by Jody L. Sullivan

At 12:01 a.m. May 15, the union representing 2,000 linemen and engineers across Massachusetts for Nstar, the successor company to Boston Edison, stopped working in a labor dispute.

“First off, it’s important to clear up that we didn’t go on strike, we were put on strike,” said Gary Sullivan, president of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 369.

Both sides in the labor returned to negotiations May 27, when the two sides sat down with federal mediator John Martin.

Sullivan said the union was hopeful about the resumed talks.  In the end, it was a 1,277 to 189 vote that officially ended the two-week strike he said.

Workers returned to the job June 2.

The union won a 12 percent wage increase over four years, as well as promises from NStar to hire an additional 150 workers to help with preventative maintenance work. The union also fended off company attempts to reduce benefits for retirees, Sullivan said.

“We’re very pleased with the contract,” he said.

In turn, NStar got more flexibility in work-shift rules and a slight increase in insurance premium payments from workers, said Caroline Allen, NStar’s spokeswoman, who as a television reporter specialized in utility issues.

"This is an excellent contract for our members. This is a victory for public safety and worker safety. It is a great step forward for the union, for NSTAR and for the communities we serve," Sullivan.

"This contract protects the rights of workers and safeguards the health and pension benefits for employees and retirees. Working together with NStar management, we were able to make this a better, safer and stronger company," he said.

The union’s main concern is safety related, and the company cutback on the number of workers sent out on jobs, Sullivan said.

There used to be emergency workers and preventative workers, but because of excessive staff reductions there are only emergency workers and no preventative maintenance is being done, he said.

The union demanded NStar to hire at least 100 additional workers to ensure that the utility can keep on top of preventive maintenance, Sullivan said.

“Through the media, union leadership has attempted to make this impasse about safety and maintenance. These discussions were never about safety and maintenance, and any talk of that is disingenuous and masking the real issues at hand,” said Allen.

Sullivan said another point of contention was an NStar proposal for one set of standardized benefits. This would eliminate union retirees medical coverage for dental and eye care, as well as eliminate 33 percent of retiree’s life insurance.

“They want no vesting of retiree benefits,” he said.

The dispute was over flexible work schedules and overtime pay, said Allen.

The union leadership is unwilling to adopt changes in outdated work rules. These rules restrict our ability to have line workers reporting for duty in the afternoon when our customers need them most, she said.

Duty officials wanted this to remain a way to amass overtime when other essential services like police departments, fire departments, and even other utility workers all have scheduled afternoon shifts, she said.

In the middle of the negotiations, Sullivan said he was becoming frustrated with the company’s tactics.

“They laid out two-dozen take aways and we said we’d agree on them as long as they wouldn’t force us to work overtime. They’re not ready to budge,” he said.

Speaking before the settlement, Allen said the workers were not hearing the full story. “NStar values it employees and the package we offer reflects that.”

Allen said, “It was a generous offer and if the employees had seen it, they would have agreed.”

Sullivan said he took issue with Nstar’s valuing its workers, especially when the company stopped the workers’ health care insurance coverage.

It was Blue Cross Blue Shield that informed them that their insurance was canceled, not NStar, he said.

“Blue Cross came across a memo and called the union office to inform us, it wasn’t until the following day that workers received a letter from NStar. That’s the type of people they are,” said Sullivan.

“On May 1, they paid the insurance for the whole month of May, then they canceled it. They’d rather waste all that money then let us finish off the month. They’re hostile people,” he said.

The benefits freeze is justified, Allen said.

“When employees do not report for duty and instead strike the company, those employees surrender their compensation, including pay, health care benefits and all other aspects of compensation,” she said.

“We cannot ask our customers to pay for wages or benefits for employees who are choosing not to work,” she said.

Allen said during the strike systems operated operating smoothly with the help of trained management employees and contractors who have stepped up to fill in for striking workers. The company’s contingency plan to provide core services to customers during the strike was well underway throughout the work stoppage.

Now that the labor dispute has been resolved, Allen said the company is looking over the horizon.

"With this new agreement, NStar is well-positioned to serve customers into the future. We’ve committed to maintaining a high level of total employee compensation, while at the same time protecting customers from rising costs," said Allen.

We look forward to having our employees back she said.