At least two electrical contractors have informed their service truck drivers they must now park their trucks at the shop at the end of the day and pick them up in the morning.  They are restricting members from taking the trucks home at night.    The change in conditions implemented by contractors was a result of a recent Washington State Supreme Court decision called Stevens v. Brinks Home Security, Inc. In that decision, the court found that Brinks’ drivers who drove their service vans from home to the first job, and then from the last job back home were actually working and should have been paid for the time spent commuting.    The Court considered such factors as whether the Brinks technicians were dispatched from home; whether they were on-call by phone during the commute time; the fact that they were not allowed to use the company truck for personal business or carry non-Brinks people in the truck; that they had to maintain the truck on their own time; and that they were subject to a strict policy on seatbelt use, alcohol use, and traffic safety.   The facts in the Brinks decision do not necessarily match the policies or practice of the electrical service truck industry.  However, because of the Court decision, two IBEW 46 electrical contractors have informed their crews to return the trucks to the shop each day.  Local 46 has filed a demand to bargain over the unilateral actions of these contractors and will sit down with them over the bargaining table to resolve the issues.    The National Labor Relations Act requires the employer to notify the union prior to changing wages and working conditions and requires them to negotiate the changes and the impacts on the service truck drivers. The Union is ready to sit down with these contractors, talk about the issues and come to a resolution which protects both the workers and the industry.   Other contractors, instead of taking away the trucks, are dealing with the factors in the Brinks decision differently and have continued to allow their drivers to take home the trucks.  We appreciate the contractors who have not made unilateral decisions to take away the trucks without talking with the Union first.   If your contractor has made similar changes to what is described above, call the Union Hall immediately at 253-395-6500 and ask for a Business Representative.