Strike could cause outages: Hydro One union

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Hydro One workers warn Ontario could face the kind of power blackout that crippled the province two years ago if their union goes off the job.

The Society of Energy Professionals, the union representing 1,000 workers, including engineers, is in a position to go on strike or be locked out April 27. Both sides continued to talk past last night's midnight deadline and agreed to refrain from immediate action as long as progress was being made at the bargaining table.

However, union president Andrew Muller said if there's no deal, some members will walk out for a two-hour educational picket at 2 p.m.

The union disputed Energy Minister Dwight Duncan's claim there would be no power disruption if members go off the job.

"I am reasonably satisfied contingency plans are in place in the event of a strike or a lockout," Duncan said, adding that between 200 and 300 managers can fill the void at the provincially owned utility, responsible for the vast power lines across Ontario.

Lynn Andrews, an engineer and society member, said it was "reckless" for Duncan to make such a prediction.

Andrews said managers don't have the expertise to handle the work done by engineers who oversee the system's operation.

Having managers fill in is "just a stop-gap measure and it will be a matter of days until the system is in a very weak status," she told a news conference.

"If there is a storm... there will be cascading outages and there could be another Aug. 14. It just depends on luck."

The August 2003 blackout, the biggest in North American history, affected 50 million people in Ontario and eight American states.

After threatening to lock out workers, the utility seems to have tempered its position.

"Our position is that as long as there is a willingness to sit down at the table and have productive discussion, we will not be pursuing a lockout," said Tom Parkinson, Hydro One president and CEO.

"I have given Andy (Muller) an undertaking that society staff will not be locked out at the first legal date," Parkinson said in an email to employees.

The Hydro One contract offer would hike pay by 3 per cent a year over three years. Society members, who include specialists in information technology and telecommunications, as well as scientists and engineers, are looking for an annual 3.5 per cent increase. They now make an average of $85,000.

But the utility is proposing to increase the workweek by four hours to 39, representing an 11.4 per cent wage rollback, according to the union, which says the company is also proposing to create a grid for new employees that would give them 10 per cent less than current staff.

On April 25, union members voted 95 per cent against Hydro One's final offer.

Parkinson's own pay packet jumped by 35 per cent in 2004 to $1,475,923.

Muller said the government needs to get involved because a work stoppage would create a serious safety issue.