Electrical union greenlights HEI sale

Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc. won a victory Tuesday with the endorsement by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260 of the power company’s effort to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries.

The union, which represents a majority of HECO’s nonmanagement employees, is one of the 27 groups involved in the Public Utilities Commission’s decision on whether to approve the sale, a necessary step for the deal to close.

The union is the first of the major political players involved to come out in support of the sale. Gov. David Ige, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Office of Planning and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism have all said they are opposed.

“It seems like all of the interveners formed a political opposition to the merger, including IBEW 1260,” said Bill Boyd, associate specialist at the University of Hawaii at West Oahu’s Center for Labor Education and Research. “It was a coalition. In order for the coalition to succeed, it had to have everyone.” Boyd contributed to the documents the IBEW filed with the PUC as an expert witness.

Colin Moore, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said the union support will help NextEra.

“Unions in Hawaii are very powerful,” Moore said. “We have the second-highest union density in the nation, just under New York state.

“The IBEW is a pretty powerful union. In a state where it is really one party that matters and the Democratic Party is pretty sensitive to union views, I think this is significant. One union might not make an enormous amount of difference, but if others came out that would matter. Members of other unions are more likely to favor this merger if this union voiced support.”

State Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Waimanalo), an outspoken opponent of NextEra’s acquisition of HEI, said the new support for the sale won’t change public opinion.

“NextEra’s plans to keep rates high to pay millions to CEOs and shareholders in Florida,” Lee said. “People don’t want another 40 years of high electric bills, so unless NextEra is willing to exceed the much greater savings a publicly owned co-op can provide, I don’t think support from any intervener is going to change public opinion.”

Lee was among more than 20 state and county leaders who gathered at the state Capitol in September to support looking into public ownership of electrical utilities in Hawaii.

Local 1260 said it changed its stance after NextEra committed in a written agreement to recognize the union as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for its members and to train current and future union members for new jobs that would evolve with new technologies, and promised there would be no layoffs for a two-year period following the closing of the sale. NextEra made the promise of no layoffs for two years in December when it first announced its intention of buying HEI.

“I am very proud to see that this lengthy and exhaustive process has culminated in an agreement that best serves not only Local 1260 and NextEra Energy,” said Local 1260 business manager and financial secretary Brian Ahakuelo in a statement, “but also provides protections for our members and their families, has great benefits for our communities, and will deliver both short and long-term cost benefits to energy consumers across this state.”

After announcing its support of NextEra’s purchase, the union withdrew its position as an intervening group in the PUC’s review.

Local 1260 previously said it was opposed to the sale because NextEra made no commitments to train HECO union workers for anticipated renewable-energy jobs. Local 1260 members include call center employees, meter readers, linemen and mechanics.

On Sept. 1 the IBEW said in a news release, “Based on NextEra’s non-committal to Local 1260’s utility bargaining unit and Hawaii’s skilled unionized workforce overall, Business Manager (Brian) Ahakuelo has no choice but to oppose NextEra’s petition to acquire Hawaiian Electric, unless and until, NEE can make a substantive and long-term contractual agreement with Local 1260.”

Local 1260 said Tuesday’s announcement came after several months of intense negotiations that began in December.

NextEra said the company looks forward to partnering with the union.

“We are pleased that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260 supports the proposed merger of NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric,” said Rob Gould, NextEra spokesman, in an email. “We recognize and appreciate the vital importance of Hawaiian Electric to its employees, the IBEW Local 1260, their families and communities. Together with Hawaiian Electric and the IBEW, we look forward to partnering with the state to achieve a more affordable, 100 percent renewable energy future for Hawaii.”