Hope you like Omelettes

8/15/10

By Marc Garman

I recently sat down with Frank Caballero and Eleanor Brown of Vallejo's IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) 2376 Union. All expectations are that this group of workers is going to get the worst cram down of any labor group in the city so far. They are the first to experience contract modification without binding arbitration as either a tool or a weapon depending on who you talk to. Contract discussions are scheduled for this Tuesday's city council meeting closed session.

IBEW workers in Vallejo have been far less aggressive and lower paid than public safety workers, for example, and have not participated in the sort of abuses we have seen with other groups in the past. Their pay package has traditionally been in what seems to be the upper middle range compared to other cities, with above average benefits. Those days are gone.

Over coffee at Panama Red's on the Vallejo waterfront, IBEW president Caballero described the proposed contract as “ridiculous” “All we want is something in the middle.” he said. Sounds reasonable.

Enter an old commie

Someone posted a quote by Vladimir Lenin in the comments section of VIB recently:

Imperialism has the tendency to create privileged sections also among the workers, and to detach them from the broad masses of the proletariat...