Around 200 local Equitable Gas workers are scheduled to vote Sunday on a new three-year contract with the company, four days after their old agreement expired.
United Steelworkers Local 12050 represents the local workers who install meters and lines and respond to customers' calls for the gas utility, part of North Shore-based Equitable Resources Inc.
USW spokesman Patrick Young said Friday the tentative pact reached Tuesday increases wages and clarifies contract language on retiree health care and disability issues, though details were unavailable.
The union said it wants to bring Equitable workers into line, pay-wise, with other local natural gas workers. "At Columbia and Dominion, they're making $2 or $3 an hour more," he said.
Meanwhile, Equitable also is facing a dispute with the USW in Kentucky. A federal judge there has upheld an arbitrator's award ordering Equitable to honor its contract with 54 members of USW Local 8-512, the union said yesterday.
Equitable merged its Kentucky West Virginia Gas into two other business segments and contends this invalidates the union contract and bargaining relationship, the USW said, adding Equitable plans an appeal.
Equitable spokesman Wayne Desbrow said yesterday the USW contract in any event would run only through Oct. 15. The company's position is that the union could work to organize employees in the merged operations, or otherwise seek to be certified, he said.
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