Black & Veatch apologizes for violating National Maintenance Agreement
THE BOILERMAKERS AND the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters split a $600,000 settlement from a general contractor and a utility this past May in a case that involved a violation of the National Maintenance Agreement.
Black & Veatch and Dayton Power & Light each anted up $300,000 to end the dispute. Black & Veatch distributed the $600,000, with half going to IBB Local 105 (Piketon, Ohio) and half to UA Local 577 (Portsmouth, Ohio). In addition, Black & Veatch delivered letters of apology to the local lodges and to both international unions.
At issue in the dispute, which began in late 2006, was the use of a specialty contractor to install jet bubbling reactors (JBRs). The JBRs were part of scrubber projects under way at two Ohio power plants: the J.M. Stuart Station in Aberdeen and the Killen Station in Manchester. Both involved the use of fiberglass-reinforced plastic on the JBR shells and internal components. According to Local 105 BM-ST Van Stephens, the general contractor failed to ensure that all subcontractors complied with the National Maintenance Agreement. Stephens said no pre-job meetings were held for the JBRs, and the work should have gone to the Boilermaker and UA locals.
Both lodges filed grievances, which ultimately went before the National Maintenance Agreement Policy Committee for consideration. When the NMAPC upheld the grievances, Black & Veatch filed suit seeking to vacate both decisions. In response, the Boilermakers and the UA brought a countersuit, seeking their enforcement. The case was brought before the United States District Court of Kansas, which presided over the settlement agreement.
“International Rep Marty Stanton did a tremendous job laying the groundwork for this case and helping to present the grievance at the NMAPC,” said Stephens. He said the support of International officers and staff was essential to resolving the issue. “This case could not have gone forward without the backing of International President Newton Jones, International Vice President Larry McManamon, Mike DeCicco [then the Boilermakers’ Director of National Construction Agreements], and the Blake & Uhlig law firm.”
Stephens added: “The biggest reward from the settlement was securing this type of work for our members in the future, in preserving Boilermaker jobs.”
Stanton said the apology was important for Local 105 members, who lost man-hours because of the NMA violation and also because it clearly establishes the precedent for awarding this work to Boilermakers in the future. “We don’t want this to happen again anywhere in the country,” he said.
L-105 members are currently working on a similar scrubber project at AEP’s Kyger Creek plant in Gallipolis, Ohio, where Black & Veatch is the general contractor. Ershigs and ICI are subcontractors for the JBR vessels. Boilermakers are performing that work — including fabrication of the fiberglass-reinforced plastic shell and internal components.
L-105 was chartered in 1899 as a construction lodge.
