IBEW System Council 3Y (New Jersey) Return to Work After 14 Week Strike

BACK TO WORK

After 14-week walkout, JCP&L employees walk in together
Published in the Asbury Park Press 03/17/05
By DAVID P. WILLIS, BUSINESS WRITER

MIDDLETOWN — Neptune City resident Diane Barone walked into her office at Jersey Central Power & Light Co. shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday for the first time in 14 weeks.

She was one of about 1,300 JCP&L workers returning to work after a bitter strike.

"Let me tell you, we're a little poorer, but it was so worth it," said Barone, a customer account representative who has worked for the utility for 15 years.

As a show of unity, Barone and dozens of other employees decided to enter the office on Newman Springs Road together.

"We have stood out united for the whole 14 weeks. It's only fair that we walk back in united," said Eatontown resident Michele Whelan, a customer account representative. "We are going back proud."

On Tuesday, employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, including line workers, meter readers and customer service representatives, ratified a four-year contract settlement.

JCP&L serves 1 million customers in 13 counties, including Monmouth County and most of Ocean County.

The new contract was hammered out by union and company negotiators during a 14-hour session on Saturday overseen by New Jersey Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Thomas D. Carver.

"Back into the flow"

On Wednesday, workers spent the day in small group meetings and performed administrative tasks, said JCP&L spokesman Scott Surgeoner.

"We want today to be a day of getting back together, getting back into the flow of things," he said shortly after the workday began.

Employees also heard a companywide "welcome back" address, broadcast via satellite, by JCP&L President Steve Morgan.

"He believes that we are in this together to serve the 1 million customers of New Jersey," Surgeoner said. "He wants to make Jersey Central a place where everyone wants to come to work every day."

The utility expects to reopen its customer service centers, which have been closed since the strike began, today, Surgeoner said. Other duties, such as full-time meter reading, will resume today as well, he said.

JCP&L's unionized line workers must have their commercial driver's licenses recertified before they can drive bucket trucks and other large trucks.

One requirement for keeping a commercial driver's license is a drug test every 90 days, Surgeoner said. Workers were on strike for 98 days, he added.

Yesterday, about five companies were administering drug tests, but it can take three to five days for the results to come in, Surgeoner said.

JCP&L is trying to work with the state and the federal Department of Transportation to see if there is a way to allow the workers to drive those vehicles within New Jersey until the drug test results are available, Surgeoner said, adding the company hopes for a waiver today. Another option available to the company is to arrange to have work crews transported to work sites.

Meanwhile management workers continue to do repairs and line work, he said.

Refocusing takes time

The strike came at a time when morale at JCP&L was already low. And it is likely there are workers who are not happy with the settlement, said Gayle Porter, associate professor of management at Rutgers University's School of Business at Camden.

But everyone — workers, management and the union — must move forward, she said.

"People have had this on their mind now for months, so you just can't say, "Starting today, just put it out of your mind' and decide that everything is OK," Porter said. "They have to think about something else instead. You have to really get people focused on what is the job we need to do. How can we do it better than we used to do it?"

Customer account representative Carol Smith, 38, of Howell was positive.

"The past 98 days were difficult, but I've a positive outlook, and if we can be adult and professional enough, it won't affect you," Smith said. "I need to get back to work, and I can't hold any grudges."

IBEW spokesman Jack Moriarty said the union's focus is to provide service to the utility's ratepayers.

"Against that backdrop, they are willing to do whatever they can to accomplish that goal," Moriarty said. "That is a shared premise that presumably everybody has. That is the starting point."

Surgeoner said there are "no hard feelings."

"It is good to have them back," he said. "We don't want to spend time on the past. We want to look to the future."