UPDATE: 06/12/14 – SoCalGas broke the link I have below, so here is a new one to an OC Register article about the contract negotiations. This is what SoCalGas put on the table, that was rejected (at that time), by the Labor Union thugs:
- An 11.8 percent pay increase over a four-and-a-half year contract term, bringing the average union employee salary to $77,701 by 2016. Represented employees currently earn an average of $69,500 a year;
- Continuing to offer company-paid pension plans to all union employees. Current employees will be grandfathered into the existing pension plan, with an enhanced pre-retirement death benefit that provides surviving spouses with 100 percent of the employee’s accrued benefit. New employees will receive the same pension plan that has been in place for all non-union employees for more than a decade. This defined pension plan has a shorter vesting period and is portable. Our employee pension is 100% funded by the company;
- Continuing to pay 85 percent of the cost of each union employee’s medical insurance for the low-cost HMO that most employees select; and
- Continuing to provide post-retirement health benefits. The company would contribute up to $1,000 per month for retiree medical coverage, as well as provide interest-earning health reimbursement accounts that retirees may use to pay for retiree medical expenses.
Almost nobody in the private sector gets these kinds of benefits. Nothing is special about SoCalGas that its employees should demand gold and gemstone pensions and insurance coverage from their employer. SoCaGas is just a company like any other company, and its employees are the same as any employees in any other company. They aren’t special. When Unions threaten and leverage a private company to force exorbitant benefits to rain down upon them like diamonds from heaven, that can only come out of OUR pockets in the form of higher utility bills.
I vote to dissolve the SoGalGas Union immediately, or SoCalGas. Allow multiple private companies to compete against each other in a free market, and if SoCalGas union employees have trouble duplicating their salary in the REAL WORLD, which they will, well heck, they can come and ask for their old jobs back, without a union, for whatever pay they can get, from whatever Phoenix arises from the ashes of their company or their Union.
Unions. RIP.
Original Post Begins Here:
As usual for Labor Unions, SoCalGas has made what appears to be a ridiculously generous offer to their Labor Union thugs workers and the thugs workers continue to sneer down their nose and reject it. Let’s see what else was in their goodie bag:
THUGGISH REWARDS FOR THUGGY WORKERS:
- 13% increase including compounding over the 4.5 year contract.
- Company-paid pension.
- Up to 85% company paid medical insurance for employees.
- Up to $1,000 per month company-paid retiree medical benefits.
I work for a very large private company that has locations all over the United States. We did alright last year, but almost all of our profit was chewed up complying with several new government regulations in 2011. As a result we averaged $0 for our annual Christmas Bonus. That was on top of our lousy but at least existent 1.24% annual increase in 2011 against a real rate of inflation of 6%.
That’s effectively a 4.75% pay cut.
Meanwhile, Labor Union thugs employees continue to make ridiculous demands for things that don’t exist on the rest of the planet. So not only are the rest of us taking effective pay cuts, and paying more with less for everything we buy, but now our natural gas bill will go up so some of our money can be diverted to their pay raises, pensions and healthcare benefits.
I loathe Government Agency Union Thug Workers pay, pensions and healthcare benefits because 100% of it is paid with our money, and all we get in return, if anything, are headaches or pathetic service.
I realize that SoCalGas is not a government agency, and that they do provide a product in exchange, but since they have a monopoly on the natural gas here I don’t have a choice. Since there is no competition here for me to choose from, they might as well be a government agency. Perhaps if there was some competition, they would think twice about turning down a 13% guaranteed pay increase.
Categories: Gov't Workers & Unions
Angrywoodchuck's Blog 
You are very lucky that you even got a raise in 2011, I got 2% in 2010 and ZERO in 2011, and I was very lucky I didn’t get laid off in late last year.
I’m not sure where you get your info, but pensions and insurance are paid by the union workers. Educated yourself before you spout lies
Then why does the contract offer from SoCalGas say the following (see new link added to this post for more detail):
1. Continuing to offer company-paid pension plans to all union employees.
Says, “CONTINUE to offer COMPANY PAID PENSION PLANS…” but you say pensions are paid for by union workers. It also says the plans are 100% funded, which is more than most Government employee pension plans can say.
2. Continuing to pay 85% of the cost of each union employee’s medical insurance.
Says, “CONTINUING TO PAY 85% of the cost of medical INSURANCE…” but you say insurance is paid for by union workers.
If you are going to accuse me of lying, then you have to respond to this article and the statements that SoCalGas made that say I am telling the truth, and you are the one lying.
So what’s it gonna be?
They get 1.25% wage increase annually.
This is still quite a bit below inflationary estimates, on a annual basis. How is this unreasonable?
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Long_Term_Inflation.asp
As we saw the Average annual inflation rate is 3.22%. That doesn’t sound too bad until we realize that at that rate prices will double every 20 years.