IBEW LU 1393 Cites safety issues as strike progresses

Safety Issues Disputed in Vectren Strike
By DAN SHAW


Has a gas workers strike jeopardized gas users safety?

The answer depends on which side, the union or the gas company, Vectren is talking.

Bob Fox, business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1393, said he's received reports criticizing the substitutes for the 359 Indiana gas workers on strike.

Some customers have complained that the response time to gas leaks has lagged to 30 to 45 minutes since Vectren employees went on strike Dec. 22, he said. And one customer claimed that a replacement worker could not recognize the difference between a gas-lit and an electrical water heater, he said.

But Mike Roeder, director of Vectren's corporate communications, dismisses the accusations.

"If he's got a specific example, I'd be glad to look into it," he said. "But I sit in every day on a strike update meeting. We're performing the same, if not better than usual. Now, has there been an incident where a call took 30 minutes to respond to in Indiana? Maybe. But unless I've got a specific address, there's no way I can respond to that."

Many of the substitutes had risen through the ranks into the company's management, meaning they have undergone the same level of training as field workers, he said.

Gaps in their qualifications to serve gas customers were filled with additional training, which started in October, he said.

"They are required to go through the same operator qualifications," he said. "We wanted to make sure this was a seamless issue for customers. It's business as usual."

However, Fox doubts Vectren's claims.

"That's not enough time to train someone to investigate a hazardous situation at a house," he said. "And I'm sure customer safety is at risk. They're placing families in the hands of inexperienced workers."

Six people work at the Frankfort Vectren facility. Roeder believed they all were on strike although was not sure.

Differences over a new contract for the workers led to the strike. The former four-year contract expired Dec. 1.

Between then and when the strike began Dec. 22, the unions rejected two offers.

Fox said they felt Vectren was shorting employees on health insurance and pension benefits. The company brought on the conflict by simultaneously raising the health insurance premium and decreasing benefits, Fox said.

"They're not upset that they have to pay more on their monthly rate, which is up 300 percent," he said. "Workers everywhere are faced with that. But (Vectren is) wanting more for less coverage."

Under the contract offers, employees would have to pay more for medical co-payments, deductibles and prescription drugs, he said.

Also, pensions did not increase enough to cover retired employees' additional health insurance costs, Fox charged.

Roeder, however, characterized the benefits package as similar to what workers at other gas companies receive. It contained a 3 percent wage increase as well as options that would have the company paying 84 percent to 88 percent of health insurance premiums, according to a Vectren release.

Fox said the unions wished to continue negotiations but saw no signs of cooperation. The strike began when the company refused to renew the former contract until such time a new agreement was reached, he said.

"That doesn't protect our membership," Fox said. "So that's when we had to make the decision. But we just didn't make it off the cuff."

There are no plans to reopen negotiations, he said.

Should Vectren prove reluctant to compromise, the unions will call upon a federal mediator, who Fox hopes can cajole the two sides back to the table.

According to a Vectren press release, the 359 strikers come mostly from central Indiana.

Vectren, based in Evansville, provides gas and/or electricity to nearly a million customers in two-thirds of Indiana and west central Ohio, according to a company release.

Vectren employees are members of both the IBEW and Steelworkers locals 12213 and 7441.