Union Raises Complaints as Vote at Reliant Plant Fails

Workers at a Reliant Energy Inc. plant in San Bernardino County voted overwhelmingly this week to reject union representation, but a Utility Workers Union of America official said his organization will file a complaint citing “numerous violations” by the company.

The union’s chief complaint is that Houston-based Reliant offered a bonus program to workers who meet certain production goals.

The offer, however, would not be available to workers who are unionized or have filed a petition for a union election.

The UWUA plans to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the issue, said Bernardo Garcia, a regional director for the union.

“That’s clearly illegal,” Garcia said.

Reliant spokesman Richard Wheatley said the bonus--$500 to $2,000 a month--was intended to improve production during the difficult summer months, and not to influence the union campaign.

The company has said workers at plants that are unionized or have filed a petition for a union election would not be eligible because the company cannot legally improve pay or benefits during a union campaign.

James Small, an assistant director for the National Labor Relations Board, said the Reliant bonuses fall into a gray area.

“Normally, employers are not allowed to grant bonuses during a campaign,” he said. “[But] this is not a simple case. We’ll have to look at the totality here.”

The election was seen as a test of labor’s ability to reorganize at the plants it lost after deregulation.

Of a dozen plants sold by Rosemead-based Edison International after energy deregulation, nine that were bought by Reliant and Virginia-based AES Corp. went nonunion over the last year. The Utility Workers Union, Local 246, lost half its membership in a matter months.

In Tuesday’s vote at Reliant’s Etiwanda plant in San Bernardino County, only nine of 33 workers voted for the union.

“I think the thing that swung the vote was the bonus that Reliant was offering--or not offering--to workers,” said union organizer Dan Dominguez. The timing of the bonus, which came last month several days after Reliant lost a similar battle at its Coolwater generating plant in Barstow, was no coincidence, he said.

In Barstow, workers voted 17 to 15 to rejoin the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 47.

Despite Tuesday’s setback, Dominguez said, the Utility Workers Union will continue its efforts at reorganizing at other power plants throughout the state.

Reliant shares fell a penny to close at $41.54 on the New York Stock Exchange.