Sandy utility crews complain of payroll delay

National Grid crewmen from Fredonia, N.Y., repair power lines on Port Washington Blvd. that were brought down from the effects of Superstorm Sandy on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Port Washington, N.Y. / AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek

MINEOLA, N.Y. Mike Valaskatgis slept in his National Grid truck for two nights, and then on a cot two more nights before getting a bed in a hotel room during a 10-day visit to New York last month to help in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

The Gloucester, Mass., overhead lineman said he logged 18-hour days working in various Long Island neighborhoods to restore power. He opened his latest paycheck this week, and was disgusted to see that an estimated $7,000 in overtime has yet to be paid.

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Before-and-after views of Sandy destruction

"It was frustrating up until today. Now I'm angry," he told The Associated Press Thursday in a telephone interview. "I'm going to get it eventually, but I shouldn't have to go looking for it."

Valaskatgis is one of thousands of National Grid utility workers complaining they have yet to be fully compensated. Some say they haven't received their overtime pay, others contend they have gotten paychecks with zeros, while still others say payroll deductions they arranged for mortgage, child support and alimony payments were not made, according to union officials.

The problems, according to a spokesman for energy company National Grid, stem from a conversion to a new payroll software system in the weeks preceding the Oct. 29 storm that knocked out power to millions in the Northeast.

National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said the company is working swiftly to resolve the problems, but union officials say that just like customers who groused about being left in the dark for days or weeks longer than they expected, workers are growing increasingly impatient waiting for a resolution. Several lawsuits have been filed and complaints have been filed with state attorneys general, union officials said.

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National Grid has approximately 17,000 employees in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It contracts with the Long Island Power Authority to operate electric operations in the New York City suburb and parts of Queens, where more than 1 million customers lost power. Workers from all three states have complained about incorrect or overdue paychecks, union officials said.

"We're very frustrated," said Dan Hurley, president of Braintree, Mass.-based Local 369 of the Utility Workers Union of America. "People are not getting paid." He said some workers have received paychecks for a standard 40-hour work week; others have been paid for less than 40 hours, despite working those hours plus many more in overtime. In other instances, workers have been paid at incorrect hourly rates.

"We had hundreds of workers who went down there," Hurley said of Massachusetts workers who went to New York for several weeks of repair work. "They answered the call, and they would do it again."

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[TRIXIE9038]

A) Yes they converted to SAP and are blaming SAP for this;
B) I've been complaining to them since November 7th about the fact they are withholding my son's (and several other families) child support from our ex's paychecks but not distributing it to us.
C) While they run around in circles chasing their tales with Payroll blaming Accounts Payable, Accounts Payable blaming Citibank and some bean counter claiming the dogs ate their homework they've wasted 30 days where they could have simply run an A/P Outstanding Payables Ledger and manually created checks for those of us without child support.

So before you crucify the union workers for looking for their overtime please keep in mind the families without child support, the car, tuition, mortgage and insurance payments that were not forwarded to the proper companies and the stress of our ex's working for a company that simply doesn't care enough to tell the truth about this.

[Hadenoughuc1220000]

Bet the Fat at the top - CEO'S ect got there overpaid paychecks !!!!!! While the actual working man needs to wait.

[bostonmad]

National Grid Management- Get your name and face on the news, try to be the hero, commit your people and resources, then like all good American large corporations, screw around with the employees, make sure the bottom line for the current month/ quarter, whatever, looks good. If not, short the worker and promise they'll get their pay real soon. All for the stockholders. Maybe it';s time in a situation like we had with Sandy, that the customer and your employees come first for the short run and maybe the stockholders should suck it up and support the effort.

New payroll system..RIGHT!!!.. just bush league crooked management

[bostonmad]

National Grid Management- Get your name and face on the news, try to be the hero, commit your people and resources, then like all good American large corporations, screw around with the employees, make sure the bottom line for the current month/ quarter, whatever, looks good. If not, short the worker and promise they'll get their pay real soon. All for the stockholders. Maybe it';s time in a situation like we had with Sandy, that the customer and your employees come first for the short run and maybe the stockholders should suck it up and support the effort.

New payroll system..RIGHT!!!.. just bush league crooked management

[askagain]

$7,000 in overtime pay from a storm that has left many people homeless or living in cold homes without electricity. In case these power workers don't realize it, Sandy was a natural disaster. At least these power workers have jobs which is more than many people have.

[livingtxlife]

Are you trying to take financial advantage of them because they are blue collar workers?

[bostonmad]

Another Republican scum bum. Bet you don't work and not get paid...isn't that the anthem of the GOPEE party

[bobnjersey]

[He said the company started a year ago to upgrade its payroll computer system and the final conversion process had started Oct. 3, several weeks before the superstorm struck. ]
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you should have known that the new version of excel wasn't going to cut it.

[matt6052]

Failing front-line responders is failing the hurricane victims themselves. Under no circumstances can anyone blame those who are on the ground assisting victims. When FEMA delivers a truckload of bagged ice to an apartment building where the pipes have been frozen for days, it isn't the fault of those driving or unloading the truck. It is the fault of management above. The only solution is for FEMA managers to stay responsive to the people at the front.

[rjack61]

Now what does FEMA have to do with this story? Please stay on point.

[matt6052]

Everybody hate FEMA. I thought that was the point.