IBEW Locals 949 (Burnsville, MN) and 2150 (Milwaukee, WI) win Unfair Labor Practice Charges against Xcel Energy and Nuclear Management

http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/4836026.html




Prairie Island broke labor laws, NLRB says
By Chris Serres, Star Tribune

June 20, 2004 NUCLEAR0620

The operator of the Prairie Island nuclear power plant violated federal labor
laws by failing to negotiate in good faith with its workers, according to the
National Labor Relations Board.

The NLRB said Nuclear Management Co., which operates the Prairie Island facility
for Xcel Energy Inc., improperly withheld wage increases for workers who voted
in favor of union representation and refused to participate in collective
bargaining meetings with employees who wore buttons critical of management.

The NLRB also has accused Nuclear Management of withholding wage increases at
the Point Beach nuclear plant in Twin Rivers, Wis., which the company operates
for Wisconsin Electric Power Co. Nuclear Management operates six nuclear plants
in the Midwest.

Company spokeswoman Maureen Brown said that Nuclear Management has done nothing
wrong and that U.S. labor law obligates employers to maintain existing wages and
benefits until a contract is negotiated.

The legal action is a boost for the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers.

The union has been locked in a bitter contract dispute with Hudson, Wis.-based
Nuclear Management since late 2002.

"For the past two years, this company's whole strategy has been to delay, delay,
delay and to frustrate workers' attempts to organize," said Vince Guertin,
business manager of IBEW Local 949. The NLRB scheduled a July 13 hearing before
an administrative law judge in Minneapolis.

Xcel Energy of Minneapolis handed over day-to-day management of the Prairie
Island plant to Nuclear Management in August 2001. Nuclear Management has
increased output at the plant, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
given the Prairie Island plant its highest ranking for overall performance.

However, IBEW officials said working conditions at the Prairie Island plant
changed soon after Nuclear Management took over. Some employees were asked to
work longer hours for little or no extra pay, Guertin said. And employee
performance reviews became more stringent, he said.

In January 2002, a group of workers at the plant contacted the IBEW and asked
the union to help them negotiate a contract, Guertin said. Eventually, 135
chemists, engineers and quality-control specialists at the plant voted in favor
of union representation.

Last year, Nuclear Management told employees who voted in favor of the IBEW that
they would not receive agreed-upon wage increases and bonuses, a violation of
U.S. labor law, according to the NLRB complaint.

The NLRB claims Nuclear Management also withheld wage increases for workers at
the Point Beach nuclear plant eight days after workers there voted for union
representation.

"Once a union is certified, the company cannot make unilateral changes in wages,
hours and working conditions," said Randy Sawicki, business representative at
IBEW Local 2150, which represents 115 workers at the Point Beach plant.

Nuclear Management disagrees with NLRB's interpretation of the law and intends
to make its case before the administrative law judge, Brown said.

"It is our position that we acted appropriately and in accordance with labor
law, which requires us to maintain the status quo, with regards to wages and
benefits, until an agreement is negotiated," she said.

Guertin said he hopes the dispute is resolved quickly because morale at Prairie
Island has deteriorated.

"We believe it's ill-advised to have disgruntled workers at a nuclear power
plant, given the nature of the work involved," he said. "What the company has
done has made an already stressful work environment even more stressful."

Last year, the NLRB brought 3,320 complaints against companies nationwide. The
board cannot impose any financial penalties but can order employers to make
retroactive payments to workers.

Chris Serres is at cserres@s....