Half of Pilgrim nuke plant workers sent home
By Matt Stoutand Colneth Smiley Jr.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 -
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 -
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With
its current operating license just weeks from expiring, officials at
the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth sent nearly half their
employees home this morning hours after their contract expired, a move
dubbed “disgraceful and disturbing” by union leadership as they weigh
the plant’s latest offer.
Despite negotiating into the early morning hours, officials with the Louisiana-based Entergy Corp. — which runs the Plymouth plant — and members of Utility Workers Union of America Local 369 failed to hash out a new contract after a month of talks, both sides said today.
That prompted the plant to turn away all of its “non-essential employees” this morning, said union president Dan Hurley, who scoffed at the designation that any worker is “non-essential.”
“It’s a nuclear facility, so I’d think that everyone in there is an
essential person,” said Hurley, who helps represent 380 workers at the
plant. He said healthcare as well as safety and staffing issues were the
major sticking points separating the two sides, and the union plans to
vote on Entergy’s latest offer next week.
“Right now it isn’t a strike,” he said. “We’re being locked out by the company.”
In a statement released this morning, officials at Entergy Corp., denied there was a “lockout” and said the workers sent home received a paid day off.
Entergy spokeswoman Carol Wightman said officials rejected the union’s request to extend the current contract and called the union’s threats of a strike “unacceptable.”
“We are continuing to attempt to work through some of the issues today,” Wightman said in a statement.
Entergy did not respond to calls requesting further comment.
The breakdown in negotiations come as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers granting the 40-year-old plant a 20-year renewal license, a record six-year process that has drawn criticism of the NRC from several state officials, including Gov. Deval Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley.
A spokeswoman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is deciding whether to grant the plant’s request, said it reviewed Pilgrim’s “contingency plans” given a strike or worker lockout and deemed them “acceptable.”
“We believe that they’re able to operate the plant safely,” spokeswoman Diane Screnci said in a phone interview, noting any contract dispute is a “day-to-day operating issue” that is not part of their decision to renew the plant’s license.
She noted some plants have operated for months using contingency plans, including the Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, where workers were on strike for 11 weeks in 2003.
Even though Pilgrim’s current license expires June 8, officials there applied for a renewal license more than five years ago, meaning they can operate past that date for “as long as it takes the commission to reach a decision,” Screnci said.
“It’s not a deadline,” she said.
Despite negotiating into the early morning hours, officials with the Louisiana-based Entergy Corp. — which runs the Plymouth plant — and members of Utility Workers Union of America Local 369 failed to hash out a new contract after a month of talks, both sides said today.
That prompted the plant to turn away all of its “non-essential employees” this morning, said union president Dan Hurley, who scoffed at the designation that any worker is “non-essential.”
“Right now it isn’t a strike,” he said. “We’re being locked out by the company.”
In a statement released this morning, officials at Entergy Corp., denied there was a “lockout” and said the workers sent home received a paid day off.
Entergy spokeswoman Carol Wightman said officials rejected the union’s request to extend the current contract and called the union’s threats of a strike “unacceptable.”
“We are continuing to attempt to work through some of the issues today,” Wightman said in a statement.
Entergy did not respond to calls requesting further comment.
The breakdown in negotiations come as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers granting the 40-year-old plant a 20-year renewal license, a record six-year process that has drawn criticism of the NRC from several state officials, including Gov. Deval Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley.
A spokeswoman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is deciding whether to grant the plant’s request, said it reviewed Pilgrim’s “contingency plans” given a strike or worker lockout and deemed them “acceptable.”
“We believe that they’re able to operate the plant safely,” spokeswoman Diane Screnci said in a phone interview, noting any contract dispute is a “day-to-day operating issue” that is not part of their decision to renew the plant’s license.
She noted some plants have operated for months using contingency plans, including the Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, where workers were on strike for 11 weeks in 2003.
Even though Pilgrim’s current license expires June 8, officials there applied for a renewal license more than five years ago, meaning they can operate past that date for “as long as it takes the commission to reach a decision,” Screnci said.
“It’s not a deadline,” she said.
-— matthew.stout@bostonherald.com
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