As the lockout of New England Gas workers entered its eighth week, spokesmen for the United Steelworkers Union of America, Local 12431, and the company say they're optimistic after a bargaining session on Monday, March 11. That same day, 73 of the company's workers in Fall River, Massachusetts -- who are members of a different union -- ratified a separate contract.

Michael Doyle, spokesman for New England Gas, said "work rules" are the main sticking point in Rhode Island. Union president Ray Lang refused to comment on the current status of negotiations, but he says safety, union security, and seniority issues caused the lockout. In an attempt to reach a settlement, Lang noted the union has tentatively agreed to pay 20 percent of the cost of the current health insurance plan.

On January 20, New England Gas, a subsidiary of the Texas-based energy company Southern Union, locked out 249 unionized customer service and maintenance workers. A separate contract with 95 clerical workers expires May 31.

Southern Union purchased Providence Energy Corporation, Fall River Gas Company, and Valley Resources in September 2000. The company, says Lang, wants to change "things we've had for years and years with the old Providence Gas, and they made money. But it's not enough for these people."

Under the previous contract, for example, customer service technicians could bid, by seniority, on shifts and which area of Rhode Island they would cover, notes union vice president Joseph Montanaro. The company now wants to have the sole power to assign the assignments, he says.

The union also worries that Southern Union will replace union jobs with contractors The customer service department once had 99 workers, Montanaro says, but now numbers 66. The union also argues that Southern Union's temporary workers are dangerous and it's pushing legislation to allow gas shutoffs to be handled only by workers with two years' experience. On March 7, the bill sailed through the House of Representatives, 83-0, aided by a speech from Montanaro's cousin, Representative Frank Montanaro (D-Cranston).

Contract negotiations in Fall River went much more smoothly, says Utilities Workers Union of America president Jack Walsh, because staffing was thin and workers never had the right to pick shifts or work assignments by seniority before Southern Union took over. Nor did the Rhode Island lockout pressure them, relates Walsh. "Their [the Steelworkers Union's] issues and our issues were totally separate and we had to keep them that way," he says.

Negotiations are also under way for the Utility Workers' contract covering 63 Southern Union workers at Valley Resources in Cumberland.

Issue Date: March 15 - 21, 2002