Indian Point workers facing an uncertain future authorize strike as deadline looms

Utility workers at the Indian Point nuclear power plant voted to authorize a strike amid uncertainty over their future once the plant shuts down in 2021.

Indian Point's owner, Entergy, as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said they each have put a contingency plan in place in the event the workers walk off the job.

Eleventh-hour settlements have been a regular feature of past contract negotiations between Indian Point’s owner, Louisiana-based Entergy, and some 300 workers represented by the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2.

But with Entergy announcing plans to power down its two reactors in the coming years -- Unit 2 in April 2020, Unit 3 in 2021 – this round of negotiations has taken on greater urgency. The four-year contract expires midnight Wednesday and talks are expected to continue through the weekend.

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Among the sticking points is what role, if any, utility workers will have in the years-long decommissioning process that will follow the shutdown.

Nuclear fuel will need to be removed from the reactors’ cooling pools and transferred to cement dry casks on the Buchanan property. The spent fuel is likely to remain on the site for decades until the federal government decides a final resting place for the nation’s nuclear waste.

Entergy has indicated it is considering turning over the decommissioning to a private company, a strategy it’s currently pursuing in the shutdown of its Vermont Yankee plant. And utility workers want to be included in those plans.

“There’s a lot of work to be done to close the plant,” said John Melia, a spokesman for the union. “We want some of that work…We want a fair, decent contract.”

The utility workers, among them chemists, radiation protection specialists and maintenance personnel, represent roughly a third of the 1,000-person workforce at Indian Point. And it’s likely unions representing other workers, including security personnel, will also seek jobs in the decommissioning.

No jobs promised

Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi declined to directly address whether utility workers would have jobs with the company after the 2021 shutdown.

“Negotiations between the company and union are ongoing,” Nappi said. “Entergy has established a contingency plan to continue with the safe operation of Indian Point in the event of a labor action.

"Management personnel are trained and qualified to fill all of the positions needed to operate the units safely and in accordance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulation," Nappi continued. "All important support functions – safety, shift operations, emergency planning and response, and others – would be staffed with the required levels of qualified personnel.”

The NRC is monitoring negotiations and have established strike contingency plans should there be a walkout Thursday.

“We have also been observing evaluations of control room crews that would be on duty if a strike were to occur,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.

In January 2017, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state had agreed to drop its legal challenges to Indian Point’s relicensing in return for Entergy’s agreement to cease operations by 2021. The company’s decision cited declining revenues tied to the low price of natural gas and ongoing litigation with the state of New York that was costing the company $20 million a year.

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Cuomo had pushed for the plant’s closure for years, saying its proximity to one of the nation’s most densely populated areas made Indian Point a public safety threat.

In a November letter to members, James Slevin, the president of Local 1-2, predicted difficult negotiations ahead and highlighted Entergy’s out-of-state ownership.

“Entergy is a Louisiana-based outfit, which hasn’t met a worker yet it doesn’t want to pay a little less,” Slevin wrote. “That’s the attitude from the so-called ‘right to work’ folks. They want out of New York State and leveraged a great multi-billion dollar deal for themselves from the state to get out. If Indian Point really does get shut down some of that cash should be used for severance pay for our members, who have operated the safest nuclear facility in the country.”