Close to 90 employees of Vermont Yankee rallied today as the deadline for a new union contract approaches.
Close to 90 employees of Vermont Yankee rallied today as the deadline for a new union contract approaches.
The employees said that Entergy, the new owner of the plant, is not concerned with the safety that comes with experienced employees and that profits for shareholders are being put first.
The deadline for a new contract is next Thursday, they said, and that if Entergy is unwilling to budge in the negotiations, the workers will go on strike.
The employees have been told that their share of health care costs will go from 2% of their salary now to nearly 10% under the plan offered by Entergy, an increase of 500%.
The employees spoke of the safety of the plant. They said they have faith in the "living, breathing machine" that is the plant, but not if unskilled workers are brought in to break the strike. At least two political representatives spoke out in favor of labor rights and said they were with the workers on this one.
The group plans a very visible campaign to alert the public to the safety risks Entergy is willing to undertake to squeeze additional profits from the plant.