Aerotek and I3 Solutions are paying union scale. No need to go after them, they are working with NPUA (check the web site).

You can get jobs as juniors without experience if the plants change their procedures, but there will be a shortage of Sr. qualified techs to take responsibility for their work.

If the Sr. Techs agree to NPUA representation, where are the techs going to come from to work at these plants, haven't seen many techs who work for the lowest wage on purpose. Don't forget that most union plants have a clause that states if there is a UNION company to provide the service then they have to hire UNION before bring in a NON- Union company......we have never had a Union to belong to, we have only been allowed to work at those few hard core union sites because our companies have been paying the dues for us.

Essentially being union workers without the benefits.

Time to STEP UP.

[BigMo]

So ya dont believe me huh?? Check the 16th job down the list on the NPUA site for Turkey Point. 10 slots, temporary hire-in's for the plant, for outages and other work....THIS is how they get around it, and so will others. They DONT have to hire union, they CAN set the price as they want, and they CAN get around the middle man easily. They will throw a few extra dollars over the Big Blue rate to entice, and off they go.....I agree with the concept and the need for better wages and all, but the Utilities are big and powerful. They are BUDGET minded and will take the bottom of the barrel if need be to get by and get the work done. They dont care a crap about us....and most of them bolstered their inhouse Sr. HP staff several years ago, or are doing it currently.....why you think they are doing that??? To eliminate contract positions in the future. Believe what you want. Been there and dont that WAY too long.......

[RDTroja]

I am not disagreeing with you, but the Temp employees at Turkey Point are not normal outage technician positions. They are being hired because there are two power uprate projects going on and there is a lot more RP work than normal, even outside the outages. FPL is not hiring very many permanent positions right now (for several reasons) and this is their way of getting the people they need without having to keep long term contractors around -- partly because the union has a problem with that. They are (or at least were) also considering hiring a Temp RP Shift Supervisor position to supervise the Temp technicians.

There are a lot of good reasons for a union and some bad ones, too. I am not passing judgement here, just trying to add a little clarity.

[AARPSHP]

I do not post often but as a member of the older group now I think it is time to say something.  It does seem like progress is being made.  I have been a house tech and a contractor.  I like contractor better because I have control over when and where I work.  Yes I would like to make more money.  As we progress in this union stuff we must remember that we are professionals.  We must communicate both verbally and written as professionals.  We have to set a positive example for both the utilities and the companies we work for.  I have worked for both major companies I have positive and negative things to say about both.  I enjoy my job as a contract HP because I get to work with lots off really great people.  When I need help someone is there to help.  That does not always happen in the utility end.  So lets keep moving forward and hear some more good news down the road.

[techtoolong]

Bigmo plants are not hiring to eliminate us,  They are hiring to meet new 10 cfr 26 fatigue rules. 

[Already Gone]

There is no reason to fear this.  People will get work if they want work.  All that will change is that some of the places where you work will change.
Union representation among the techs will shake out to whatever percentage is determined by the tech population.  If you want to work union, you will work where the union contractors have work for you.  If you don't want to work union, you'll work at the other sites.
If a site can't be staffed by a non-union contractor, the work will go to the union shop.  If you are non-union, and not getting enough work, you can join the union.  For a while, you will be able to bounce back and forth, but eventually the union will kick you out if you work non-union.
In any case, if 75% of the techs want to be union members, then 75% of the work will be union work.  If only 10% join up, then they will have 10% of the work.
It all works out.  Everyone will work, and most will be happy with their choice.

[BigMo]

I agree with that Troja, and I understand the way TP does business, I have worked there as RP Supervisor for the past five years or so....but a Utility can get it done in many ways. I also agree with BeerCrt, that work will be around just depends on what you want. I am like AARP said, house several times, road lots of years, worked just about every company that has ever been in business since 1976 all the way back to Rad Services. I agree with the union concept, cause we (techs) have never got together and agreed in solidarity ever that I know of. Lost a good job once many moons ago when me and the boys walked, and others claimed to be with us and went to work while we got run off....maybe it will get the wages fair and the travel/per diem where the hell it should be. I too like to work at my whim and choosing so i remain a roadwhore. But I hope care is taken with this, and greed doesnt blow it all, just saying.....

[Incline]

 Some of plants are hiring in Ops to meet the new fatigue rule. As far as hiring in other areas including Ops, it is to pass on the knowledge of the more experienced workers to the younger folks. You can proceduralize it for the newer ones, but you can't proceduralize the finesse some jobs take to get it done right. Believe it or not but about 50% of the current workforce (in-house) is eligible for retirement in the next 5 years and it seems like 80% of the contract workforce retired 5 years ago. At least that is the story at my plant.
 I believe resource sharing is going to eliminate some contract positions if the utilities ever figure out a way to get there fuel cycles in line with each other instead of on top of each other, but it is nothing to worry about anytime soon.
 
 

[Rennhack]

The NLRB in Atlanta ruled in favor of the NPUA in regards to the recent core tech representation election at Vogtle/Farley/Hatch. As a result the election results were overturned and Bartlett received an unfair labor charge from the NLRB.

When do they get their $35/hr?

[HenryBlack]

When they all have to leave Southern Company because they gave the contract to some fly-by-night operation that underbid Bartlett and took the contract from them. Than the folks there can go somewhere else and make it. Maybe they can go back on the road and work DOE, I hear they are paying that much.

By saying overturned does that mean that they have to revote or does that mean that they have to take representation whether thay want it or not. If the answer is revote, then what will happen if the new vote is still NO.

[Rennhack]

...then what will happen if the new vote is still NO.

By god, we'll keep re-voting until we get the answer we want!

[HenryBlack]

By god, we'll keep re-voting until we get the answer we want!

Maybe after 10 or 15 years of voting the guys there will forget what they are voting for and just all say yes. Who knows maybe some of their grandkids could vote there too in a few years. Could be the beginning of the end for core techs at Southern Companies.

[longbow55]

Henry you are using reason where that is not wanted or welcome. Has everybody forgotten what happened in 1990? The utility simply cancelled the contract of the company with the union issues and brought in a new company that had no affiliation or connection with the union. Utilities did not become as large as Southern Co. and not know how to deal with these things. People wake up, you are subcontractors. I was one for many years and am all for everybody making as much money as they can. Or having all the benefits they need. But believe me you are not going to force the utilities to pay you more. You have to use your brain and make yourself more valuable, not a liability or problem. I don't believe Southern will disband the core tech group. They like not paying per-diem when they don't have to. Per-diem is the one thing most companies hate the most, imo. 

On another note some of the so called Union backers on this site have not made any friends in the industry, including their coworkers. I have worked with some of you and do not want to work with you again, enough said.

I always thought the beauty of being a contractor was I could leave if the situation became unbearable. I was independent and decided my own destiny. With that comes responsibility and ownership. I am wise enough to not buy the snake oil. No one owes us anything, that is an emotion we left behind with our teenage years.     

[HenryBlack]

Henry you are using reason where that is not wanted or welcome. Has everybody forgotten what happened in 1990?

I don't know how you can say that it is not wanted or welcome. But if it isn't wanted then maybe a moderator will delete it because I am not going to!
 I am just telling the truth as I see it right now. If any company feels like they are being forced into something that they don't want they will cut you loose and won't even bat an eye! Hence No More Core. These people went there as core techs for a certain amount of money and benefits. Now you can't just decide in the middle of the contract that you want more and expect to get it. Sure Southern Company might just say " Sure we will give it to you so you can pay the Techs more" and they may not. They could say since you agreed to come here for what we are paying you:" then Take it or leave it.. Remember they are in a "Right to work state". Bartlett is just the middle man and all they can do is ask the utilities for more money and hope they get it. So I am saying if you don't like it, if they say no, then quit and find yourself another job. I remember the 1990 strike because I was right in the middle of it with my family and it cost me money. They didn't go at it right then and in my opinion the NPUA isn't either. If they want to organize then go after contracts that haven't been signed yet. Go after Atlantic and Bartlett or whoever you want to. I think they should try to get an agreement set up that goes into effect when this contract is renewed. And then let the folks decide if they want to make what the offer is.

I know most of the core techs at all three sites and I want all to know that I am all for unionization, but only if it is done right. I have been a shop steward so I know a little about the way unions work. I hope everyone gets what they want and wants what they get but we all know that isnt going to happen.