Lawmakers call on Gov. Cuomo to sign bill to protect Indian Point workers

Some state lawmakers are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill meant to protect Indian Point workers.

News 12 Staff

Dec 19, 2019, 10:32 PM

Updated 1,588 days ago

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Some state lawmakers are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill meant to protect Indian Point workers.
This comes as the power plant is set to shut down in less than two years.
Time is running out on the bill, which passed both the Assembly and Senate last legislative session. Cuomo has until the beginning of the next session - next month - to sign.

“If he does not sign this legislation before Jan. 8, we go back to square one,” says Sen. Peter Harckham.

It would be a step backward in the fight to remedy the many problems the closure of Indian Point will bring to the northern Westchester community, and a reason Sen. Harckham says he is urging the governor to sign the Indian Point Workforce Protection Bill.
The bill would require the company that takes over the plant after it closes in 2021 to hire first from the existing pool of nearly 1,000 Indian Point workers and pay them what they already make.

"We have heard from other power plants where either the workers have been brought in from other states at much lower wages and then that money is sent home,” says Harckham.

Spokesperson Jerry Nappi says Holtec International, the company vying to decommission the plant, will retain some employees after the closure.

"There is going to be an opportunity for about 300 employees that will have the opportunity to stay at this site, even after it shuts down,”says Nappi

The governor’s office tells News 12 the Legislature passed more than 900 bills last session. About 100 of them including this one remain under review.
A spokesperson said in a statement, "It is our responsibility to ensure that the bills, as written, are responsible, enforceable and accomplish their intended purpose."
Entergy is also offering every employee a job within the company after the closure of Indian Point, but those jobs will require them to move.
 


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