FuelCell Energy being investigated by labor board
Union complaint alleges retaliation for organizing efforts
FuelCell Energy faces a National Labor Relations Board inquiry, after two workers claimed they were fired on the heels of organizing a labor union drive.
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 filed an initial complaint last month with NLRB on behalf of a handful of workers at FuelCell’s Danbury headquarters who monitor the operation of fuel cells at nearly 100 locations in the United States. IUOE Local 478 filed a followup complaint on Monday, in advance of FuelCell CEO Jason Few presiding at the Tuesday opening ceremony for the Nasdaq.
As of May, FuelCell reported having about 400 employees total in Danbury, Torrington and other locations, a slight increase from last fall.
Fuel cells produce electricity through a chemical process, analogous to a battery but using a continuous supply of hydrogen as a fuel. Connecticut and other states have subsidized the use of fuel cells to chip away at the reliance on natural gas power plants.
IUOE Local 478 states a small number of workers began the organization effort in October 2021 after getting small raises the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, against larger raises for Few and other senior executives as reported to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. While Few’s FuelCell compensation was ratcheted back in 2021, other executives got big increases a second straight year.
This past April, eight workers voted for the union, with four against. IUOE states management fired two workers within a fortnight and pressured another to leave. NLRB had yet to post links to the complaint on its website as of Tuesday afternoon.
In a response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query forwarded by an external public relations firm, FuelCell stated it does not comment on “employee status” for current or former workers.
NLRB cases are common in Connecticut, with dozens having been filed to date this year including eight the first week of June. That group included complaints against the Avangrid parent of United Illuminating; the Electric Boat subsidiary of General Dynamics; and Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Nationally, less than 500 of the some 14,300 unfair labor practice complaints last year generated an NLRB board order, though more than a third of the rest resulted in settlements. Remaining complaints were either dismissed or withdrawn.
FuelCell reached an important settlement late last year on another front — a long-running litigation battle with POSCO Energy, a South Korea company that had asserted license rights to FuelCell products.
The companies reached a settlement last December that included a stipulation for a Posco subsidiary to purchase 20 to 34 fuel-cell modules at $3 million a pop, but with FuelCell reporting a $24 million payment associated with the settlement that contributed to a $46 million loss for the quarter.
Add the new stream of Posco revenue to that derived from operating fuel cells and research contracts, and overall revenue more than doubled to $31.8 million for FuelCell’s first fiscal quarter ending in January. FuelCell reports secondquarter results on Thursday.
“We are actively engaged in real conversations about opportunities there,” said FuelCell CEO Jason Few, during a March conference call in reference to anticipated fuel cell sales in Asia. “They tend to be larger projects.”