IBEW Local 125 members at Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement Sept. 1 and returned to work Sept. 3. The unit of about 40 electric linement had been on strike since Aug. 24.
OTEC is an electric utility that serves about 60,000 rural Oregonians from La Grande to Burns.
The strike was called in part to protest the firing of Tom Higgins, a 24-year OTEC employee. Higgins was fired under a new policy in which a single worker would be responsible for responding to all after-hours emergencies. The policy was imposed without bargaining with the union as required by federal labor law. Higgins was reinstated as part of the return to work agreement.
During the strike OTEC employed electric linemen supplied by Minnesota-based strikebreaking firm Strom Engineering.
