Unionized National Grid workers reject company contract offer

Members of National Grid’s unionized workforce overwhelmingly rejected the company’s "best and final" contract offer in a vote tallied Thursday afternoon, giving both sides about three weeks to reach a new pact before a potential strike.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1049 voted 617 to 252 to reject the London-based company’s contract offer in a mail-in ballot. The union represents nearly 1,200 workers who operate the National Grid’s natural gas network and LIPA-contracted power plants.

"The membership is unhappy and angry at the offer that was given to us after two months of negotiating," said Pat Guidice, business manager for the local, after the vote. "We intend to go back to the table as soon as possible to get an agreement that meets the needs of both sides so we can go on doing our jobs for our Long Island neighbors."

Their contract expired last month but both sides agreed to a contract extension to March 28. The existing four-year contract, which includes no strike and no lockout language, remains in place.

National Grid, in a statement Thursday night said they are “disappointed the tentative agreement we signed with Local 1049 leadership was not ratified by the members, and will continue to negotiate in good faith for a deal that is fair for our hard working employees and affordable for customers.”

Many of the workers at a meeting held last month to discuss the company’s offer drew "angry" responses from workers who felt the offer of wage, health and retirement by the company fell far short of improvements needed to keep pace with inflation, and that members felt "disrespected" by the offer, Guidice had said at the time.

Workers' number-one priority was affordable health care and wages that kept pace with inflation, he said, "and they want some type of pension improvement."

The company offered a four-year contract that includes 3% annual wage increases, a slight increase in 401(k) benefits and a new medical plan from Aetna that increases costs, union leaders said. The union had proposed an IBEW-administered health plan that would have reduced costs for the company by nearly $13 million over four years, union leaders said, and bigger increases in retirement benefits to bring workers up to 2025 standards.

National Grid didn’t comment on specific figures in the contract, but said its offer provided "fair and equitable increases in compensation ... shift premiums and variable pay, expanded job security protection, retirement benefit enhancements, and a more cost-effective healthcare plan with better coverage for our employees and the company."

The company also charged that the tentative contract "does not contain any concessions by the union."

Guidice rejected that claim, noting that the union agreed to a fully electronic process for job posting, a paperless system for paychecks and more stringent rules on using sick time. "All those things save the company money," Guidice said, noting National Grid in 2024 received state-approval for a three-year contract that provides the company an average $30 a month rate increase from its approximately 600,000 Long Island gas customers.

Nevertheless, he said, "I’m coming back to the table fully ready to bargain." He said he hopes bargaining can resume on Monday.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.