West Penn Power maintenance workers vote for union

Eleven building maintenance workers at West Penn Power Co. of Greensburg and Potomac Edison of Williamsport, Md., have voted to join a union, the National Labor Relations Board said.

The NLRB in Pittsburgh said that the workers voted 11-0, with one vote being challenged, to join the Utility Workers Union of America Local 102, which represents West Penn Power line workers, said Kayla Blado, a spokeswoman for the NLRB. The mail-in ballots were counted on Jan. 24.

The NLRB mailed the ballots to workers at West Penn Power’s service center on Route 30 west of Jeannette; the company’s corporate offices on Cabin Hill Drive, Greensburg; the Latrobe service center; as well as operations in the Charleroi area, Connellsville, Kittanning, Waynesboro and at Potomac Edison in Williamsport, Md. They conduct day-to-day maintenance on the utilities’ commercial buildings across Southwestern Pennsylvania and Maryland. The two utilities are part of FirstEnergy Corp., based in Akron, Ohio.

Both the union and the company have five business days to file objections to the election. If no objections are filed, the results will be certified and the employer must begin bargaining in good faith with the union, Blado said.

“We recognize their decision and will begin the bargaining process consistent with federal labor law,” said Todd Meyers, a spokesman for West Penn Power.

The union is waiting for the NLRB to officially certify the results of the election, then negotiations on an initial contract could begin within a few weeks, Beck said.

The UWUA said the members sought union representation to address workplace issues including job security and concerns about their work being contracted outside of the company.

“These individuals understood they needed to change their worksites for the better and drove this process the entire way,” said UWUA Local 102 President Travis Beck. “They stood together throughout the process from 100% card check to unanimously voting to join the union.”