Absolutely!! The RMLD salaries are abusive as well as excessive. As a public utility the State certainly should step in and investigate how these obnoxious salaries affect our electric rates (they certainly don't lower them). In the past, abuse was found at RMLD for negligent use of "company"credit cards. In a storm this winter a pole came down on my street. Live wires were left in front of a widow's front door for 4 days! So don't tell me we have better service than other electric companies.

Personally the ONLY ones at any Utility that should have a car to take home are the Engineers and whoever runs the Line Dept.. they are the ones that are called in to look at the outages & pole hits.. The GM sits behind a desk.. Also isnt his severance package Public record??? I thought by law ALL public employees pay are Public Record? Could be wrong, wouldnt be the first time..

Jeez Barry, is there not a butt you won't kiss?

What is the average pay for NStar workers? One lineman gets paid 2.5 of one teacher. Need to remember the TOWN owns RMLD.

Based on their base salary (~90K) that means they get $45 per hr. If they get 1.5 of their base pay for OT ($75 rounding up). For them to make 60K in OT they would need to work 800 hours of OT. That is an average of 16 hrs per week assuming they only take 2 weeks vacation (you know they have more than that). Except for maybe 1 or 2 storms a year. Do we really have that many power outages? Or should RMLD hire more workers and save the rate payers (who own RMLD) money? Also, Isn't it a safety issue they are working with electricity?

Barry, keep in mind my comments had nothing to do with the linemen. Look at the GM, the accountant, the HR manager, the systems manager, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Look at the GM vs, the Town Manager and the Superintendent. We have top schools and do not pay leadership what the RMLD pays. There is no defense for the RMLD. Look at the vehicles people take home under the guise that maybe there is a storm coming. Sure.......just more perks that the board has allowed to continue. A tighter ship would result in even lower rates....... Wonder if the GM's contract has a generous retirement separation payments.

Just to let you know Charles, ALL Lineman in Massachusetts make about the same base hourly rate.. Maybe a dollar difference here & there.. But all in all they make the same weather Public utility or Investor owned.. Also Most utilities in the US now pay pretty close to the same as Mass. My Nephew wanted to move to Florida to be a Lineman and he was offered $38.00 an hour down there and the cost of living is about HALF of what it is here..

Barry, indeed, OT is a significant portion of the salary for many of these employees. Does it bother you, as a member of FinCom, that so much is spent on OT? We spent over half a million dollars in overtime on RMLD employees in the Top 20, and I wonder if we would not have been better served by saving $100-$200k and adding 2-3 FTEs instead.

Paying overtime is not the most optimal solution for addressing understaffing.

Mr White, Would you risk your LIFE to make what the guys make? When i say LIFE i mean LIFE.. At any moment these brave men can be killed. It is one of the most dangerous jobs int he WORLD... Dont forget that.. They should actually be making a lot more than what they make now... Its not a Gravy train they are on, its a very dangerous train they are on.. So until you can say you Would be a lineman then you shouldnt talk about what they make.. I know this.. I would NEVER do what they do... I tried it many years ago and i did not last long because i didnt like the fact that i can be killed at any moment of any day i went to work.. I have family & Friends that are Lineman and i respect them for what they sacrifice everyday..

MF,
How would you feel if our indispensible refuse engineers were pulling in over $100K/yr each causing our trash collection costs to be higher? I'm sure you'd have an issue with it yet Sanitation Engineers have an even more dangerous job than the linemen. But I'm not really coming down on the guys/girls who are actually doing the hard work, it's the fat cats sitting around and driving the town owned cars that need reining in and better overall management of the employees. How do you justify the GM of our NON-PROFIT municipal electric company being paid more than the Chief of Police or the Superintendant of our Schools? As taxpayers, we have every right to question on what/how the town spends our money.

+1 would not trade RMLD for anything - maybe it could be run more cost effectively, but they are doing a far better job than any other options we have for a lower cost!

http://www.rmld.com/Pages/rmldma_about/staff

Thx, JW. Most of the high earning RMLD folk aren't on that page of the rmld website, so I'll presume they're out there driving the trucks (b/c of OT). As others have pointed out, a lot of OT is there.

Ed, they have better service than other electric companies.

So Laura, salaried employees get overtime? As far as hourly employees, its go along to get along. It has to stop. Living in Mass. has become TOO expensive! We no longer can allow this graft of public funds. All I see is a blinds eye to the cost of electricity that is unnecessary. I surely don't benefit from overtime. Most of us don't. Please don't tell me its necessary, its not. The hourly salary of RMLD workers is $50/hr. So overtime is what, time and a half!?

Kevin, I too have been keeping an eye on who is going to replace Vincent Cameron for the GM position... That being said, I have spoken with many people about this and it seems there is one person who is more than qualified to take the position who also has been an Employee for a long time and actually used to fill in for Vincent when he was out.. If i am correct her name is Jane Parenteu or something to that extent.. First i think it would be great to have a woman in this position for the first time ever and second from what i have read about her and have been told about her she is MORE than qualified.. But i was also told that the board has a search committee looking for and and possible applicants and that she wasnt given a second interview and that this search committee also screwed up along the way, they didnt hold an open public forum if i am correct.... which is illegal.. Then there is the current acting GM who i dont know much about, but was told he came from Nstar, was a Dispatch Manager and somehow got the position he is in now and is also trying for the GM position.. But from what i was told he is not at all qualified.. But you never know, the board will probably pick the least qualified and NOT the Most Qualified who also happens to be a woman... Lets hope & pray these board members have a brain and pick the right one.. For ALL our sake..

Sharon.. Perfectly said

CB and others. It is painfully obvious that you have no understanding of what it takes to run a company, any company. In the case of utilities, there is tremendous regulation and oversight - for the consumer's, our protection. Do you think that the linemen do that work? Bill Z. is correct, we enjoy perhaps the lowest rates in the area and the most reliable service. I don't know about you but I did not lose power during the last two storms. You perceive that there are so many people making so much money at RMLD. That is pure ignorance on your part. Trust me that whenever overtime is such a large part of any job or any company, management studies and evaluates the cost of overtime verses the cost of hiring additional employees and their benefits. Do yourself a favor, go to the library and find a book on economics and one on business administration. Get a copy of RMLD's annual report and study it. Then, compare it to those of other utility providers. Learn something instead of slinging mud at poeple who make more money that you. Pathetic nonsense.

Dave, the linemen do NOT take the cars home...just management. And there is no rationale for taking them home every night. I have always felt it would be acceptable for a selected few to take a vehicle home in advance of a substantial storm. But these are pickup trucks and cars...not line repair trucks and they go back and forth every night. I assume you pay for transportation to go to work....why do we pay a $190,000 GM for a very nice car to go back and forth to Quincy each night...gas, oil, insurance, maintenance, etc. etc. Surely he has the financial resources to get to work like everyone else. Same is true of the others at RMLD who get a free company vehicle to use. The town manager does not get a car. The school Sup. does not get a car. Why the RMLD GM and others?

Dave Lineman Drive Bucket Trucks and DO NOT take them home.. EVER... And usually the Buckets are in a garage so when they do get called in they are not covered in snow or the buckets filled with water.. They drive their Own personal vehicles back & forth to work...

...and it is very dangerous work.

Yes. The average salary of a light worker is $57,000, and with benefits, the cost to the Town is about $80,000. So the OT that we paid to those in the Top 50 would hire about eight or nine new workers, and that is assuming mid-level training and experience. They'd be able to "hit the ground running."

Of course, because OT is time and a half, the work performed was not the equivalent of 8 new workers, but about six. So the Town would save $160,000 to $240,000 by avoiding OT.

CB, In this line of Business, even if you hired a bunch more Lineman, that does not mean OT will go down... Most of the overtime these guys make are from Major Storms like Sandy when i am sure they worked 24/7 with no rest or much food.. This is what they do.. They make sure they sacrifice their lives so YOU have your power.. When there are call outs and other trouble not all take the OT.. So even if you hired say 10 more Lineman, it doesnt mean those 10 Lineman would take any extra OT when called in... Also remember they are called in at any moment.. I am sure they have on call lineman.. Most places do, so when a call comes in the call person is the first to go in then others if needed...

CB, let me guess, you're an educator or a state worker or someone who has not worked in corporate America at a senior management level? If the OT is so outrageous to you, how can we possibly enjoy some of the lowest rates in the area with the best service levels? If it is the "form" in which they are paid, then I would make the lineman salaried and implement a generous bonus program based on rates and service.

Dave, no I'm in healthcare and have a role in management. We are constantly being squeezed to perform better and more efficiently with less reimbursement. Yes, I would be for salaried positions with a rational bonus structure that rewards timeliness, hard work and quality. Granted, some overtime is inevitable but what's currently going on is ludicrous. To say the only options are to pay 3/4 million dollars in overtime or the lights will go out everyday in Reading is just silly, the are better ways to run that shop. Again, I'd like to see what all that overtime went towards. Is this an internal, protected gravy train taken advantage of at ratepayers expense or does it represent legitimate, unavoidable emergency work to keep the lights on? I wonder... .

Michael, no one is contesting the base salary that linemen are paid, and we agree that the nature of the work is dangerous. The issue that we have is with overtime, especially the fact that nearly half of the salary that the Town paid to RMLD employees in the Top 50 came from OT. We don't see a similar trend in the Police Department, which also has to respond to emergencies and storms, but may be more adequately staffed. I would not expect to eliminate OT altogether; however, I also would not expect to pay $700,000 in OT either.

Michael....spot on.

But what if we just staffed line workers for the weekends instead? True, we might have to pay these workers a premium -- say 15 percent more -- but since the probability of outages is the same for Saturday as it is any other day of the week, the Town would STILL save over $250,000 a year by hiring these workers.