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After a two-day secret ballot that ended Thursday night, the campaign to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 failed.
Once the polls closed at 8 p.m., the ballots were counted at the Calpine Visitor Center in Middletown, a process that took about an hour.
The unofficial vote count was reported to be 124 against joining the union and 70 for joining. An additional 21 ballots were reportedly cast against unionizing but were challenged by the union and not included in the final tally.
Altogether, 215 of the 219 workers eligible to vote took part, according to the preliminary vote count.
“It was decisive,” said a disappointed Mike Farmer, an organizing committee member who had campaigned to join IBEW Local 1245.
The effort to hold the union election began last summer, and since then a campaign had been under way to convince the eligible Calpine employees to vote in favor of joining IBEW Local 1245.
The union even had arranged for workers to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
Campaign organizers accused Calpine – one of Lake County's largest employers – of trying to prevent a free and fair election by bringing in anti-union consultants.
At the same time, significant opposition came from within the ranks of the workers themselves.
Last month Tim Janke, a power plant operator at West Ford Flat, launched his own Web site – www.calpineunionfree.com – to oppose unionization, with a total of 76 employees signing their names on his Web site in support of keeping a union-free workplace.
Janke told Lake County News this week that he was concerned that the union would add another layer of bureaucracy and cost some Calpine workers as much as $40,000 a year in lost benefits and bonuses.
On his Web site Thursday night, Janke posted a video congratulating his fellow workers for the vote.
“This crap is finally over with,” he said.
However, he went on to question if anyone really won, arguing that the union's actions damaged Calpine's reputation. Janke also urged people to focus on getting back to work.
In the wake of the election, “For most people it’s going to go back to normal,” said Farmer.
However, he said the organizing committee plans to meet on Friday.
“We have to decide whether we want to pursue some of the improprieties we feel happened during the election campaign,” he said.
While Farmer said he is leaning toward leaving things as they are and moving on, he said the organizing committee has seven days to file an objection and challenge the results.
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