Allegheny Power, Utilities Workers agree to contract ahead of deadline

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA - Allegheny Energy and its largest union recently announced a new five-year contract Monday that affects about 1,180 workers.

The Utility Workers Union of America System Local 102 represents workers at the Hatfield's Ferry and Lake Lynn power stations, as well as several other locations in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, company spokesman Fred Solomon said.

The union ratified the contract well ahead of the May 1 expiration date for the current contract.

"It provides five years of stability for the workforce," Solomon said. "It will provide operational efficiencies."

The new contract, which goes into effect May 1, gives workers a 3- percent wage increase each year for five years, Solomon said. Allegheny also committed to hiring 130 new workers and putting $125 million into worker pensions over the course of the contract.

The contract also includes provisions for a new weekend work shift, said Allen Staggers, manager of corporate communications. Employees on the new shift would work 12 hours a day Friday through Sunday.

Staggers said the new schedule would give Allegheny more flexibility in scheduling and is expected to make the system more reliable. It also could cut down on mid-week scheduled outages during new construction.

"That will help us respond to outages better on weekends," Staggers said. "In lots of areas, especially with new construction, sometimes the work that we have to do is... more convenient to do on the weekend."

Union President William Sterner said that the new contract is good for workers and for the company. He said the wage increases and the pension funds are solid gains, and the union will maintain its health plan.

The new weekend schedule will take some getting used to, Sterner said, but he thinks it will improve customer service. He said it also could increase safety for workers, because two-person teams will be responding to the scene of outages, instead of the one on- call worker that now responds.

Sterner said that the union and the company also committed to a new internship program that would link the company to students at community and technical colleges. The internship program would allow students to learn on-the-job skills while earning their associate degree.

The program would encourage younger workers to enter the field, Sterner said. And their degrees would be portable to other utility companies around the country.

Sterner said the contract was signed quickly because they two sides had productive talks throughout the process. He said the contract has a lot of support form the union membership.