Some observations from a nuclear worker

Seasonal Nuclear Workers Unemployment Benefits Denied due to Act 60 

Background: I am a seasonal worker in the nuclear industry. I ran out of unemployment benefits on December 28, 2013, and my 2014 application for benefits was denied under new guidelines in Pennsylvania Act 60. I have approached my local state representative for assistance in correcting the legislation, as it appears to me to target a small portion of the people that unemployment is designed to assist. I did not speak directly to my representative, but shared my concerns with his staff. I collected the information below as a follow-up to my meeting, and to share the names of the three legislators that I found are working to correct Act 60. 

Unfortunately, I found no articles that focus on nuclear workers. We are not a particularly large segment of the population, and mostly stay under the media radar.  However, we provide a vital service to the nation’s power grid. It appears that Act 60 was passed without consideration of the impact it will have on industries such as the Nuclear power industry. 

Beginning January 1, 2013, many nuclear workers employed by Pennsylvania companies are not qualifying for unemployment benefits under Pennsylvania’s new Act 60. Act 60 legislation was crafted “to help reduce the state’s $4 billion debt in borrowed federal unemployment benefits.” according to an article in the Republican Herald on February 4, 2013. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Laborors' Local 373 web page contains a succinct summary of the changes to unemployment under Act 60.

Nuclear power plants supply power to the national power grid continuously for 18 to 24 months, and are taken offline for routine maintenance and inspections. Maintenance and inspections occur typically in spring and fall, “outage seasons” for the nuclear worker.

There is a significant amount of work to be done at each nuclear power plant during an outage. Very little of this work can be categorized as unskilled. The plant has to bring in hundreds of full-time and temporary contract workers who must pass stringent background checks before they are allowed to enter the facility. The industry invests a lot of money to find qualified workers who can pass the background checks and are willing to leave home for weeks at a time to work long hours, often in hot conditions, wearing uncomfortable protective clothing.

Because of accounting and payroll delays, most of a nuclear worker’s pay will arrive during the second and fourth quarters of the year. Since it is nearly impossible to achieve a perfect split in hours between the two outage seasons, one of those two quarters is likely to provide more than 50.5% of a nuclear workers annual pay.

I did not qualify for unemployment benefits in 2014, and will not qualify again next year unless Act 60 is modified or repealed. In my humble opinion, my pay rate is fairly low considering working conditions. My rate is definitely not enough to stretch 26 weeks of earnings to 52 weeks of living expenses. I will be seeking additional employment or another line of work after this season ends. I have heard from many of my co-workers that they have had their unemployment claims denied, and they will need to find new employment too.

My employer set my pay rate knowing that I’d qualify for unemployment. I understand that they pay a high tax to the government due to the large number of unemployment claims that come from company layoffs each season. Now that the government is no longer paying claims to most of these laid-off employees, will the government reduce unemployment taxes on these employers? If so, I would contend that within one year, the reductions in employer taxes as a consequence of Act 60 will nullify the stated benefit of reducing the unemployment shortfall.

A quick scan of internet articles on this topic indicates that there may be a growing trend across the country to eliminate unemployment benefits for seasonal workers. If this trend continues, will there be a significant impact on the nuclear industry’s ability to attract qualified workers?

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Some Pennsylvania legislators who have expressed concerns about seasonal workers I found three legislators named in articles about unemployment for seasonal workers.

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(1) Pennsylvania State Representative for Schuylkill County, Neal Goodman.

"Goodman said he expects more people to be calling their legislators as the year goes on. "That's how you get people's attention - when employees and employers begin to complain about the negative ramifications of this legislation. You get their attention and that's how changes are made."

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(2) State Senator Sean Wiley (northwest PA) "...says the law is high on his priority list, saying the Act 60 Law is having an impact on the seasonal workforce."

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(3) State Rep. Marty Flynn, D-113, Scranton is mentioned as a potential advocate for changing the legislation in the following article:  Irwin W. Aronson, a labor attorney practicing in Harrisburg, called the denial of unemployment compensation to workers who pay for it "mean-spirited and unreasonable." "Not only are workers and their families going to have to the choose between medicine, milk and sugar and shoes, they have been disqualified for an insurance for which they pay premiums," he said.

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If Act 60 affects you, I'd encourage you to contact your Pennsylvania state legislator (click on this link to get their name).  Please send me their name if they indicate they support legislation to modify Act 60.