Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS - The National Labor Relations Board has accused the operator of the Prairie Island nuclear power plant of violating federal labor laws by failing to negotiate in good faith with its workers.

The NLRB said Nuclear Management Co., which operates the Prairie Island facility for Xcel Energy Inc., improperly withheld wage increases for workers who voted in favor of union representation and refused to participate in collective bargaining meetings with employees who wore buttons critical of management.

The board also has accused Nuclear Management, which operates six nuclear plants in the Midwest, of withholding wage increases at the Point Beach nuclear plant in Twin Rivers, Wis., which the company operates for Wisconsin Electric Power Co.

Company spokeswoman Maureen Brown said Nuclear Management, based in Hudson, Wis., has done nothing wrong and that U.S. labor law obligates employers to maintain existing wages and benefits until a contract is negotiated.

Still, the legal action is a boost for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which has been locked in a bitter contract dispute with Nuclear Management since late 2002.

The NLRB has scheduled a July 13 hearing before an administrative law judge in Minneapolis.

Since taking over management of the Prairie Island plant in August 2001, Nuclear Management has increased output and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the plant its highest ranking for overall performance.

But union officials said working conditions at the plant changed soon after Nuclear Management took over. Some employees were asked to work longer hours for little or no extra pay, said Vince Guertin, business manager of IBEW Local 949.

In January 2002, a group of plant workers asked the IBEW to help negotiate a contract, Guertin said. Eventually, 135 chemists, engineers and quality-control specialists voted in favor of union representation.

Last year, Nuclear Management told employees who voted in favor of the IBEW that they wouldn't receive agreed-upon wage increases and bonuses, the board said.

The NLRB claims Nuclear Management also withheld wage increases for workers at the Point Beach nuclear plant eight days after workers there voted for union representation.

Nuclear Management disagrees with NLRB's interpretation of the law and intends to make its case before the administrative law judge, Brown said