Power Plant Unions Were Key To OH Nuclear/Coal Bailout. Surprise!! Utility Dumping Their Contracts

[hatrack]

EDIT

The power plant unions played what has been described as a key role in the company's media and lobbying campaigns to persuade Democrat lawmakers of the necessity of approving the unprecedented bailout in Ohio of an unregulated power plant company. And though it appears from the vote totals that Republicans would have been able to pass House Bill 6 in the House and Senate without help from Democrats, the margins of victory would have been much thinner. The final vote in the House was 51 to 38. To pass, a bill must have at least 50 votes in the 99-seat chamber.

Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, issued a statement Monday questioning FirstEnergy Solutions' move and praising unions for quickly filing their objection in bankruptcy court. "HB 6 was problematic because I thought it was a bad idea to direct rate payer money to a corporation who refused to unequivocally agree to protect and support union contracts and the men and women who rely on those contracts to put food on their table,” Sykes wrote.

“Less than 12 hours after the bill was signed into law, the ink hardly dry, FirstEnergy Solutions began backing away from the workers who depend on those jobs. FES can make this right by coming to the table and affirming and recognizing these union employees who deserve to be treated fairly through this process,” she continued.
Two other Democratic members of the House expressed outrage on Friday when reached for comment. Rep. David Leland, D-Columbus, and Rep. Michael J. O'Brien, D-Warren, both voted against HB 6.

"This is so blatant. This is like spitting in the face of every Ohio taxpayer," said Leland, adding that the company had said it would have to close its plants without the subsidy. "They are clearly more concerned about taking care of Wall Street than they are of taking care of workers at their plant. I think this is such a damaging piece of information that if this had been known before the vote, I don't know it would have passed."

EDIT

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/firstenergy-solutions-moves-to-ditch-union-contracts-for-bailed-out-plants/560236/

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Yup,it is called the old

hide the pickle. The pickle was the underlying bankruptcy due to the total competitiveness of First Energy's money losing Fossil Fuel Plants. That is what the best paid Lobbyist get paid for. Get the States Taxpayers to bail this POS out at the Workers Expense. Seen this crap before,run a save the Jobs campaign and then bail on the Workers before the Ink is Dry.