Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plant union workers overwhelmingly approved a new 4-year contract that ended their 18-day strike yesterday.
According to news reports, the vote was 395-64 in favor of the contract, which provides a 2 percent wage increase each year, said Theodore Skerpon, president of Local 97 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The major issue that created the dispute was over pension benefits for veteran workers which was resolved through negotiations.
Union officials said the workers’ benefits for older workers have been diminished somewhat and younger employees were enhanced to reduce the disparity between the two groups.
The strike by Local 97, which represents 580 of Nine Mile Point’s roughly 1,000 workers, was the first at Nine Mile Point and the first since 2003 at any U.S. nuclear plant.
The union workers will return to their jobs gradually over the next few days under a “reintegration plan” devised by plant owner Constellation Energy Nuclear Group.