Several Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative employees are pictured Aug. 24, 2026, striking in La Grande, alleging unfair labor practices.
Monica Carrillo-Casas / OPB
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative union members are on strike, alleging months of unfair labor practices. This includes about 40 employees who are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125.
OTEC is a nonprofit electric utility company that serves about 60,000 residents across Baker, Grant, Harney and Union Counties.
“They had plenty of forewarning that this was coming and time to come to an agreement,” said Nick Simons, a journeyman lineman for OTEC who is based in La Grande.
Simons said while wages are a part of the dispute, the strike is largely prompted by what the union sees as unprecedented disciplinary actions at OTEC. He said the company began requiring employees to respond to outage calls outside the contract’s standby provisions and disciplined workers who were unable to report to work. Simons said the changes ultimately led to the termination of two longtime employees.
The union is seeking reinstatement of employees as part of their bargaining agreement, he said.
“Some of us have basically been forced to have our phone on us at all times during the week, even when we are not on standby,” Simons said. “They refuse to place us on seven-day standby because they said paying us standby pay is not necessary.”
Shiraz Mukarram, communications manager for OTEC, told OPB in a statement they are not discussing details outside of the bargaining table.
“OTEC wanted an agreement, not a strike. Out of respect for active negotiations and individual employees, we will not discuss bargaining details, pending grievances, or personnel matters through the media. Contract terms belong at the bargaining table,” it stated.
Mukarram said the company has a contingency plan in place, with safety and outage response as their first priorities. However, he said the company won’t disclose how many employees are working or how work will be assigned. If conditions affect service, the company will notify customers directly, he said.
Travis Eri, business manager for IBEW Local 125, said the union is concerned about how OTEC plans to fill staffing gaps if outages occur during the strike.
“Anybody that they do get, if they do actually hire replacements — those people are not going to have the institutional knowledge of the system, and they certainly won’t have the connections to the customers,” Eri said.
But the union’s staffing concerns extend beyond the current strike. Eri pointed to OTEC pursuing a $154 million acquisition of Idaho Power’s Oregon distribution territory in Malheur County — a move the union initially supported.
Eri said they fear that current staffing levels and compensation could make it difficult for OTEC to reliably serve its existing customers if the electric company expands its territory.
“If we don’t have a fair wage and benefit package, we’re concerned about whether (OTEC) is going to be able to hire people,” he said.
OTEC is working on the agreement and will have adequate staffing during the strike, Mukarram said.
OTEC offices will continue to be open on their usual schedule, except for lunch from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. To report an outage, members should call 1-866-430-4265; for regular business, 541-523-3616.
