Workers with United Steelworkers Local 12775 are headed back to work Tuesday after union members voted to ratify a tentative agreement NIPSCO brought forth April 16.
Workers voted Thursday to ratify the contract, Local 12775 Steward Pierce Kelly said Friday, but he declined to give the final vote totals, saying those will be discussed in an upcoming closed-door meeting with workers.
Clerical workers with USW Local 13796, on the other hand, didn’t ratify their tentative agreement and will remain locked out, according to a company news release.
The new contract, which will expire March 31, 2030, gives workers 4% raises over the next three years, plus other raises, the company release said. It caps 16 hours of continuous work rather than 32 hours straight and sets “clear parameters with standby schedules posted 6 months in advance.
The agreement, according to the company, also shifts to a nine-hour flat rest time between shifts, which is “greater than the eight-hour standard.”
Kelly agreed that the contract they ratified was different from the “best and final” NIPSCO offered before locking out workers April 2. But that didn’t make the voting any less difficult.
“It’s a mixed bag, and there was a lot of heavy stuff to consider,” Kelly said. “There were things very specific to each party on what the ‘best deal’ meant, so we as a committee didn’t endorse anything and just presented what we had.
“The tactic of a lockout is to starve people out, and we weren’t going to tell people what’s best for them. Like anything, there’s going to be hurt feelings.”
Local 12775 Vice President Vern Beck couldn’t be reached for comment Friday but previously told the Post-Tribune that a lot of the workers were angry at the tactics the company used.
“The campaign the company pulled, where they put out that a lineman makes $226,000 per year, was very irresponsible because now, our workers who go on calls to disconnect power for a person who could be getting evicted over not paying rent or not paying NIPSCO will have to face people who believe they make that much when they don’t,” Beck said.
“The new (company leaders) weren’t brought in to be friends, and there should be laws that say companies can’t be reckless and misleading with what they put out in the media.”
The contract expired March 31. NIPSCO and the union have been negotiating since January 20, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
