I am writing regarding the Lake County Record-Bee article of Nov. 26 under the headline “Seeking union representation.” Unfortunately the text of the article appeared to be from an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) press release and framed as an impartial report on a meeting between IBEW and Calpine employees.
I want to make sure the public has Calpine”s information.
At Calpine, we greatly value our employees. We work hard and fairly to maintain good, safe working conditions and we are proud that our compensation and benefits package is one of the best in our industry. For example, for the past three years Calpine has continued to provide employees with annual raises, full cash bonuses and 100 percent matches on the first 5 percent of their incomes that they contribute to their 401(k) retirement plans ? practices some companies have discontinued or scaled back on because of the recession. In fact, Calpine”s hourly employees are among the top 20 percent of wage earners in the United States according to 2010 Internal Revenue Service data.
Calpine strives to solicit employee input and we believe that continuing to work directly with our employees is the most effective way to achieve our mutual goals. However, we also respect their right to consider the alternative. In the end, it is their decision.
For the record, I would like to clarify a few of the mischaracterizations. First, the allegation that employees were forced to withdraw a petition for union representation three years ago is untrue.
The IBEW simply withdrew its petition three years ago, presumably because they believed they could not win an election because of lack of support among Calpine employees.
We believe a majority of Calpine employees continue to be opposed to joining a union. That said, Calpine respects our employees” right to make informed decisions on union representation if they decide to request an election under National Labor Relations Board rules. Second, the article referenced Calpine”s new Paid Time Off (PTO) program. What the article failed to mention is that Calpine developed the program by looking at industry data and studying how employees use time off at Calpine. We found that sick time usage was low and the demand for vacation time was high. Under the new PTO program, 78 percent of Calpine”s Geysers employees will have more paid time off than they would have under the old vacation policy.
Calpine is proud to be an active and supportive member of the Lake County community.
Mike Rogers
Regional Vice President, Calpine Geysers
