What’s in a Contract?

Brothers and Sisters,

I hope this article finds you working and getting ready for the cooler weather. Work has started to slow down, and we have several members on the Out of Work List (OWL). If you are not working, please call the hall and get your name on the OWL. Apprentice’s if you are out of work for more than 3 days per your apprenticeship agreement, you must put your name on the OWL. If we don’t know you’re out of work, we can’t call you when a contractor needs manpower.

The DC16 Staff have been teaching the Building Union Power once a month at most of the union halls and if you haven’t attended it, I would ask that you do. There will be a class in November and one in December, dates to be announced. We have several shops that don’t have a Shop Steward, if you would like to be considered you must attend the BUMP Class. You will also have to attend the Shop Stewards Course.

Google Doc

During the first week of November, you will receive a Google Document via text. The link will take you to the following questions about what you want in your next contract. Here are the questions you will receive,

Question 1 – Per year, what is your desired raise?

Question 2 – How many years do you want the contract to be?

Question 3 – Do you have any working conditions, concerns, suggestions?

Question 4 – Do you have any other contract suggestions?

It is very important for you to fill it out, so we know what you want in your next contract. If you want to talk, give me a call, I really want to know what you want.

I want to take this time to talk about Holidays and Designated Date Off (DDO). This is how the current contract reads,

ARTICLE 11

HOLIDAYS & DESIGNATED DAYS OFF

1. Holidays are defined as follows: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day,

Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after and

Christmas Day. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, it shall be observed the following Monday. If a

holiday falls on a Saturday, same shall be observed on the preceding Friday. No work under

any circumstances shall be permitted on Labor Day.

2. DESIGNATED DAYS OFF – In addition to the foregoing recognized holidays, there shall be

six (6) Designated Days Off per year as designated below:

April3, 2026, May 22, 2026, June 22, 2026, September 4, 2026, November 11, 2026, December

24, 2026, March 26, 2027, May 28, 2027, and June 21, 2027.

My question is do we like the current Holidays and DDO’s? Do we want less or more? If we want less, what do we want in return or if we want more, what are we willing to give for them? 

Recently I have had two members text me and ask a question about our contract, then they both sent me a screen shot of what Google came up with, both examples couldn’t have been more wrong. Please don’t rely on AI to tell you what’s in your contract. You can find the Northern CA CBA and the Sacramento Addendum and wage schedules at dc16iupat.org. All items can be found under “resources”.

If you have questions about your contract or anything else, please call me (916)407-8279.

LU 1237 November Birthdays

Luis Acosta

Francisco Barba Jr

Jorge Carrillo

Dion Carroll

Hugo Cervantes

Ethan Cooksey

Daniel Estrada

Alcaro Flores Lagunas

Enrique Garcia

Nathaniel Giron

Richard Leach

Jesus Lizarraga

Jose Mares

Edward McDonald

Lloyd Patterson

David Roberts

Jose Rodriguez

Victor Rodriguez

John Smith

David Tijero

Rigoberto Trujillo

Anthony Zertuche