Bulletin special report: NPU’s salary, overtime costs rising fast Norwich, Conn. — Two major storms in 2011 — in August and October — paralyzed much of Connecticut. But while many Connecticut Light & Power customers were without power for a week or more after both storms, Norwich Public Utilities had the lights back on quickly in the city. But that response comes with a cost, and the cost continues to rise. Base salaries and overtime for NPU employees have increased significantly, according to a detailed breakdown of data from fiscal years 2008 through 2012 obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. In addition, overtime pay has accelerated, hitting a peak in fiscal year 2012 in which 147 of the utility’s 150 workers received extra pay and 52 of them — more than one-third of the utility’s workforce — earned at least $10,000 in overtime. Overall, overtime costs have increased 51.6 percent since 2008. Much of the overtime is nominal — one employee earned just $13.88 last year — but on average, those costs amount to nearly 10 percent of NPU’s overall payroll budget. Senior linemen Frank Markey and William Morell, along with Smith, the lineman, had the highest overtime average over the last five fiscal years. In all, 12 workers averaged more than $20,000 in overtime annually over the last five years. Markey had $46,606 in overtime compensation last year — the second-highest annual amount. Markey is on the executive board of Berlin-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Chapter 457, the largest of three bargaining units at NPU. He declined to comment for this story. John Fernandes, IBEW 457’s business manager and financial secretary, did not return a call seeking comment.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:52:55 +0000
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