BANGOR (AP) – It doesn’t matter how members of an electric company union vote. Whether it is for or against computerized power monitoring equipment, about 40 union jobs are on the chopping block.

Under a Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. plan, humans would be replaced with $15 million worth of computerized meter-monitoring equipment. Union officials said Saturday’s vote on whether they want the machines means little for their future.

A “no” vote means meter readers will not receive an enhanced severance package and lose their jobs anyway. A “yes” vote means the linesmen, whose existing contract doesn’t expire until January, still have a job.

The catch is that the 80-plus member union will have to vote Saturday on whether they want the machines to take almost half of their jobs, and a “no” vote means the computers will replace those positions anyway.

According to some union members, they have no choice but to concede to what the utility is offering instead of negotiate for better contract terms.

David Bofinger, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 1837, said contract negotiations between management and union leadership have been ongoing for months.

“There are people who are adamantly opposed and those are the people who are keeping their jobs,” Bofinger said. “The company has determined they are going to do away with these jobs this year.”

Bofinger said the way the meter-reading technology is being implemented is pitting union members against each other, and the union against management.

The linesmen are being offered 1.25 percent of their base annual compensation as a signing bonus at the time the contract is ratified, plus a 2.5 percent one-time bonus on Jan. 1, 2005.

Ray Robinson, chief operating officer of Bangor Hydro, declined Tuesday to discuss specifics of the union contract negotiations, adding that the technology is a “very significant investment.”

The technology is installed on transmission lines and monitors usage at homes and businesses, he said.

AP-ES-03-24-04 0216EST