Five-Year Agreement Brings together Merged Utility Units in VermontFebruary 22, 2013 Few words are as chilling to workers as “corporate merger.” Too often the aftermath is slashed jobs, cut wages and managers acting unreasonably.
It wasn’t easy for Local 300, which represented workers at both Central Vermont Public Service Corp. and Green Mountain Power Corp., to harmonize the terms of two separate collective bargaining agreements and satisfy the needs of the members, the newly-merged corporate entity and the customers. But, says Business Manager Jeffrey Wimette:
In an article in the Rutland Herald, Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power president and CEO, said:
Speaking to the Herald, Wimette said:
GMP says the merger will save ratepayers $144 million over the next 10 years. One collective bargaining agreement had been due to expire in December 2012, the other in December 2013. After the 22 union members completed their meetings, Wimette and the union’s negotiating committee met for 45 days, sometimes 12 to 16 hours a day, to hammer out the details of a new agreement. The union took six days to hold informational meetings, covering workers on all shifts, to discuss the tentative agreement. The tentative proposal was voted down on the first vote and ratified on the second after some modifications. Workers won a 3.25 percent increase in 2013, 3 percent for the second and third years and 2.8 percent for the final two years. Uniform work rules will be phased in. Agreement was also reached on uniform health insurance premiums. Wimette says that the merger of some districts will require workers who are on call in emergencies to possibly move their places of residence in the future. The company will help defray the cost of their moves. While the new management entity will mix the two former work cultures, Wimette says he is confident that new, healthy labor-management relationships will arise. “This merger demonstrates how the IBEW and management can work together when both sides are open and honest with each other,” says IBEW Utility Department Director Jim Hunter.
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