The Website is under construction and the comment board will be shut down until the new website is completed.  Please send e-mails with any comments.

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IBEW 965 will be doing phone banking on Tuesday October 17 from 5:30 on.  Anyone that would like to help please contact me at 920-344-0301.  Thanks

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IBEW Position On Immigration - Delegates to the 37th International Convention of the IBEW passed a resolution outlining the union's position on immigration. Here it is - "...the IBEW urges the Congress of the United States of America to adopt an immigration policy based upon the following principles:

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Bargaining Update

September 21, 2006

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The membership ratified MGE’s final offer by a 133 to 79 margin. There were 212 votes cast out of the total membership of about 260. The length and character of the contract struggle has changed the way the workers at MGE view their future and the future of their company, unfortunately. The unprecedented dedication and involvement by the membership allowed the Local to achieve the gains that there were in this package over the previously rejected contracts. There will be a general membership meeting on Thursday the 28th at 7:00 PM at the Labor Temple where the Union will be electing officers and discussing next steps for the Local Union.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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September 14, 2006

At 11:10 PM the Union and the Company reached a tentative agreement on a new three year Labor Agreement. A statement signed by the Union’s Bargaining Committee states; “We tentatively agree to this package recognizing that it is worthy of a membership vote. We will provide an honest and objective depiction of this total package and let the members decide.” This was a long debated and difficult decision for the committee to make. With the rejection of the last contract by a 188 to 44 margin, the membership sent their Bargaining Committee back to the table to address three major problems in the Company’s last offer; we needed to protect the retirement benefits for current workers, protect or improve the retirement benefits for future workers, and address the “steerage” issue in the health insurance.

The Company and the Union reached some unprecedented language to protect current workers’ benefits, made only slight improvements in the Company’s 401(k) proposal for new hires, and made slight improvements in the “steerage” issue for those who are “out of network”. The rest of the package’s the wages (3.5%, 3.0% plus market adjustments, and 3.5%) and benefits remained the same. Back pay to April 24th, 2006 is part of the package.

There will be a vote scheduled for the week of September 18th and the contract has been extended until Friday the 22nd of September. A detailed summary of the changes in the tentative agreement will be provided no later than early next week.

Please contact your Bargaining Committee representative for more details.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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September 12, 2006

Sisters and Brothers,

Attached above is the Union’s wage and pension proposal to MGE late this afternoon. MGE said that they will respond to this proposal Thursday morning when the parties return to the table at 0930. The Local 2304 Bargaining Committee believes that this proposal – even going out 10 years from now – provides the Company with the type of cost savings they claim to be looking for (by going to a defined contribution plan from our defined benefit plan for new hires). It should provide a benefit that is relatively equivalent to the current plan (if the stock market is OK and employees utilize the 3% match) and it eliminates the Company’s risk and instability in costs they see in our defined benefit. The package also has an improved version of language that should be inserted into the Labor Agreement to protect our current defined benefit plan from future changes. We have no way of predicting the Company’s response.

The Union, in an effort to reach an agreement with the Employer and bring a positive end to this long and ugly negotiations, has agreed to move off of its position of insisting on retaining the current defined benefit pension for new hires.

There has been no agreement on the health issues but the parties have been discussing phasing-in the “steerage” issue and committing to working together to lobby Dean and GHC regarding this In Network/Out of Network problem. Please contact your Bargaining Committee or Solidarity Committee representative for more details.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

Name: Dave Poklinkoski

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Bargaining Update

September 11, 2006

Sisters and Brothers,

First, I apologize for the lack of a Blind Copy. We had a glitch in our email and this was the only way to get it out tonight. There was absolutely no progress at the bargaining table. The parties did not make specific proposals across the table but did have exploratory meetings throughout the day and night. For every possible offer the Union made, the Employer countered with an approach that was more concessionary and vindictive, unfortunately. The Labor Agreement was extended until Thursday at midnight and it appears that the Employer is not interested in a voluntary agreement that can be recommended by the Union’s Bargaining Committee. The parties return to the table tomorrow, Tuesday at 1:30 PM.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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A friendly reminder to vote in the Primaries on Tuesday September 12. You can register at the poling sites, remember to bring a photo ID along. There are candidates that are out there who want to help working families and should be given a chance to either start helping or continue helping. You can go to the AFL-CIO website and check out the politicians score card for the incumbants. Also you can go to WI League of Conservation Voters and check the politicians score card for how they have voted on conservation bills. It does make a difference who is out there working for us. Look at what a difference one man-EBD-has done with this company. It makes a difference.

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BARGAINING UPDATE

September 8, 2006

Sisters and Brothers,

The bargaining session today had a promising beginning but ended as they have before, most unfortunately. The Union, in a major move, agreed to work on a defined contribution package that would (1) provide a relatively equivalent benefit as would be had in the defined benefit plan (if the stock market works), (2) contain a “Gary Letter” that has some teeth in it, and (3) maintain the Company’s last wage package. The parties appeared to be engaging in true collective bargaining but that came to an end as the Employer refused to change the value of the 401(k) benefit. Nothing was agreed to and, in the end, no progress was made at all.

At our last contract vote we discussed and expressed our concern that the Employer may maintain a belligerent bargaining position and jam (implement) essentially their same package on us, perhaps make us work without a contract. By the end of the day that does seem to be where MGE’s senior management is trying to take us. This may be their game plan.

We will resist this effort. This type of behavior will kill this Company yet; at this point they seem to plow ahead as if they don’t care. It is less than 48 hours since we rejected the Company’s “Last and Final Offer”. Hopefully, by the time we get back to the table Monday afternoon, wiser heads will prevail. The contract has been extended until Monday night next week.

Attached, for those of you who have adobe acrobat, is our supervisors’ instructions for “selling” the contract to us (selling the last final offer that was delivered to our members even as the Union’s Bargaining Committee was caucusing at the table to review it!). These activities are typical of fairly sophisticated union busting campaigns…and we now have them at MGE.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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Bargaining News Update

September 7, 2006

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Union and the Company will return to the bargaining table tomorrow, Friday, at 9:30 a.m. after the Union soundly rejected the Company’s Final Offer last night. A record 89% (232) of Local 2304’s membership voted on the proposed Labor Agreement and of those, 81% (188) rejected the contract while 19% (44) voted to accept it.

The WERC mediator, Bill Houlihan, will not be available for this bargaining session.

The Company has carried out an extremely aggressive campaign to attack our pension benefits for new hires and open the door for assault on the benefits of current workers’ pensions. This will be the primary issue to be addressed at the table. The other large issue that needs to be addressed has to do with the “steerage” from “out-of-network” health care providers – in particular the Dean Care system.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their efforts – but we are not done yet. The scenarios that we discussed at the contract vote meetings indicate that MGE may still press the limits of “good faith bargaining” and continue to disrespect the very people who do the work to run this company and serve our customers. Let’s hope that wiser heads prevail and the parties are able to reach a voluntary agreement – that’s the Union’s goal.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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The following was forwarded to me by a friend who is monitoring the contract negotiations between Local 2304 and MG&E:

BARGAINING NEWS UPDATE:

September 6, 2006

Dear Sisters of Brothers,

An unprecedented 232 ballots were cast on the Company’s Final Offer and by an 81% margin, 188 to 44; the IBEW 2304 membership rejected the Final Offer. The Union will be contacting MGE’s chief negotiator and the WERC mediator in an effort to schedule further negotiations.

This is the second time the Union has rejected an offer from the Employer by a substantial margin. The previous MGE package was reject by a 173 – 5 margin.

It is hoped that the Employer will finally respect the democratic process and their employees who do the work to serve the customers – and continue these negotiations in a good faith manner and reach a voluntary agreement.

The primary outstanding issues remain the Company’s long-term commitment to its new and current labor force, in particular the membership’s pension and retirement benefits.

Thanks must go out to everyone for their efforts. More information will follow tomorrow.

On Behalf of the Bargaining Committee,

In Solidarity,

DAVE

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A friend of mine just sent me a website link to pass on to all of you. The document at this link is the S.E.C. filing that Alliant Energy submitted and it includes the total compensation data for Alliant's top officers. Enjoy.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352541/000119312506073077/ddef14a.htm#p94504_7

In Solidarity, Kurt

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Mike, I read your piece and WOW! That part about paying the CEO for failure; if that is the case, then Erroll B. must be a fricking gazillionare. I waiting and watching to see how he flushes the Union Pacific Railroad down the hopper and walk away with a wad of cash. If EBD had his way, Union Pacific would be renamed "Management Pacific" or the "Golden Parachute Line" WOO WOO! The rich are trying to detroy the middle class. Since thare are more of us then them, lets go kick their pale white management booty. Now git.

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Union Activism Scores Big in the Boardroom: SEC Strengthens CEO Pay Rules Union activists and their allies scored a victory in corporate boardrooms across the nation this week, as Daniel Pedrotty from the AFL-CIO Office of Investment explains.

You raised your voices and brought about fundamental change in the boardroom. After record input, spurred in large part by comments sent through the AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch website—and some 23,000 through the AFL-CIO Working Families Network for activists—the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) updated rules governing CEO pay for the first time in 14 years.

The rules largely reflect the reforms called for by the AFL-CIO. Corporations must now report a single, catch-all number for executive pay, including CEO golden retirements, perks and stock options. After the federation called for reform in the face of the exploding stock option scandal, the SEC also moved to require better disclosure to prevent these abuses. Finally, the rules governing executive bonuses were strengthened to prevent companies from changing the rules in the middle of the game to ensure large payouts for CEOs.

All too often, CEOs are awarded pay for failure. According to The Washington Post, one recent study examined 60 companies that lost $769 billion over five years. Despite this track record, the top five executives at these companies pocketed a jaw-dropping $12 billion, or an average of $8 million per executive, per year. On average, the CEO of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company made $11.75 million in total compensation in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by The Corporate Library.

Pfizer was ground zero in this year’s CEO pay wars. CEO Hank McKinnell soon will retire with an $83 million lump sum pension, even though the company’s stock has fallen 46 percent during his tenure. Earlier this year at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, an airplane circled the company’s annual meeting with a banner reading, “Give it back, Hank!” as union members handed out fliers, chanted and held signs to demand that McKinnell return half of his pension.

More work remains to be done to bring fundamental change to the boardroom. All too often, boards of directors, the shareholder’s representative, rubberstamp CEO pay packages. Union-sponsored pension funds, which hold nearly $400 billion in assets, will continue to push for reform.

Among the ideas gaining traction is AFSCME’s “say on pay” proposal in which shareholders vote up or down on management’s annual pay package. Such a law is on the books in the United Kingdom, and while advisory, the vote has reigned in excessive pay awards and forced companies to answer to their owners. Shareholders also must be given equal footing with the company to nominate their own directors.

With you help, we can continue to ensure that working people and their benefit funds have a voice in the corporate boardroom.

tags: Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, AFSCME, CEO pay, Pfizer, Hank McKinnell, United Kingdom

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Can't you see we are crying for help at the DDC??? I just heard this weekend that another dispatcher was denyed a vacation day and no one was off on vacation. The manager doesnt even talk with the employee to see why she needed off. Actually there is very little interaction with the employees. All communication is handled by email from behind her desk. Is this the kind of management the company is moving to? What happend to the days when there was face to face interaction? WE NEED HELP!!!

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The Problem with Unions is there is no Unity This world is Built on Me Me Me! been a union man for 23 years and did my fight can't say I told ya so! the company is whooping your ass! Grow some gonads! and Quit being about Me Me Me! For thse Dumb asses look in dictionary what Union means! P.S. I know you won't your all spineless!

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That was a wonderful piece by Kemp Grutt in the 965 newsletter. I know he is a tremendously educated historian, but he might want to cite his sources and stop commiting plagiarism. He's going to get the union sued. Ha Ha, Danny

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Thank goodness we will have a password driven site. It will keep the nosy salaried busybodies and their comments off our site.

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The plans in the near future will be a comment board similar to those suggested. We are awaiting new software and hopefully we will get it up and running soon. Thank you for your patience. In Solidarity, Shawn

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It is so easy and cheap to do what you ask. There are plenty of forum type post board software out there, offering password protection, encryption, bionic nuclear authentication, secret handshakes, the works and it just flabbergasts me to no ends.

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again, more examples of why the feedback page SHOULD BE PASSWORD PROTECTED AND REGISTERED USERS ONLY ALLOWED!

JMHO!

work safe!

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All Unions have, effectively, caused the jobs they represent to become over-priced, and therefore we are losing the jobs to overseas workers.

Unions are no longer necessary in today's litigious society. Anyone can get a lawyer today if they have been wronged.

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Be sure to get your reservations in for the picnic which will occur at Goodland Park on Saturday, August 19, 2006.

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Get your surveys returned by Monday for Alliant/WPL Negotiations.