A Union representative has said dozens of employees voted to stop the strike with ENSTAR without getting a new contract.
The company would have to accept the offer of employees returning to work on Friday.
The strike began August 11 with over 100 union workers across southcentral Alaska who said ENSTAR was attempting to cut health benefits and pension plans.
During the beginning of the strike, we spoke with Union General Council Chuck Dunnagan who voiced the members’ concerns over ENSTAR wanting to switch to a 401-k-style benefit package for new employees.
Dunnagan: “If we make the concession on the pension issue, the concern is it’s only a matter of time before these guys come back and circle back on the benefits that these guys have now, and there’s a lot of emotion about that, and a lot of concern about it.”
Union officials say the strike didn’t have the effect they wanted, so employees decided to return to the workplace, where they will continue to negotiate for a new contract.
