Live Oak City Workers Sign First Contract

November 2, 2005

Municipal workers in Live Oak, Fla., are full-fledged IBEW members of Gainesville Local 1205 following their unanimous October 28 ratification of a first contract.

Bill Sanders, a water distribution operator who was among the first to start circulating IBEW authorization cards, said he appealed to the worker’s desire for a collective route to better pay and working conditions – similar to the police or firefighters.

“I said we need to stand up together and get a voice – that convinced them,” Sanders said of his fellow blue-collar workers. “I said if you want to join, let’s get this union started.”

Fifth District International Representative James Anderson, Fifth District Vice President John Schantzen and Local 1205 Business Manager Jeff Henderson.

The three-year contract guarantees health care, retirement, binding arbitration, vacation and sick leave for the unit of workers in the city’s water, gas, public works and sanitation departments. First-year wage increases average 24 percent, with workers receiving hikes between 15 and 70 percent.

The ratification comes only a few months after the organizing campaign got underway, which precipitated a hasty city council move to outsource the positions of the bargaining unit members in an effort to avoid the union – an illegal move under labor law. Nevertheless, the local reached an agreement with Operations Management, Inc. after two bargaining sessions. Meanwhile, the local is suing the city for its botched attempt at union avoidance.

“The city refused to bargain with us,” said Local 1205 Business Manager Jeff Henderson. “They violated every law out there.”

The local is also fighting to have 10 workers reinstated to jobs they lost during the campaign.

Ninety-eight percent of the workers voted in favor of a voice on the job with the IBEW in the June 2 secret-ballot election overseen by the state Public Employees Relations Commission. A public campaign targeting the city council followed.

Henderson and Sanders said they plan to go after similar units in nearby towns.

North Florida Workers Vote IBEW!