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ALLIANT ENERGY PROPOSALS
TO AMEND THE 1999 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
BETWEEN LOCAL UNION 965, IBEW AND THE COMPANY
SUBMITTED TO THE UNION ON FEBRUARY 12, 2003
The following amendments to the Collective Bargaining
Agreement are submitted by the company. These negotiations must be conducted
with due consideration to the financial constraints of Alliant Energy. To
succeed, we must achieve competitive and operational advantages with our work
force. Ultimately, by achieving this objective, we will strengthen the
organization and well-being for employees.
Work Rules:
- Eliminate Article XIV. Meals, paragraph (1) and modify paragraph (4).
Replace with an overtime meal premium to be paid for each full hour of
overtime worked. Incorporate the noon meal allowance into the job-site
reporting allowance.
- Eliminate the 20 to 30 minute residency exception with the exception of
customer service representatives, GIS dispatchers, and dispatchers.
- Create new rules and conditions for new hires into a work group with terms
competitive with outside service providers.
- Incorporate existing travel rules (tentative agreement dated 7/21/00) into
Article XV and convert the existing road miles to air miles for job-site
reporting allowances.
- Employees in travel status may be required to stay out overnight or
job-site report if there is required overtime beyond their normal workweek.
- Modify the voting requirement for 4-10’s from 75% to a simple majority.
- Eliminate the 24.9 kV gloving premium to include 24.9 kV as a
requirement of the job, similar to 12.4 kV.
- Modify the Customer Service Center schedule assignment based on
performance versus seniority.
- Eliminate the notice given to customer service representatives for
monitoring calls with customers.
- Increase the time temporary employees may be used from ninety (90) days to
six (6) months – eliminate the restriction of using the same temporary
employee more than once.
- Modify the current understanding outlined in 2000 correspondence between
the parties concerning the GENCO travel rules to address the company's
concerns regarding the definition of travel status and issues of shift
schedule, overtime, and call-out.
- Allow the lead equipment operator, master maintenance electrician and the
master maintenance technician position the opportunity to realign shifts in
the same manner as the maintenance technician position.
- Propose that key components of the 12-hour shift be placed in Appendix 2 -
Alternate Work Schedules.
- Modify language under Article XXXI, paragraph (6) (d), to allow for the
use of non-shift employees, even when shift workers are available at the
hydros.
- Modify Appendix 1 - Call-Out Practice for Shift Employees to provide for
substitution before using other provisions of the agreement.
- Modify the reduction in forces process to require the individual bumping
to bump the least senior employee in the classification, at a location,
regardless of departmental designation.
Supervision:
- Create a lead line technician position to include the following:
 | Annual performance review |
| Selection company-wide vs. local, factor in current performance |
| Participate in 360° feedback process |
| Establish new rate, progression in steps based on merit vs. time |
| Responsible for coaching employees on safety, emergency response and
productivity |
18. Eliminate lead pay and provide substitution pay based
on a percent of the lead line technician position regardless of the number on
crew.
Article XXVII / Sick Time / Time Off:
- Revise the Article XXVII provision as follows:
 | To cover only work-related injuries |
| Establish a one-year maximum time period for Article XXVII coverage |
| Establish different levels of pay based on length of time on Article XXVII |
| Include provision for an automatic bidder and disability bump |
| Grandfather current employees |
- Modify the long-term disability practices such that employees must be
disabled from all occupations to receive long-term disability beyond two (2)
years.
- Modify the maternity and paternity leave from the forty (40) weeks to twelve
(12) weeks.
Additional Items:
- Discontinue all smoking in company vehicles.
- Provide a provision that allows the company the ability to offer additional
vacation time and a recruitment bonus for certain external hires.
- Allow employees the opportunity to substitute into a salaried position for
up to a year.
- Modify the current agreement to pay for only those Local Unit Chair Meetings
when the company has requested to be in attendance.
- Modify the grievance procedure such that the grievant(s) time is no longer
paid by the company and under no circumstances will overtime be paid.
- Modify the Method of Arbitration and Enforcement to include:
| A provision when selecting arbitrators, that each side has one opportunity
to request a second panel. Additional panel requests beyond that must be
mutually agreed. |
| Post-hearing briefs or arguments, if any, shall be submitted no later than
thirty (30) days from the date of the hearing. |
| Modification of time frames relating to the scheduling date of hearing and
the arbitrator’s decision due date. |
- Discuss the feasibility of separating Energy Delivery and Generation into
separate contracts.
Compensation, Health and Benefit Items:
- Incorporate incentive compensation as a variable for a general wage
increase.
- Split Energy Delivery and Generation Bargaining Unit Incentive
Compensation Plan - modify the plans to incorporate group measures.
- Discuss an alternate compensation plan for clerical employees.
- Modify the Health Care Benefit as follows:
| Eliminate the HMO offerings; cover all employees in a Preferred Provider
Plan, move the vision coverage benefit under the Medical Plan. |
| Establish a premium contribution for the employee Medical and Dental Plans
that reflects an 80% company contribution and 20% employee contribution for
the cost of the plans. |
| Eliminate the special exception to employees covered under a PPO living
beyond 20 miles of a provider. |
| Create a single Prescription Drug Plan. |
| Modify the orthodontia coverage. |
- Modify the Employee Assistance Program to provide additional coverage.
- Introduce a new life insurance coverage program.
- Discuss pension and retire health care benefits for newly hired employees.
2003 WPL/IBEW 965 Neg
Company Proposals
02/12/03
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