Linemen allege “unfair labor practices” and continue contract negotiations with OTEC
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – Linemen with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125 are standing out in Baker County to raise awareness of alleged unfair labor practices. On the morning of June 23rd, several linemen were posted with signage outside the OTEC headquarters in Baker City.
One of the men, Nick Simons of La Grande, explained to our newsroom that, “We’ve had an employee—a 24-year lineman in La Grande—Tom Higgins, has been terminated recently. We’re fighting to get his job back. The union is involved in grieving it.”
He said around 40 employees across OTEC’s service territory are members of the union, with linemen on the list.
Simons also said, “Another Lineman in La Grande, Tad McCrae, has received two disciplinary letters. What all that stems from, is—they’re trying to force us to take standby calls without paying us standby [wages] during the work week after hours.”
He explained, “We all have standby weekends, but we are now being pushed to…answer every call within district, and if we don’t, somebody is receiving a letter of discipline. Tom received three, and on that third one he was terminated. Tad is on number two.”
Nick said on June 22nd, the IBEW Local 125 union delivered a notice with intent to strike within thirty days if negotiations cannot be reached.
Our newsroom reached out to Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative for an opportunity to provide comment on the potential strike notice.
OTEC Manager of Communications Shiraz Mukarram communicated the following statement to our newsroom:
(From Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative)
“Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) and IBEW Local 125 are engaged in open, good-faith contract negotiations. In the interest of keeping our members informed: as of this morning, June 23, OTEC has not received a formal strike notice. We respect our employees and the collective bargaining process, and our focus remains on reaching a fair agreement while continuing to provide the safe, reliable power our members count on. We won’t negotiate through the media, but we are committed to keeping our members informed every step of the way.”
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Nick Simons said, “We are going to continue to negotiate over the next thirty days. We hope OTEC is receptive, and we hope that they can come to the table and that we can all come to terms on a good, fair contract. We also hope that they can reinstate Tom Higgins and remove any disciplinary letters that went against our contract.”
