Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Successful Negotiation of City Contract with Electrical Workers Union

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced the successful negotiation of the contract between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 300 and the City. The agreement between IBEW Local 300, the union that represents 79 staff members of the Burlington Electric Department (BED), and the City, was the first in many years to be reached without the need for arbitration or fact-finding.

“We are fortunate to have a dedicated, innovative, and safety-conscious team at Burlington Electric whose members focus every day on generating and delivering safe, reliable, renewable energy, as well as energy efficiency opportunities, to our community,” said Mayor Weinberger during a contract signing ceremony at the Burlington Electric Department’s Pine Street facility. “I am pleased that we were able to successfully reach a negotiated contract with the IBEW that has the union and the City sharing in both the healthcare and retirement cost risks, keeps cost of living adjustments approximately within the rate of inflation, allows BED to recruit competitively in the rapidly-changing energy industry, and is consistent with our efforts to keep electricity rates at current levels in upcoming years.”

The new four-year agreement, ratified by the IBEW Local 300 on March 3, 2016 and by the City Council on Monday night and retroactive to July 1, 2014 , was reached through a collective bargaining process that began in August 2015.

“We appreciated the thoughtful collaboration with the City and Burlington Electric management team,” said Jeffrey Wimette, IBEW Local 300 Business Manager and Financial Secretary. “Our members felt they were able to craft a living document that took into account the goals and needs of the employees, as well as the business. The members established a sense of pride and ownership throughout the process and look forward to moving ahead under the terms of the new agreement, which has both sides sharing in the challenges and opportunities BED will be tackling in the months and years ahead.”

“This is a fair contract in the best interests of our customers,” said Neale Lunderville, BED General Manager. “We are fortunate to have such an amazing team at Burlington Electric. IBEW Local 300 is a smart, well-led union that understands the quickly evolving demands of the energy industry. They are great partners as we work to transform Burlington Electric into a utility of the future.”

“I offer sincere thanks to the negotiating teams who worked countless hours to achieve this agreement,” added Mayor Weinberger. “I’m particularly impressed that labor and management were able to reach such a fair and workable agreement without the need for arbitration or fact-finding just months after the completion of a successful department-wide reorganization. I offer a special thank you to IBEW Business Manager Jeffrey Wimette and members of the IBEW leadership team, to my Administration’s negotiating team led by City Attorney Eileen Blackwood, and to BED’s team led by General Manager Neale Lunderville.”

The City of Burlington now has completed multi-year collective bargaining agreements for fiscal years 2015 through 2018 with three of its four public employee unions: IBEW, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Burlington Fire Fighters Association. Negotiations with the Burlington Police Officers’ Association are ongoing.

View the agreement between the City of Burlington and the IBEW Local 300