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Rally at Valley Power also Protests Unfair Labor Practices
 Community supporters, craft union allies, and elected officials rallied alongside Operating Engineers Local 3 at Valley Power in San Leandro November 5. Members of OE 3 have been picketing the facility since July, protesting the company’s unwillingness to honor the union wage and benefit contract in place for decades before Valley Power North, Inc., took over the San Leandro shop in September 2005 from Stewart and Stevenson.
The union is also protesting the many Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs) committed by the company, including refusing to provide information to the union, failing to disclose the termination and layoff of employees, and maintaining policies that interfere with employees’ rights to form, join or assist unions.
The union rallied members Nov. 5 to point out that public safety is being endangered by Valley Power if the company continues to service fire trucks, buses and ferries throughout the Bay Area with uncertified replacement workers.
“OE 3 members have been on strike at Valley Power for 18 weeks. Our concern is about public safety,” OE 3 District Rep. Pete Figueiredo said. “Valley Power does repairs for public transit agencies, and cities.
We are concerned about the safety of the public when repairs of busses and fire trucks is being done by untrained workers. All the best workers are out here on the line, the certified mechanics. All we want is what we had when they took over—our pensions, benefits and safety.”
 San Leandro City Council member Jim Prola said he had written letters to Valley Power’s headquarters in southern California and received no response for the request to uphold the terms of the contract OE had with the previous owner. Prola and San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos said that San Leandro was a strong labor town and would stop doing business with Valley Power.
Valley Power employees John Griffin and Larry Smith said that they were proud that many members of OE 3 and several other unions had come out to walk the line with them.
Berkeley City Council member Kriss Worthington was thanked for his leadership in getting Berkeley to pass a resolution to stop doing business with the company.
Assemblymember Loni Hancock also spoke at the rally and said that, “Prior to the new owner, there was a union contract with good wages and benefits. Now that a company from southern California has taken over, they have no concern for the local community and the workers.”
 Prola said he was surprised that VP seemed to have no concern for the local workers. “We are sending them no more work,” he said. “I’ve written letters and gotten no response. It’s wrong for Valley Power to not honor the contract with the union. They’ve cut the cost of living increases. These are workers who live in the community, spend their good wages here and contribute to a sustainable economy.”
California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski said that, “Valley Power is getting a bad reputation around the state. They are violating federal laws by not upholding the contract and we are concerned about the safety of the public.”
Former Assembly member Wilma Chan said, “We can’t go backwards. This sets a bad example of a corporation taking over a local company and trying to go back to the dark ages.” She pointed out that when Valley Power took over the company in 2005, it had a 40-year history as a reliable, certified organization with a highly skilled, specially trained and professional, all-union crew who provided power equipment and service to many of the transit, safety and medical facilities in the Bay Area.
 Sharon Cornu, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Central Labor Council of Alameda County, said that the struggle at Valley Power was about the right to have a union.
Other labor leaders attending the Nov. rally were San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 President John Hanley, San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson, Alameda County Building Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Barry Luboviski, and Teamsters District Council president Chuck Mack.
At the end of October the NLRB dismissed three more claims Valley Power had filed against Local 3. Valley Power had alleged that the union was bargaining in bad faith and by interfering with Valley employees’ right to vote in the decertification election. The NLRB found that Valley “presented no evidence ” to support the charges. Local 3 has been pushing for the election to go forward because it will show that the strikers continue to support the union after over four months on the picket line.
Since the strike began, the workers have been walking the picket line in shifts, Monday through Friday from 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
After months of wrangling, Valley Power agreed to return to the bargaining table Dec. 6, 2007—more than four months after the last bargaining session.
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