LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR NON-IBEW UNION DIRECTORS IN CHUGACH ELECTRIC ELECTION!
PROF. PJ HILL AND ALEX GIMARC TAKE UNPRECEDENTED 75% OF THE VOTE; INCUMBENT
DEFEATEDCORRECTION to the above paragraph:
PROF. PJ HILL AND ALEX GIMARC TAKE SEATS WITH UNPRECEDENTED 75% MARGIN OVER
IBEW VOTE; INCUMBENT DEFEATED
In an election to fill two seats on the seven member Chugach Electric
Association board of directors, members decisively rejected an IBEW Union
backed slate and placed control of the cooperative's board in the hands of a
new majority endorsed by the Chugach Consumers ratepayer group.UAA economics professor P.J. Hill was elected with 9,535 votes. MOA systems
analyst Alex Gimarc was also elected with 8,800 votes. ASRC engineer Mark
Wiggin received 5,255 votes and incumbent accountant David Cottrell 5,207
votes.The undue influence of the IBEW Union and Chugach employees on the board and
management was a major issue. Hill and Gimarc won with a campaign advocating
an independent board representing only the customer-owners of the
cooperative.After the annual meeting last night in the Egan Center, the new pro-consumer
majority chose attorney Elizabeth Vazquez as board chairman. Other officers
elected were property manager Uwe Kalenka, vice chairman; P.J. Hill,
treasurer; and Alex Gimarc, secretary.An IBEW Union backed majority took control of the board last year while
Chugach was in the middle of labor contract negotiations with the IBEW.
Using the cover of large fuel cost increases, that majority then proceeded
to implement lavish wage and benefit increases for employees over the
protests of minority directors Vazquez and Kalenka. The first contract
signed last December gave raises of 6% in the first year and 5% in the
second and third years as well as 30% increases in pension costs.Chugach Consumers and former Chugach Electric board president Ray Kreig
filed complaints at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and in Superior
Court last December but managed to delay contract ratification only ten
days. Chugach Electric quickly sued them for informing regulators of
suppressed performance evaluation documents and the excessive costs in the
contract, information they did not want members or regulators to know.In retribution, Chugach IBEW Union employees and board members they
supported then started a massive vilification campaign in the media against
Chugach Consumers chairman Kreig. Chugach management aggressively pursued
harassment litigation against Kreig right up to the day of the election
itself.Fearing losing control of the Chugach board, the IBEW-backed board majority
moved up approval of another lavish labor contract from May 16 to rush it
through at a special emergency meeting last Wednesday, only 24 hours before
the new board assumed office. IBEW Union backed directors Nordlund,
Lipscomb, Cottrell and Davison extolled the contract.Kreig observes, "Chugach Electric voters were not impressed. Their rejection
of IBEW Union backed directors is by far the largest consumer victory in
Chugach history."More information: Ray Kreig, Chairman, Chugach Consumers, 360-7462.
www.ChugachConsumers.org
Who Do You Want In Charge of Your Electricity?
3/16/2007
A year ago, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and their supporters spent an estimated $250,000buying two seats and a 5-2 majority on the Board of Directors of the Chugach Electric Association. A mere six months later, the Board majority they purchased approved a bloated labor contract for the IBEW – one that will ensure your and my electric bills will continue to go up. There are two more IBEW contracts in the works that we expect to be rushed through before the next Board takes office. Expect to see Chugach asking for yet another rate increase to pay for all this.
The basic question of this election is who do you want in charge of your electric co-op, the IBEW, or the members?
Currently, the IBEW represents about 75% of the 360+ full-time Chugach employees. It controls both sides of the bargaining table, the pension funds and health care for them. The union controls how overtime is doled out, the entry and training of new people into the profession. It also severely limits the ability of Chugach to empower its employees to innovate, reward them for cost-effective solutions and increases in productivity. Essentially, the IBEW has become a vehicle for transferring an ever-increasing flow of rate payer dollars into their pockets. I don’t think this is a good thing. And I don’t think it ought to continue.
Costs for Chugach break down as follows: About 50% of the total costs are fuel for power generation; 25% is asset depreciation and interest; finally, 25% is operations, of which 65% is labor. Our electrical distribution costs are five cents per kilowatt hour, two and a half times that of the national average of two cents. Use enough electricity every month and those pennies add up quickly.
If we want to control ever-increasing electrical costs, we must address all three areas. First, we must explore a long-term, cost-effective, economic replacement for dwindling supplies of Cook Inlet natural gas. Second, we must figure out how to contract for new infrastructure in a competitive manner. Finally, we must hold the line on personnel costs.
The current Board majority has been derelict in their role of holding the line on personnel costs – one of the few near-term costs they can control. It suppressed economic analyses of prospective union contracts from the members. It sued the Chugach Consumers, which advocates for rate payers and co-op members, to ensure those analyses do not see the light of day. If economic analyses of contracts, manpower and union agreements are important enough for the Board to vote upon, they are important enough for the general membership to see beforehand and review. Unfortunately, the current Board apparently has concentrated on lining the pockets of those that elected them while fumbling solutions for the very real problem of replacement energy sources for Cook Inlet natural gas.
We here in the Railbelt have a business model of how to control costs – Matanuska Electric Association. They have cut 17% off distribution costs over the last 15 years, while Chugach has increased theirs by 25%. Look fast, though, as the IBEW in concert with the usual suspects are attempting to oust the current MEA Board.
Last year’s campaign for the Chugach Board was unprecedented in its expense and viciousness. Expect the same thing from the IBEW and their representatives this year. The basic questions remain: Do you want the IBEW to continue controlling both sides of the bargaining table? Do you trust them to c