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Local 1245: Keeping Pace With a Changing Industry September 2001 IBEW Journal
As California continues to cope with the complexities that have accompanied the states failed attempt at utility restructuring, Darby has witnessed an unfortunate downturn in the industry that has provided him with a good life. Deregulation has put stresses on all of us, Darby said. I worry whether were going to have enough electricity for the next 10 years. Uncertainty has been the only constant for members of Local 1245, IBEWs largest utility local and one of the host locals for the IBEWs 36th International Convention in San Francisco. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, Local 1245s jurisdiction includes the city. And the year 2001 has proven to be the ultimate test for its members, whose fortunes are closely tied to that of PG&E. The fate of one of the most powerful investor‑owned utilities in the United States is in the hands of a bankruptcy court in San Francisco.
Through it all, Local 1245 members numbering more than 17,000 strong continue to hold an important presence in Northern California, serving utility customers with professionalism and compassion even in these uncertain times. The majority of Local 1245s membershipapproximately 12,000are electricity and gas utility workers employed by PG&E. The local also represents members at municipal utilities and irrigation districts in California as well as private power companies and federal hydroelectric dams in the Northwest. Local 1245 has tree-trimmers, construction linemen, meter readers, phone center operators and maintenance, installation and inspection technicians. Headquartered in San Francisco, PG&E provides natural gas and electric service to approximately 12 million people in Northern and Central California, or about one in every 20 Americans. Its service area covers 70,000 square miles. As foreman for a construction crew that installs and replaces gas lines for a 20‑year improvement project, Darby and his fellow workers are often the most visible symbol of an energy delivery system where reliability and affordability are no longer assured. That makes them the target of frustrated and sometimes hostile customers looking for someone to blame. When the public doesnt get their electricity, they blame the first person that they see, and thats us. Darby and his crews are trained not to argue or try to negotiate with upset customers. The crisis hammering the state in general and PG&E in particular is dealt with directly on the companys public Internet site. Along with customer service and safety information typical to many utility web sites, one can find information on running back&-up generators in case of outages and Understanding Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Under a Chapter 11 proceeding, the company maintains its normal business operations and continues to provide employees with salaries and benefits, the PG&E site explains. It is also able to do business with suppliers and customers in a routine manner. New challenges bring new opportunities. Todays pressures on the local include shaping deregulations evolving environment to benefit members of 1245, said Local 1245 Communications Director Eric Wolfe. As new generating facilities come on line in the next months and years, Wolfe said, the local will attempt to organize those workers. Also challenging the local is the possibility that PG&E may follow Southern California Edison in agreeing to sell its transmission lines to the state. And allegations that out&-of-state power generators are manipulating the electric market has prompted a popular movement toward the municipalization of utility distribution systems. Wolfe said ballot initiatives in San Francisco this fall could create a municipal power authority for the city, a development the local believes could adversely affect its members without helping customers. People are frustrated seeing control of their power supply compromised by deregulation, Wolfe said. But it may not help people gain control if you still dont have control of your own generation. You still have the same vicissitudes of the market. Local 1245 has nearly 90 units scattered throughout its jurisdiction which extends into parts of Washinton, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as California. Local 1245 was chartered in 1941 and competed with Congress of Industrial Organizations organizers over the next decade to represent PG&E employees. Initially representing small clusters of workers outside the Bay area, the IBEW finally won systemwide elections for physical and clerical employees in 1952. Wolfe credits the locals first business manager, Ron Weakley, with bringing disparate union groups together under the representation of the IBEW. He imparted a deep commitment to democratic unionism and a significant voice for the rank and file, Wolfe said. Todays stresses may well reveal new frontiers and Local 1245, always adept at adjusting to challenges, will continue to move forward with the resilience of other generations of the Brotherhood. PG&Es been a good career for me, Darby said. But if it wasnt for the union, it would only have been a job.
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Local
1245 member Larry Darby has seen a lot of changes during his 34
years in the Pacific Gas and Electric Company gas departmentbut
none as dramatic as those wrought by Californias electricity deregulation.
First, the membership was hit hard by PG&Es downsizing of the
1990s. Then this years power blackouts and through-the-roof wholesale
prices gave way to the April bankruptcy filing of PG&E.
Local
1245 journeyman Lane Birkey (guiding pole) and then-apprentice Mike
Kautz remove an old wood pole to make way for a new steel one at
the intersection of Alder and San Bernardino in Fontana, California.
Also working on the Outside Construction crew for PAR Electrical
Contractors were Jason Phillips, Donal Endicott and Wes Hogue.(Photo,
2000: Eric Wolfe)