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Syracuse, N.Y. -- The union representing operators of the Nine Mile Point nuclear plants voted overwhelmingly to reject Constellation Energy Nuclear Group's contract offer, increasing the risk of a strike there, a union official said today.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 97 voted 425 to 49 to reject what CENG had said was its final offer, said Martin Currier, a member of the union's negotiating committee.
CENG's contract with 590 of the roughly 1,000 employees at the two nuclear plants in Oswego County is scheduled to expire at midnight Friday. The IBEW represents control room operators, radiation protection personnel, emergency response workers and others.
CENG has contingency plans to temporarily run the two reactors with management workers in the event of a strike, said Jill Lyon, a spokeswoman for the company. The company has spent the past year devising its contingency plan and training managers to step in if necessary.
Currier said IBEW officials will huddle today and discuss whether to reopen negotiations or seek authorization from the IBEW International Union for a strike. He said Local 97's members rejected CENG's contract primarily because of concerns about the pension plan for future retirees. He declined to disclose more details.
Representatives of the union and CENG will meet Friday, but Lynn said she did not know if the two sides would resume negotiations.
"The company does not want to have a work stoppage. But to be prudent we have prepared for that possibility," she said.
Strikes at nuclear plants are rare. The last in the northeast occurred in 2003 at Oyster Creek, in New Jersey, where more than 200 workers walked off the job when contract talks broke down. The strike lasted about 11 weeks.
There has never been a strike at the Nine Mile Point nuclear plants, which CENG purchased in 2001.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The union representing operators of the Nine Mile Point nuclear plants voted overwhelmingly to reject Constellation Energy Nuclear Group's contract offer, increasing the risk of a strike there, a union official said today.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 97 voted 425 to 49 to reject what CENG had said was its final offer, said Martin Currier, a member of the union's negotiating committee.
CENG's contract with 590 of the roughly 1,000 employees at the two nuclear plants in Oswego County is scheduled to expire at midnight Friday. The IBEW represents control room operators, radiation protection personnel, emergency response workers and others.
CENG has contingency plans to temporarily run the two reactors with management workers in the event of a strike, said Jill Lyon, a spokeswoman for the company. The company has spent the past year devising its contingency plan and training managers to step in if necessary.
Currier said IBEW officials will huddle today and discuss whether to reopen negotiations or seek authorization from the IBEW International Union for a strike. He said Local 97's members rejected CENG's contract primarily because of concerns about the pension plan for future retirees. He declined to disclose more details.
Representatives of the union and CENG will meet Friday, but Lynn said she did not know if the two sides would resume negotiations.
"The company does not want to have a work stoppage. But to be prudent we have prepared for that possibility," she said.
Strikes at nuclear plants are rare. The last in the northeast occurred in 2003 at Oyster Creek, in New Jersey, where more than 200 workers walked off the job when contract talks broke down. The strike lasted about 11 weeks.
There has never been a strike at the Nine Mile Point nuclear plants, which CENG purchased in 2001.
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