Starbird makes preliminary decision on IBEW

Glendale City Manager Jim Starbird has preliminarily approved a bid from a major Los Angeles union to represent a portion of the city’s utility workers, city spokesman Tom Lorenz said.

A formal announcement was expected in the coming days, he added.

The decision would be a victory for a faction of the Glendale City Employees Assn. made up of Glendale Water & Power workers who have been pushing for more than a year to join the Local 18 chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Starbird has been mulling the decision since early this year, when IBEW representatives presented their case during a hearing on the proposed union changes.

On Friday, Lorenz said Starbird had been awaiting further information from IBEW officials, which was received earlier this week.

“Starbird has already indicated to members of IBEW and members of [Glendale Water & Power] informally that IBEW will be recognized as a bargaining unit, and as such it won’t be necessary to have a vote,” Lorenz said.

Other details, including how many employees would be affected by the change, were not immediately available.