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Lynette Niebla
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) – A tense, multi-layered contract dispute is unfolding in the Imperial Valley as newly unionized geothermal power generation workers at CalEnergy accuse their multi-billion dollar parent company of bad-faith bargaining and employee retaliation.
The standoff puts front-line machinists and plant operators against BHE Renewables, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
While labor representatives point to staggering corporate wealth as proof that local employees are being left behind, corporate management counters that the union walked away from a highly competitive compensation structure to chase an unrealistic 60% hourly wage increase.
The roots of the current friction date back to August 14, 2025, the very day CalEnergy workers filed to organize under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 465.
According to union leadership, management retaliated that same afternoon by modifying scheduling logistics, ultimately resulting in an annual pay cut of more than 10% for multiple frontline technicians.
Despite intense corporate opposition, workers voted 101-to-40 to unionize on December 9, 2025. Employees campaigned heavily on a message of “Power in Partnership,” expressing a desire to help the Imperial Valley’s clean energy and burgeoning “Lithium Valley” infrastructure thrive.
However, after six months of bargaining across 12 deadlocked negotiating sessions, union officials say the initial hope for collaboration has dissolved into confrontation.
Local 465 representatives claim that Berkshire Hathaway Senior Vice President Rob Lasich has repeatedly berated employees at the bargaining table, walking out of sessions and telling dissatisfied personnel that they are free to quit if they are unhappy.
To document the toll of these operational strategies, IBEW Local 465 compiled anonymous employee testimonies detailing deep physical and personal strain:
Work-Life Hardships: “Now the schedule changed to 10-hour shifts, but honestly, we’re working more and making less money.”
Custody & Stress Issues: “I’m on the verge of possibly losing the custody of my kids.” “The long hours, the stress, and lack of balance have started affecting me mentally, physically, and personally.”
Staff Exhaustion: “More employees are calling in sick or taking time off because they’re exhausted…I had to work 13 hours to compensate for the lack of employees caused by the ineffective scheduling changes.”
“They take it personal that we want better pay,” said Erwin Ricardo Sanchez, a maintenance machinist at the Salton City facility. “We want a better work environment, we want our schedule back, we want a decent wage, and we want to live our lives. We want to work. It’s not like we want to be lazy.”
The financial divide remains a primary talking point for the union. In 2025, Berkshire Hathaway reported roughly $67 billion in annual earnings, while BHE Renewables posted $128 million in first-quarter 2026 earnings.
“A company that has that much success is leaving its workers behind,” argued Nate Fairman, IBEW Local 465 Business Manager. “It’s asking its workers to make sacrifices and take lower pay to continue to drive those record-making profits, and that is wrong.”
BHE Renewables is firing back against what it describes as inflammatory and untruthful characterizations propagated by union leadership. Corporate officials emphasize that their primary goal remains securing an equitable contract.
Addressing the core friction surrounding stagnant compensation, corporate management highlights that their field staff is already heavily compensated compared to local standards.
“We’re proud to say the median total cash compensation in 2025 for employees covered by these negotiations was over $122,000,” BHE Renewables noted in an official corporate response. “That’s double the county’s median household income. The union came to the table demanding a 60% hourly wage increase.”
The company flatly denies cutting base pay or leveraging shifts to punish employees who voted to organize. Management specifies that operations require continuous coverage, meaning scheduling adjustments are a standard baseline across the energy sector.
“Operational scheduling decisions are made based on the needs of geothermal power plant operations that must run safely and reliably around the clock,” the company stated. “The schedules being utilized are neither unique nor unusual within the power generation industry. The union claims earning opportunities have been reduced. The truth is that hourly wage rates are not impacted by the schedule changes. The company offers our employees plenty of overtime earning opportunities through call-out, picking up additional work shifts, and working additional hours.”
Corporate leaders also directly addressed the explicit allegations lodged against Senior Vice President Rob Lasich, claiming the quotes leaked to the media were stripped of their true context.
Management asserted that Mr. Lasich never instructed personnel to quit, adding that company representatives have endured frequent verbal abuse from union bargainers during closed-door sit-downs, including being labeled “liars and thieves.”
Furthermore, BHE Renewables dismissed the three Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges recently filed by the union with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which allege bad-faith bargaining and illegal scheduling retaliation.
“The unfair labor allegations are false and have no merit,” management stated. “They were filed without any evidence to support their claims. Two of the charges were coincidentally just filed this week after the union abruptly ended negotiations. We look forward to refuting them during the NLRB review process.”
BHE Renewables maintains it is ready to immediately resume contract parameters, adding, “We reached agreements on dozens of contract provisions, but the union still walked away. We’re ready to have respectful negotiations if the union comes back to the table.”
With both sides firmly entrenched, the labor dispute appears poised to transition away from the boardroom and into the public eye.
Because negotiations remain frozen, Local 465 organizers state that workers are aggressively organizing informational pickets and community rallies across the Imperial Valley.
Despite the friction, frontline workers note they understand the responsibility riding on their shoulders.
“We have to understand that there’s got to be sacrifices that need to be made,” Erwin Ricardo Sanchez reflected. “Nothing in this world has changed without sacrifices needing to be made.”
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