MEA postpones discussions with IBEW

PALMER -- The Matanuska Electric Association board of directors, through a tied vote, decided to hold off on a meeting between the MEA board and key International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers officials until an ongoing federal court battle is wrapped up.

Roberta Demoski, a business agent with IBEW, spoke before the board at its Monday meeting in hopes of getting the MEA board to agree to meet and discuss more fair and equitable bargaining tactics. She referred to a May 20 letter sent by IBEW Business Manager Gary Brooks that requested that the board and other MEA officials attend a federally funded workshop she said was designed to improve management relations between the two groups. She echoed Brooks' letter, which stated the meeting was not to discuss litigation, but to work on ways to improve IBEW and MEA's working relationship.

"It's a beneficial opportunity for you guys to consider," Demoski said. "We've got nothing to lose, except a poor, poor relationship."

Demoski said between 50 and 55 IBEW employees, in three units, work at MEA. She told the board that there have been just five grievances since she came on board a few years ago, but Demoski said that doesn't necessarily correlate to a good working relationship.

"To be frank … we've been able to resolve issues as they come up," Demoski told the board. "[Employee disenchantment] is certainly not as pervasive as it was in 1999, but it certainly exists."

Demoski said the May 20 letter was the sixth request placed by the IBEW, letters she said have gone unanswered by MEA officials.

"We keep trying, we keep putting it out there," Demoski said.

MEA officials dispute that claim, citing that there has been an ongoing dialogue between IBEW and MEA about the workshop. He cited a flurry of correspondence between Brooks, MEA General Manager Wayne Carmony and MEA attorneys.

"We have been very responsive -- we simply haven't responded in the way that they would like," said MEA spokesman Mike Pauley. "We carefully consider every communication we receive."

When the matter was brought up on the agenda, board member Lois Lester said she felt it was time the board agreed to bury the hatchet with IBEW.

"I think it's time that we do something," Lester said after making a motion that the board attend the workshop. "I think we need to sit down and deal with it."

Board member Jim Hermon said he didn't think the time was right for the workshop.

"We have some litigation with IBEW that has not been solved yet," Hermon said. "I'd like to wait until that's been solved."

Hermon referred to a letter that was sent to the board by Heenan, Althen and Roles, one of two law firms representing MEA in a federal suit against IBEW. The case involves an 83-day strike staged by IBEW employees during the recent round of contract negotiations. While IBEW maintains their actions were within their legal rights, MEA alleges the strike took place before contract negotiations had reached an impasse.

The letter, according to board discussion, suggests that the board wait until after the federal suit is finished to meet at an arbitration table.

Not all MEA board members agreed that the board should heed the advice of the attorney.

"I've read the letter and I don't agree," said board member Michael Janecek. "What the point is, is that we're not going to sit and talk about litigation. We're going to talk about how we're going to come together and bargain fairly and get on with our lives. The litigation could last for years, and it likely will."

Hermon suggested leaving the talk of arbitration to the arbitrators employed by MEA. Janecek said he hoped the board made an effort to be very involved in negotiations.

MEA board president Larry DeVilbiss confirmed Hermon's stance, that bargaining was essentially out of the board's hands.

"All the duties as far as overseeing contracts was turned over to the manager," DeVilbiss said. "We saw no contract."

DeVilbiss, too, advised waiting until after the federal suit was over. Lester suggested that the attorney's advice may be hampering MEA's progress.

"It seems that every time we want something done, it's ill-advised by legal counsel and it gets shoved back to the status quo," Lester said. "I think it's time for us to decide on our own."

But DeVilbiss cautioned that doing so could have adverse effects.

"When we contravene legal counsel, we become individually liable for the eventualities that come out of it," DeVilbiss said. "That's why we ask for legal counsel."

When it came to a vote, the motion failed with a tie vote cast by DeVilbiss. Hermon and board member Linda Shattuck joined DeVilbiss in opposing the motion. After the votes were counted, DeVilbiss defended his motion-breaking vote.

"The reason why is that legal counsel did suggest this is a good idea -- after the legal case is over," DeVilbiss said.