Union authorizes labor strike at Indian Point

A union that represents 400 workers at Indian Point Energy Center voted to allow a strike if new labor deal isn”™t reached by Jan. 17, when the union”™s current contract expires.

Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 announced Monday that its members, which include 400 employees at the Buchanan nuclear facility, agreed to authorize a strike, if necessary, against Entergy Corp, which owns Indian Point. Union members will hold a “practice picket” Thursday afternoon on Broadway and Bleakly Avenue, in front of the plant.

“A strike authorization is a powerful tool to have when we enter talks with any employer and Entergy is no different,” James Slevin, president of Local 1-2, said. “Entergy is a large, profitable corporation and we look forward to productive discussions. But make no mistake; our members want a fair share of the fruits of their labor, nothing more, nothing less.”

Entergy remains optimistic that a potential strike could be averted based on an email to the Business Journal from Jerry Nappi, a spokesman for Indian Point.

“We respect the vote that was taken and recognize that is only an authorization to strike, not a call to strike,” Nappi said. “We are continuing negotiations and working hard to reach an agreement that will satisfy all parties.”

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., which owns Indian Point, is looking to relicense the plant”™s dual reactors for another 20 years amid opposition from environmental groups and politicians including Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The current relicensing is the lengthiest process of its kind in U.S. history and no plant in history has closed due to an expiring license.

Supporters have noted that Indian Point employs roughly 1,600 in total and produces 25 percent of electricity consumed in New York City and Westchester County. The Business Council of Westchester, of which Entergy is a member, conducted a study in 2012 that said closing the power plant would drain $11.5 billion from the local economy, cause electric rates to jump 6.3 percent, increase the likelihood of blackouts by 280 percent and cause an uptick in carbon emissions from a shift to other forms of power.

The power plant first went into operation in 1962. Entergy, a national company with annual revenues of more than $10 billion, bought Indian Point unit 2 from Con Edison in 2001, one year after it purchased unit 3 from the New York Power Authority. Unit 2”™s permit expired last year, but has been extended until the NRC decides whether or not to relicense the reactor. Unit 3”™s permit expires in December 2015. Indian Point 1 is no longer in use.