WASHINGTON, DC (DECEMBER 22, 2025) – After almost a year of negotiations, Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) President James Slevin today called on Vestas to come to the table to bargain in good faith with MI-based wind technicians who voted to organize in February 2025. The company continues to obstruct progress toward a contract, including refusing to regularly schedule meetings and to address economic issues between the parties.
“This group deserves better than this,” said UWUA President James Slevin. “We’ve seen this maneuver time and again by companies that are just trying to run out the clock on the workers’ patience. We continue to stand by these workers as they seek improved wages, benefits and better work/life balance.”
During the few bargaining sessions Vestas management accepted, Vestas management refused to agree on even the most standard features of collective bargaining agreements.
“We have filed an unfair labor practice charge over Vestas’s failure to move forward with negotiations because in our belief, Vestas’s refusal to bargain about economics violates U.S. labor law. Furthermore, we have serious concerns regarding some of the retaliatory actions Vestas has taken against the workers who voted to form a union,” said Slevin.
The group of individuals contacted UWUA to address concerns about working conditions, work/life balance, and safety culture. The workers perform work high on turbine towers and come in contact with high voltage systems.
During two days in July, the air quality in Michigan was so hazardous due to wildfire smoke from Canada that it was a violation of Vestas safety rules for employees to work outside. When workers informed management about the poor air quality, Vestas sent union workers home rather than allowing them to continue to work in the shop as they have done in the past.
“This holiday season, we’re asking for Vestas to stop being a grinch and to come to the table and bargain in good faith,” said Slevin.
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Chartered in 1945, the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), AFL-CIO represents 45,000 active members employed in America’s utility sectors including the electric, gas, water, and related professional and service industries. James Slevin is UWUA’s National President. For more information visit https://uwua.net