NPUA

[Rennhack]

Lancaster Services is soliciting resumes to submit for the "one hit wonder" fall outage at Turkey Point. ...  there is no firm end date. Without one, you can be laid off at any time. In addition there is no double time being offered by any of them. If you must work the Turkey Point outage, then we ask that you sign and complete an Authorization Card during the time of your employment. Turkey Point will more than likely be the only outage that LSI provides supplemental staffing this fall. We will file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board and bring them to the negotiation table. I am sure that they did not budget the costs of a petition with the NLRB when they sent in their proposals.

Stuff like the above message posted on the NPUA website really bothers me.  Steve Lancaster is out there trying to help people.  He is paying $10 more per hour than a lot of other contracts.  He is a one man show, using his own money, just trying to survive.  The only thing the NPUA is going to accomplish by dragging him into court is driving him bankrupt, causing him to lose his house, and making his family live on the streets.  -- REAL nice bunch of guys.

[FatMalky]

Stuff like the above message posted on the NPUA website really bothers me.  Steve Lancaster is out there trying to help people.  He is paying $10 more per hour than a lot of other contracts.  He is a one man show, using his own money, just trying to survive.  The only thing the NPUA is going to accomplish by dragging him into court is driving him bankrupt, causing him to lose his house, and making his family live on the streets.  -- REAL nice bunch of guys.

I don't know Steve Lancaster, but surely he is out there to make money from the big money contracts the nuke plants (Turkey Point) are offering and ultimately provide some sort of competition to Bartlett and the like?

Or maybe, like you say, he is just out there to "help people".

[HydroDave63]

the vote was 6-4 against the NPUA representing them with 2 people not voting i believe. the reason it was not posted earlier here was because i was travelling yesterday afternoon (ERIC:).the election is presently under review by the NLRB because of some questionable messages regarding future offers of compensation  from BARTLETT to the voting employees right before the election, (one was posted here last week by me prior to the election but was removed (by me) after one of the affected voting employees who felt intimidated requested that it be removed). the NPUA after review by the NLRB has until next Thursday to decide to file unfair labor charges against  BARTLETT regarding this election. now i have one question for you ERIC.why did BARTLETT feel the need to offer their employees a significant raise right before the scheduled election? last question ERIC, why can southern company pay NPUA members at those outages 35/hr (which is what started this whole election process anyways) and the best BARTLETT can offer in their new compensation is still 3/hr less than what the NPUA members were getting?
as i said in a post a couple of days before the election those 12 employees will be better off no matter which way they voted. that is of course if BARTLETT follows through with their offered compensation package on 9/1/10 right before the FARLEY outage!!!
p.s. ERIC you really dont have to answer those questions. i already know the answers:)

Oh my!

[mostlyharmless]

If you allready know the answers then why ask? Why don't you asnwer my question? I work at a place with ~400 hp techs. More than participate in the npua forum. I ask for information or directions to it.

[Already Gone]

Stuff like the above message posted on the NPUA website really bothers me.  Steve Lancaster is out there trying to help people.  He is paying $10 more per hour than a lot of other contracts.  He is a one man show, using his own money, just trying to survive.  The only thing the NPUA is going to accomplish by dragging him into court is driving him bankrupt, causing him to lose his house, and making his family live on the streets.  -- REAL nice bunch of guys.

While I believe that a union should be an option for the RP's, it is stuff like this that has soured me on NPUA from the start.  NO -- Not just the fact that they are threatening Steve Lancaster.  It is the fact that, for all their slick web design, they continue to say things that make them look like they haven't got a clue.  Aside from the fact that fschip writes his posts like a teenage girl texting to her friends, there are material errors of fact that can't be ignored.

First,

..... i guarantee you that the people that are voting today are not voting on training. they are voting on compensation, payrates /perdiem, holidays, overtime etc etc. after that comes benefits, health insurance and retirement...somewhere after that is training..continuing or otherwise. ....

The fact is that those people were voting one one question and one question only - to wit: whether or not they would assign the NPUA as their agents to bargain on their behalf.  The result of the vote either way does not guarantee a single one of those things mentioned above.  Obviously, those who vote against unionizing believe that they will be better off without Kevin and Frank on their side.  I guarantee YOU that everybody - regardless of how they vote - wants better compensation, benefits, training, pension ... etc.  The election is not about that.  It is about YOU and whether the workers want YOU on their side.  Full Stop.

Second,  NPUA cannot force LSI to negotiate unless and until the LSI employees sign authorization cards.

Frank, if you're still there, listen good.  Tell whoever speaks for the NPUA to stop acting like a bully.  Those tactics are probably the number one reason why 88% of this country's labor force is non-union.  (for non-government workers it is 92.4%)  Keep talking total CRAP like that and you can "guarantee" that you won't be responsible for making that closer to 92.3%

While I have your attention, I think I'll answer your question about why everybody was talking about training on the day that 12 techs are having an election.
1)It isn't the freaking moon landing fer chrissakes!  We aren't so glued to CNN awaiting the outcome of this world-changing election that we can't take a little time to chew the fat about something important to us. 
2)It's because most of us didn't know that there was an election.  Perhaps that is due to the total absence of any mention of it in the Union News section or the News/Events Calendar of the website that you tell us contains everything.  Maybe you ought to read that site now and again before you tell us yet one more time that it is the great oracle of all things we might want to know. 

I've been giving NPUA some credit lately for pointing in the right direction.  As long as you keep making progress in the right direction, I can't have much reason to criticize like I did before.  But, you still haven't totally convinced me that my first overwhelming impression was wrong.  Load up your ammo, but it seems to me that the safest place to stand is right where you're aiming.

[mostlyharmless]

"Those who tell you of trade-unions bent on raising wages by moral suasion alone are like people who tell you of tigers that live on oranges."

                                                                                                                                                -Henry George 1891

[mostlyharmless]

Went to the npua web site again. I would like to know what the union stands for. The bylaws,the constitution,more info about what they intend to do. On the forum questions are met with cryptic  hostile comments. They bad mouth other nuke web sites. From what I can access on the npua site I have little information with witch to work. Again, I work with ~400 hp techs. Techs here do not know who you are or what you stand for.

[mostlyharmless]

The npua web site has good links to other sites but I have found little about the npua there. Perhaps it gets screened out here at work. I will go there one more time at home. If I find nothing there I Will waste no more time looking. If the rest of your union brothers have the same pet pees about helping someone find information about the union then good luck recruiting. You will fail. I myself am reasonably capable of doing research and you seemed to be a good source. I thought you would help. Unions are a hard sale in the south. So keep reminding all of the folks that read these posts how you represent your union. Remember,what you do for the least of my brethren you do for me. Or is it to me?

[retread]

harmless both of your questions are answered on the npua website as i said before. ,there is a mission statement under the first tab and the constitution and bylaws are under the 3rd tab both of which are open to non members. one of my personal pet peeves is wasting my time answering questions that people can EASILY find on their own with a LITTLE effort.
as for what is posted in the public forum there those are individuals opinions and as far as i know they are not censored or edited.

Please note that I supported the union earlier.  After reading all the crap you have posted, I would like to withdraw that support.  Your arrogance is kind of unsettling at the least.  To have an inadequate website and still have no tolerance with those trying to understand what you represent, you leave very little room for support.  Maybe you should have counted to 200 before you responded to mostlyharmless?

[hatchling2002]

Aaaaammeeennn....... Finally, a voice of reason.

[retread]

What the NPUA stands for (a.k.a. Mission Statement) takes < 30-seconds to find, on a slow connection.


The Constitution and By-Laws were equally simple to locate.


I will shave off a few seconds for the curious, go to:

http://www.npua.org/mission-statement.htm

http://www.npua.org/resource-center/constitution-bylaws.htm

Oh Sundog, you do know how to get to the point don't you?  I had no problems finding their mission statement, by laws, et all, but it's still a very inadequate website.  Their mission statement seems a little sophomoric and lacking in specifics.  I'm fairly sure mostlyharmless was able to find those topics.  I'm also fairly sure he couldn't find any specific plan to support. for your being such a smart a**!  It will make up for the smite I gave you yesterday.

[mostlyharmless]

Now that I am home I have been to the npua web site and can see all the tabs that were blocked by my sites security. So you see the problem was only  ignorance on my part. But instead of understanding you have acted with derision. That is unfortunate. But your organization is probably not well represented by only a pedantic few,so I will give the npua an objective re view. Its bad form to talk down to people, especially when so many see it,you will lose support for your cause.

[mostlyharmless]

According to what I read 40% of npua money will go to training. I am very concerned about training as I have done a bit on my dime. To talk about training is not drivel, especially at 40%. If you don't like the comments now, would you like it more if we are members? If I have a concern about training will my concern be considered drivel?
On the surface the npua looks good. All the talk about excellence and professionalism,pay structure and the intentions are admirable. The union is a good idea. How it all works out in reality may be something else.  Your comments about surfing at work are illogical unless you know what is permissable at my place of employment. And I have explained my difficulty with the web site. But you still imply insult. Maybe the first training npua should initiate should be pr.You should brush up on your people skills. I had no question other than how to find the information for myself. I have done that. You have shown your contempt for me,whom you do not know. While I respect you a great deal for the time and effort that must go into the npua and for devoting yourself to an ideal,especially, as you say,you may not benefit directly for it,perhaps you should reconsider your recruiting style. There was no need to respond to me in that way,it only invites distrust. Many ,many potential members read these posts and will not like the tone. Is this how you will treat other members?
Even though, I would ask every nuke professional interested in the unions to read the information on the npua web site, and do a little research on the history of unions. With all respect due,40$ a month and 1%. MH

[mostlyharmless]

Allmost 38,000 views and over 400 posts. Think about it.

[Already Gone]

Well Frank,
Thanks for switching to capital letters for purposes other than shouting.  As you might notice, capitalization, punctuation, whole sentences, etc. makes it far easier to read.
Leaving those things out are a sign of laziness and disrespect for your readers.  It is as if you believe that we don't deserve the consideration that makes you expend the effort to use the shift key.
Anyway, thanks again.

I really understand what you are saying about the fact that the techs still in the business are working for a paycheck (a smaller than fair paycheck) and nothing else.  I get it.  I really do.  That is why I support the concept of organization.  Even if the votes fail, having them every now and then will keep the thought in the minds of management that they can only mistreat you so much before you eventually win one of those votes.  They have to give at least something just to stave that off.

But, please don't insult our intelligence.  Don't tell me that you and Kevin have nothing to gain.  I have read your constitution and bylaws.  If you get a contract anywhere where any single member is paid $40/hr that will result in Kevin's salary as President to be $162,864 per year.  Yours would be $140,400.  If you manage to get just one single person a rate of $45/hr, your salaries will be $183,222 and $157,950 respectively.  Of course, those salaries go away if you lose an election.  I see that elections are not yet scheduled.
Yes, you do have something to gain personally by organizing this union.  There isn't anything wrong about that, and it is right there in the open for everyone to see.  The only way for you to not gain is for the entire effort to fail.  You're not so pessimistic that you think it will,are you?  It is a little early to predict that it will fail.  So, it is a little early to be so sure that you won't hit that jackpot.

"ARTICLE XIV – SALARIES AND EXPENSES

Section 1. The salary of the President shall be 145% of the highest wage secured for the members of the NPUA through collective bargaining. The salary will be based on a standard work week of 54 hours. The salary will be paid in biweekly amounts.

Section 2. The salary of the Vice President shall be 125% of the highest wage secured for the members of the NPUA through collective bargaining. The salary will be based on a standard work week of 54 hours. The salary will be paid in biweekly amounts.

Section 3. The salary of the Secretary-Treasurer shall be 110% of the highest wage secured for the members of the NPUA through collective bargaining. The salary will be based on a standard work week of 54 hours. The salary will be paid in biweekly amounts. "

[MeterSwangin]

What an entertaining thread!  Watching the union organizing efforts tank was not nearly as much fun in the 80s, and 90s, and......

[mostlyharmless]

I read the bylaws and saw the salaries.  Benevolence is rare almost a myth. It mentioned nuclear energy specifically. Surely npua would be interested in the many folks at other nuke related sites. I cannot assume this is so.
I don't understand, there are unions within the nuke industry; construction folks,security folks. There is the ibew. On the surface the npua looks good. We could all benefit, so why are techs so reluctant to organize?

[Marlin]

I read the bylaws and saw the salaries.  Benevolence is rare almost a myth. It mentioned nuclear energy specifically. Surely npua would be interested in the many folks at other nuke related sites. I cannot assume this is so.
I don't understand, there are unions within the nuke industry; construction folks,security folks. There is the ibew. On the surface the npua looks good. We could all benefit, so why are techs so reluctant to organize?

Once burnt twice shy!!!

[duke99301]

they all look for them selfs thats why , my ex was at crystal river as a Jr. tech and was walking the line even when it was getting over I told her to go back in , but heck no stayed out one day to long and got canned as you recall most of the other techs had jobs lined up and walked right by the lines to work.
I was just a a job and was made to join the IBEW and they did nothing for me. oh but they did take my money.
look this new has new deals a buddy mine worked with them he liked them.
the only fair way is to work it like the craft locals 1st then travlers no diem cause you have a good package and no travelers as foremans ect ect.


tell you what there a lot of old techs out there right now in there late 70s  you do the math,

[Frankie Love]

197,198,199,200 Nope retread it did not work. Still peeved.  For the record DOG I am not posing as an NPUA official. I am the VP of the NPUA. As for the inadequate website and sophomoric mission statement, sorry it's the best our personal limited funds can accommodate at this time. If you want to help then send a donation to web dev to the NPUA office in Sugarland Texas (I'll personally make sure it gets spent on just that). Don't want to do that but still want to complain about it....Tough.
As for harmless questions I took a nonnuclear professional and told them to find the NPUA  website and to find who they were and what were their constitution and bylaws....it took them less than 3 minutes to find everything. If you think I'm unsympathetic to someone who is surfing at work while I'm responding on my own offtime .....that's TOUGH as well. Harmless still has not asked a question of me yet, that he cannot find the answer too fairly easily at NPUA.ORG. if you want to take the time to go back a couple of weeks ago before all the drivel about training, you will find that I did answer questions from Cammella that she could not find out on her own.....and had no problem doing it either. I even posted my own personal email for anyone else who had legitimate questions to ask me directly instead of depending on me seeing it here.
What you all fail to realize is that none of us here at the NPUA are compensated for our efforts. None of us here are lifelong UNION professionals....it has been a slow expensive learning curve for all of us. I can only speak for myself personally as to the following. If this union effort fails will it affect me directly....NO. I presently have long term employment as an rp tech at significantly higher compensation than the best cba./contract the NPUA has negotiated to date (which is much higher than the best contract companies typically are paying). If the union effort succeeds will it directly affect me....maybe....and that's only if it happens in the next several years. I'm at the age now where I'm probably at my last job....never say never though. Why do I do it.....because I believe in it and I care about my younger sister who is in the business as well as my nephew just starting out in the business and anyone else in the business who is not close to retirement? I personally think that's its bs for a company the size of Bartlett that the best they can do in their 401k is 200.00 per year no matter what you put in. I think its bs that you can work 35- 40 years in your field and when you "retire" after paying your home off you get to start a new mortgage called health insurance because when your cobra runs out through Bartlett or dz or anyone else that's it....and that's if you're in good enough health to even be insurable.....you know what their response is TOUGH. I think its bs that I can go to an outage and make less hourly than the most junior house tech and probably end up having to show him how to cover jobs on top of it as well. If none of those things bother you then this union is not for you. If you want to be spoon-fed and have everything handed to you with no effort on your part this union is not for you. If you want to sleep on the job or falsify records or not live up in general to the npua code of conduct and then expect this union to go to the mat for you legally, this union is not for you.
Finally if I or Kevin seem a bit callous or unsympathetic because we won't help those who won't help themselves......remember it's our time and dime that is pushing the effort forward that in all likelihood will never benefit us directly. Remember that the next time you criticize the incomplete web page or the unprofessional organizing strategy or the girlfriend posts on this site (troy). I'm done GIVING you anymore of my offtime this weekend. Frank

Who wants this guy in charge anything? Good leadership expects and plans for all of the rebuttles (sp).

[Eric_Bartlett]

now i have one question for you ERIC.why did BARTLETT feel the need to offer their employees a significant raise right before the scheduled election? last question ERIC, why can southern company pay NPUA members at those outages 35/hr (which is what started this whole election process anyways) and the best BARTLETT can offer in their new compensation is still 3/hr less than what the NPUA members were getting?  p.s. ERIC you really don't have to answer those questions. i already know the answers:)

Hello FRANK, long time no talk to.  Even though I try not to respond to antagonistic posts, I will make an exception for this one as there are many individuals out there that just want the truth so here it is and as always take it or leave it, your choice.

1st question "why did BARTLETT feel the need to offer their employees a significant raise right before the scheduled election?

Answer, we have proposed many times over the past couple of years to increase wages at SNOC that never came to fruition.  After this past Spring Season we decided to try again and this time we are being taken seriously.  Our rate increase proposals were put in prior to us ever even knowing y'all would be filing a petition down there. 

as for your second question "last question ERIC, why can southern company pay NPUA members at those outages 35/hr (which is what started this whole election process anyways) and the best BARTLETT can offer in their new compensation is still 3/hr less than what the NPUA members were getting?

Answer, when we try to renegotiate rates with any client we of course always try to go as high as possible to increase the technicians overall compensation package as much as possible.  But as you know we don't control the purse strings, the client does.  Your answer is the same as the answer to why couldn't Bartlett match the rates that were being paid last spring?  Because it is out of our control.  Would i3 pay more than they could bill?  Doubt it.  Would Spectrum pay more than they could bill?  Doubt it.  It's called Business 101, FRANK.  If we can't bill it, we don't pay it. I'm sure that is common practice for any company in this or any other business, you pay what you can bill, if you cant bill it, you don't pay it unless of course you are looking to spend more than you make and when companies do that they go the way of so many others like ARC &  IRM.

So, FRANK I do believe you when you stated the following "ERIC you really don't have to answer those questions. i already know the answers" I believe that you already knew the answers but I wanted to make sure that the rest of the interested parties out there knew them also and realize there is no nasty practices in play like you insinuate.   

I have posted this time and time again.  Union or Non, it doesn't matter – we staff both.  It all comes down to the more we can pay, the more a tech can make, the more a tech can make the more likely they will stay in the business and the more likely that new techs will get into this business, the more that stay and get into this business, the more likely we can staff our commitments.  The better we staff the more work we get, the more work we get the better chance we have of giving technicians gainful employment.  Now for the greedy side – the more we can pay the more we can bill, the more we can bill the more we make.  Its very simple, once again Business 101. 

Anyways I feel I've ranted on long enough and addressed both of your questions FRANK.  You may want to try being less adversarial in the future, but my advice is like my answers to your questions, take it or leave it, your choice.  Good luck to you in your endeavors.

As always I hope y'all are having a safe and enjoyable summer.

Take it slow,

Eric

[Frankie Love]

Business 101 - Profit margins...

[Smart People]

Business 101 - Profit margins...

Bad Bartlett!!!!....making profit.....BAD!!! (swats nose with rolled up newspaper)

[Frankie Love]

Invoice $48, tech pay $36...you do the math.

[Smart People]

12!! Did i get it right?

The next question is how much of that goes to administrative costs, withholding matching, unemployment insurance, health insurance (for those who take it)..... I"m sure you know the answer to this. Or maybe Eric can enlighten us.

I'm sure some on this thread would love to hear that Old Blue only makes $1 a day on their techs but that would hardly be an incentive to even be in this business and then who would you bargain with to make your 125% salary?

Why not make NPUA a staffing company in the first place. Then you can have all those profits to yourself rather than requiring union dues from every worker. Oh wait, then you would have administrative costs, withholding matching, unemployment insurance, health insurance (for those who take it)... never mind