Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT: Seattle City Light Rate Hike
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February 9, 2011 at 4:57 pm #597892
douggusmcMemberIn the last year (while most our salaries have decreased) SCL has raised their rates 20%. Glad I can fund pay increases and outrageous overtime during a recession. Way to go SCL. I couldnt find current data, but the average pay for line workers in 2007 was 142,000$!!! REALLY??!! With 11 of them making over 200k!! Current contract information is below. Who negotiates with the union???
“In early 2009, the city signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers Local 77, representing certain Seattle City Light workers. The MOU extended to January 22, 2013 a previous contract which had gone into effect in January 2006 and was to expire in January 2009. The contract and MOU extension provided for generous base pay; plus steady – and in one year, pronounced – pay raises, over the course of six years.” “The 2009-2013 contract extension under the MOU provided 2009 Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) salary increases for bargaining unit members of no less than 6.2 percent, and as much as 9.2 or 12.2 percent based on job category. Additional pay increases of at least 2 percent and no higher than seven percent, based on the CPI, were stipulated for each of the years 2010, 2011, and 2012. (p. 1 of original document).” “Overtime pay was at double the normal rate, with overtime defined as anything greater than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, with certain exceptions. In addition to major holidays such as Christmas, New Years Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Labor Day, paid holidays also included two “floating holidays,” plus Presidents Day, Veterans Day, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
February 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm #716825
redblackParticipantwhere did you get that wage figure, douggusmc?
the current contract between city light and local 77 sets wages between $33 and $41 per hour. at $41 per hour (for some senior members) for 50 weeks, that equates to around $83,000 gross wages.
http://socialcapitalreview.org/city-of-seattle-labor-contract-with-ibew-local-77-seattle-city-light/
and as i’ve pointed out before, seattle has just about the lowest electric rates in the country.
you want to talk about exorbitant salaries? let’s talk about lawyers.
February 10, 2011 at 4:27 pm #716826
JustSarahParticipantSorry, RedBlack, but most lawyers really do not receive “exorbitant” salaries.
Some CEOs and other executives, yes, but your average lawyer? No. Average starting salary is approximately $60,000. Here’s a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm . If you scroll down to “earnings” you’ll see a few handy charts of average salaries. For the number of hours most lawyers work (with no overtime pay), I don’t exactly think they’re overpaid.
February 10, 2011 at 4:35 pm #716827
Genesee HillParticipantredblack:
I agree that it is hard to complain about Seattle City Light rates; pretty low compared to most places. On those rare occasions when the power goes out, I would rather they pay overtime to restore it.
I still have trouble with the 15.3 million dollar severance pay that Kerry Killinger received for his fine work at WAMU, however!
February 10, 2011 at 7:28 pm #716828
sacatoshParticipantI think the rate hikes suck, but I’ll swallow them for now.
You couldn’t pay me enough to shimmy up electric poles and tinker with transformers and be on call 24/7 for car vs. utility box or natural disaster calls. All those bad storms (Christmas 2006!) when the rest of us were huddled in blankets trying to deal with the lack of electricity, there were people who were on call and had to go out in the miserable cold and wet and handle live electric wires.
I wouldn’t do that job for the world, and feel that they well deserve the higher salary as “hazard pay.”
Golden parachutes and executive salaries are another ballgame entirely.
February 10, 2011 at 8:53 pm #716829
brewParticipantFebruary 10, 2011 at 11:33 pm #716830
anonymeParticipantThe City of Seattle has just launched a sneaky plan devised to kick seniors, disabled people, and low income folks off of utility assistance. Instead of sending out renewal applications, they are sending out 7 day termination notices. If there is no immediate reply, rates are skyjacked. This morning I read that Obama is actually backing this nationwide, suggesting an end to utility assistance. With utility rates up 20%, senior Metro rates up 300%, food costs up, Social Security frozen – it really appears that there is a concerted effort on the part of government to attack, if not eliminate, those least able to protect themselves. This same government simultaneously approves tax breaks for billionaires. Nothing surprises me any more.
February 11, 2011 at 12:41 am #716831
KenParticipantWhy are some people so averse to posting links? The “fallacy of appeal to authority” has to be assumed in the age of google. If you make a statement that requires us to believe your facts, try and find some supporting documents.
Here is the story on the linemen who worked 60 to 80 hours a week. Working with high power lines is far more dangerous than playing football but I don’t see anyone incensed over their pay..
Read the details before assuming these people are overpaid. I have known linemen who died on the pole and one was a relative with 4 small kids.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003702551_overtime11m.html
February 11, 2011 at 1:08 am #716832
KenParticipanthttp://www.liheapwa.org/Page.aspx?nid=15
Note the feds (Obama it seems) doubled the grant in 2009
I can’t seem to find any info in the “sneaky plan”. Can someone post a link?
February 11, 2011 at 1:36 am #716833
redblackParticipantsarah: fair enough, and you and ken help me make my point.
like lawyering – and surgery – utility work is not something i or any other wise person should attempt on his own. the same thing goes for masons, plumbers, carpenters, etc. just because linemen and other tradesmen don’t have $100,000 college degrees to get their jobs doesn’t mean that they’re second-class. their knowledge and experience are often worth every penny that they’re paid. usually more.
so why gripe about what these servants – public or otherwise – make in wages or salaries? (and i’m not saying that you are, sarah; but the OP is.) they are paid and bill at the rates that their services are worth to any given community.
also note that seattle and many other western cities buy electricity on the spot market. while most of our power is generated regionally, some of it is subject to ridiculous rates from other grids – which rates are driven by prices from privatized power sources.
like california.
remember enron and what they did to california, douggusmc? they’re trying to do the same thing here by getting you to hate the IBEW and publicly-owned utilities.
some of us know better, no matter how much you think you’re getting screwed by SCL.
February 11, 2011 at 2:25 am #716834
JoBParticipantbrew..
that’s a lot of overtime..
aren’t you glad they are out there keeping the electricity flowing?
that’s the price we pay for nearly 24/7 power
February 11, 2011 at 3:07 am #716835
Genesee HillParticipantFebruary 11, 2011 at 3:21 am #716836
JustSarahParticipantRedblack, I agree completely. I read Ken’s post (#8) right before i ran out the door at work to catch a bus, but I so wanted to reply with pretty much exactly what you said — because Ken made a good point, and you an excellent response.
I don’t know if it’s exclusively American or if it extends to other parts of the globe, but there’s this tendency to scoff at the idea of an “uneducated” person making a comfortable living. We hear it every day when people talk about how bus drivers, truck drivers, sanitation workers, etc. are overpaid. Overpaid by what standards, exactly? If you ask someone this question (and I have), the response is something about how it’s wrong to pay that much for “unskilled labor.” Because we don’t require a baccalaureate degree for the position* we believe the position should not pay very much. This is quite an elitist attitude, obviously: “I had to pay $90,000 for my college education and only get paid $50,000 per year, but this guy didn’t even go to college** and they pay him $100,000? Clearly that’s wrong.”
*With education inflation (the value of college degrees decreasing), I imagine it’s only a matter of time before that changes. In a few decades, a master’s degree will be required to operate a bus. (Maybe then the profession will be respected?)
**Another flawed line of thinking, as plenty of people working “labor” or service jobs do have college degrees. Some are smart enough to realize they can get paid $100,000 plus overtime to work a (difficult and stressful) job rather than getting paid half that and no over time to work a job that’s difficult and stressful in other ways.
February 11, 2011 at 3:27 am #716837
Genesee HillParticipantDo you think you would ever see Kerry Killinger (of WAMU fame) on a utility pole in 25 degree weather, handling strewn high voltage power lines??? In the dead of night? After 2 hours of sleep?
I rather doubt it.
February 11, 2011 at 4:36 am #716838
brewParticipantJoB,
I merely posted the stats, not an opinion on whether I felt it was excessive or not…
Ken,
Here is your link for the “supporting documentation” for the stats I posted. The information is there, but you may have to dig it out for yourself.
February 11, 2011 at 4:45 am #716839
metrognomeParticipantfor those folks who rant about hourly workers making ‘too much’ in overtime (i.e. CL lineworkers, Metro bus drivers, cops), it is often cheaper in the long run than hiring more employees and paying benefits, extra costs for equipment, training, etc. If you add too many employees, you are also looking at adding a supervisor (oh, oh, I hear another rant coming …)
In any seniority/union structure, the experienced workers (who are also making the highest wage) will be the ones who get the first shot at OT. Unless fatigue, etc. from overwork is a safety factor, or add’l workers are needed to provide adequate coverage, some level of overtime is more cost-efficient. In addition, for skilled positions, there may not be qualified candidates available to hire. Many of the utilities have ‘sharing’ agreements and loan employees and equipment to other utilities that have been hit by unusual situation. Police and fire depts often do this as well in general and for specialties (e.g. bomb units.)
February 11, 2011 at 6:29 am #716840
redblackParticipantgenhill and jo: man, i don’t know how i got so lucky. i’ve lived in the mount/triangle area for just over 6 years, and my power hasn’t gone out for more than 20 consecutive minutes. and that was once – maybe 3 years ago. not even enough to be memorable.
when i lived on q.a., our power would go out at least once a year for a couple/three hours at a time.
knock on wood!
February 11, 2011 at 3:38 pm #716841
redblackParticipantgenhill: i’d rather see killinger chained to the floor, breaking great big rocks with a tiny hammer.
right next to jamie dimon.
February 11, 2011 at 6:48 pm #716842
KenParticipantBrew: thanks for the link. I have archived it. The spreadsheet is especially interesting in that no one is complaining bitterly about the huge numbers of highly paid cops and firemen with massive overtime pay. Or the even larger number of librarians and administrative functionaries making a living wage or a fraction of it.
:)
February 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm #716843
KenParticipantJust a note re the spreadsheet :
(an excel spreadsheet that WILL open in IE if you are not careful)
It shows the hire date of those employees with lots of overtime and a pretty good paycheck. Most have been on the job since the 80’s.
The urge to fire older employees because they have accrued pay, retirement bennies and the perks of seniority re overtime, has so far not reached out of corporate America into (our)city government, public utilities and first responders. I think that is a good thing as one of those highly experienced older workers forced out of the corporate structure :)
Your mileage may vary…
February 11, 2011 at 7:06 pm #716844
JoBParticipantKen..
that may be because when it comes to services we want someone who can actually understand and fix the problems when they occur …
not someone with the latest greatest untried idea that should work…
shoulda woulda coulda doesn’t cut it when your power goes out or you call 911 and no-one answers or …
February 12, 2011 at 8:46 am #716845
redblackParticipantright, ken. i don’t ever hear “conservatives” crying about the seattle police guild or IOFF.
i wonder why.
February 12, 2011 at 4:57 pm #716846
JoBParticipantthe trouble with the way some discussions are framed is that it is so easy to get distracted by the direction an argument takes that you forget to analyze the premise…
It’s like that with the current conservative emphasis on public sector wages.
Here we are arguing the merits of overtime pay for public utility employees when we should be talking about the fact that the utility is publicly owned and asking if the rate hike covers legitimate costs.
Is there an actual connection between the rate hikes and employee wages or is this another smoke screen aimed at privatizing SCL?
February 14, 2011 at 3:07 am #716847
mrhinehMemberSome people on these forums have perfected that art.
February 14, 2011 at 5:02 am #716848
JoBParticipant -
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