NIPSCO’s Bad Faith
By Pat Hickey
April 22,2026
If something is performed in “good faith,” actions are put into play sincerely and honestly from the beginning to a fair conclusion. Lawyers use the adverb ab initio –from the inception. That is my concern and my opinion on an atrocious corporate transgression inflicted upon 1,600 American workers and hundreds of thousands of northwest Indiana customers.
On April 2, 2026, Northern Indiana Public Services Company locked out 1,600 US Steelworkers. NIPSCO They will keep the lockout until the union accepts their “last, best, and final offer.”
The lockout took place after NIPSCO (Blackstone and other related investment teams are said to be out of the affair) ran out the clock on the previous contract with the steelworker’s locals and offered nothing but what the teams from USW Local 12775 (largely male utility electric and gas workers) and USW Local 13796 (dominantly women clerical and support workers) put forward in “good faith.”
That is far from bargaining in “good faith.” That is 19th Century Robber Barony USA. Members of United Steel Workers (USW) locals are being treated to Old School thuggery, I believe.
Good faith? No, sir. This was an endgame.
A labor lockout in the 21st Century, on the heels of the most callous price gouging by a public utility, boils my bile. With the exception of Fox 32 Chicago, media coverage of NIPSCO and lockout has been empty. Prior to the lockout, WGN Chicago padded the corporate position of NIPSCO in a shameless rump smooch of COO Vince Parisi. Mr. Parisi blamed Mother Nature and whooped hosannahs for his October warning to NIPSCO customers. “I’m proud of how this system has operated. During this cold snap, less than point one of our customers have seen any interruption, and because of the great men and women that get out there and work in this cold weather, those interruptions have been very minimal,” Parisi said.
Praise Jesus! Praise NIPSCO!
There were no questions or comments about NIPSCO’s farming out of utility work, by-passing the trained and experienced union workers already employed to out of state contractors and at the same time demanding mandatory over-time hours of the rank-and-file workers. How is that? Greater rate pricing means greater profits to NIPSCO and its minority shareholders with Blackstone.
Blackstone is a corporate acquisition pirate ship, in this writer’s opinion. Blackstone Infrastructure Partners acquired a 19.9% minority stake in NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company) from NiSource for $2.15 billion, finalized in early 2024. Since then, NIPSCO has contracted utility work to companies far-and-away from Northern Indiana.
Allow me to set the table for this buffet of corporate greed and indifference to customers, but most of all employees.
Witness NIPSCO BILL PROJECTIONS
That was tossed to NIPSCO customers in October 2025 and boy did “bills vary.”
I am a senior citizen on a budgeted billing, and I pay about $185 per month for my small apartment in Michigan City. Winter is always a crap shoot for gas, and I have central air conditioning for the summer months. Three of my neighbors have paid over $875 per month since October. They are homeowners. What they pay, in good faith, happens to be $200 over the projected total above.
Why so much? Mother Nature? How about excess profits going to Blackstone and utility companies in Georgia, or Missouri?
Northern Indiana families have less money each month to spend in Gary, Hammond, Porter, and Michigan City. Al’s Supermarket, Lange’s Old-Fashioned Meats and Fish Camp suffer. Baggers, butchers, and bartenders in Indiana suffer.
These same suffering businesses and individuals have contributed to locked out steelworkers manning the picket lines here in Michigan City Infront of the padlocked gates of NIPSCO ovens, coal conveyors, and the iconic cooling tower. Pete Lange sends the workers hand-crafted smoked meat sticks. Nicole Bissonette owner and Michelin chef of Fish Camp sent over slider sandwiches and many others have dropped off pizzas and pop. Donuts from Al’s Supermarket were especially welcomed and disappeared like a NIPSCO offer.
USW LOCAL 12775 members on the picket line in front of NIPSCO in Michigan City (April 14, 2026)
Workers are locked out in 21st Century America, neighbors. The people padlocking the gates are no Rockefellers, or Fords. They send workers to workshops to learn what pronouns are ‘appropriate’ and refuse to pay female USW members the same rates as males. NIPSCO bargain robbers are like Mr. Burns on The Simpsons in Hugo Boss suits.
NIPSCO is trying to Facebook its way into the hearts of its customers. That does not seem to be working. On the picket line, USW members are greeted with a symphony of sympathy honks from passing vehicles. NIPSCO only cares about the needles on meters pointing to profits; USW workers only care that the lights go on when a customer throws a switch, or that the furnace kicks in.
Utility linemen, gas and electric, work a most dangerous job. Twenty-five workers, mostly linemen, have been killed in the line-on-duty, fixing leaks and twinning 42,000 Volt power line.
NIPSCO recently smeared these heroes as over-paid over-time hogs, to justify bloated utility rates. They have taken a page from the playbook of the politicians who stuff their campaign funds with NIPSCO gifts. NIPSCO smears the victims. USW members fight back.
Vice- President Vernon Beck has spent forty-seven years brawling for his brothers and sisters. The Vice President of USW 12775 had also been its President. Ryan Baker now holds that position and has been in a conference with NIPSCO since April 13th. I spoke with Vernon Beck and in all his time in utility service he has, “never seen such a shameless and unethical group of executives.”
To counter the Facebook smearing of utility workers compensation by NIPSCO, Mr. Beck writes, “I don’t see Nipsco proudly posting their executive wages! They make those millions in climate-controlled buildings. They are not out in the storms; they are not freezing in the winter. Storms and tornados do not typically happen on nice sunny days; they usually hit hot humid days. Blizzards do not usually hit on nice sunny winter days, they usually hit on frigid subfreezing days. The Nipsco union workers work in some of the worst weather because they care about their customers.
Nipsco executives are not the ones walking into dangerous situations on a daily basis. We have had 25 Nipsco union workers killed on the job because of our dangerous work and not a single management person has been killed on the job.
Nipsco executives are not telling the whole story, only sharing with the public the part that they think will get public stirred up against us. Shame on you Nipsco!”
Shame, indeed. Bad faith is rewarded with noticeably big bonuses for NIPSCO executives. Vince Parisi’s million dollars plus annual salary is bested three times that and much more.
I am a NIPSCO customer. I thank the men and women who risk their lives every day, when storms and drunk drivers take out utility poles, or who answer my neighbors’ warnings about a potential gas leak on Washington Street. I thank them for the heat and electricity. I pay NIPSCO.
This lock out is unjust and an affront to every person who slings a tool or taps the keys on a computer.
Good people of all political points of view supported the locked out workers. Late night negotiations and strong public voices and honking horns all along the picket lines from Hammond to LaPorte and Michigan City to Wheatfield have forced a breakthrough.
As of April 16, a tentative agreement came into fruition and forcing a vote by NIPSCO Employees to finalize any agreement stands tall.
As a NIPSCO customer, I hope that the collective executive suite suits have learned to come to the table in Good Faith.
USW membership will receive the agreement documents for review on Monday, April 20, 2026. Then on Thursday. April 23rd, 2026, all union members will vote at designated sites and times to agree, or dismiss the terms. Michigan City members will vote for or against the terms at St. Joseph Young Men’s Society at 2001 Franklin Street in Michigan City, between 2 PM and 4 PM.
The great people on the picket lines and good people sharing their story all over northern Indiana may win a great victory for working people.
For good faith information on this lock out, go to USW LOCAL 12775.org
Links related:
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/tentative-deal-reached-end-nipsco-usw-lockout
https://usw.org/press-release/usw-condemns-nipsco-lockout-of-1600-workers-across-northern-indiana/
https://wgntv.com/northwest-indiana/nipsco-ceo-addresses-high-bills/
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Born November 8, 1952 in Englewood Hospital, Chicago Illinois, Pat Hickey attended Chicago Catholic grammar and high schools, received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Loyola University in 1974, began teaching English and coaching sports at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, IL in 1975, married Mary Cleary in 1983, received a Master of Arts in English Literature from Loyola in 1987, taught at La Lumiere School in Indiana from 1988-1994, took a position as Director of Development with Bishop Noll
Institute in Hammond, IN and then Leo High School in Chicago in 1996. His wife Mary died in 1998 and Hickey returned with his three children to Chicago’s south side. From 1998 until 2019, it became obvious that Illinois and Chicago turned like Stilton cheese on a humid countertop. In that time, he wrote a couple of books and many columns for Irish American News. When the kids became independent and vital adults, he moved to Michigan City, Indiana, Hickey substitute teaches K-12 for Westville, Indiana schools and works as a tour guide/deckhand on the Emita II tour boat. He walks to the Michigan City Lighthouse every chance he gets.
Comments 7
I would like to publicly thank USW 12775 member and locked out NIPSCO employee Don Burns for helping me direct questions to the leadership of that heroic Local. I hope the vote on on April 23rd favors all who suffered under this lock out. Thanks again to Don Burns and all who stood on the picket lines.
“Unions are political organizations that don’t understand economics.”
—Frank Boreman (Born in Gary, IN)
When a writer starts using terms such as “Bad Faith”, “Corporate Greed”, and “Pirate Ship” that writer is repeating union rhetoric without involving reason, logic, or facts.
When a writer starts citing statistics such as “25 NIPSCO union workers killed on the job” without including the time frame that writer is repeating union rhetoric sans relevant context.
When a writer uses rhetoric, to spark pearl clutching outrage, that writer has succeeded. Have a nice day.
Typical corporate greed and union busting attempt.
Unfortunately, the big wigs will win. They always do, sadly.
Remember the line in the movie: ‘Greed is good’. That’s Capitalism.
I assume this is a public utility. Where are the IN pols in this? Oh, I forgot: in the pockets of these executives.
The next area of contention are the AI data centers. See lakecountychronicle.com. It describes the issue in Aurora. Right now Aurora has 5 centers with five more being built. There is a 24hr low sounding hum throughout the community. The public are told, suck it up and adapt.
To citizens in this area of IN: take heed, join the picket line. Bombard your lazy ass pols by inundating them complaints and as soon as possible VOTE THEM OUT.
Thanks, Mr. Hickey, for exposing this. NIPSCO, via their corporate owner Nisource was forced to make a deal with the devil by selling out to Blackstone, becoming essentially the “Bluestar” as depicted in the movie Wall Street.
I worked there over 34 years, about half as a contractor. In all that time there was never a union work stoppage. BTW, the idea that NIPSCO’s customer services have not been impacted by this is BS. Last Friday evening I lost power as the storm blew through. Based on the damage, and number of customers out, what should have been at most an outage of 8 hours was in fact 16. Note: I was in charge of the data system that tracks customer outage restoration for over a decade.
Tom, I loved NIPSCO. I point out the coal-burning operation on my Emita II tours and complemented its efficiency. This campaign since October sickened me, but not so much as the lock out of thousands of working people. The entire operation by NIPSCO suits seems a put-up job – inflated costs passed on to customers and massive profits to shareholders and executives, while farming out work to contractors instead of NIPSCO linemen? I hope things end soon.
Kind of like politics, seems the customer/taxpayer bears the brunt and those in power usually get the biggest cut.
Then, probably the biggest issue here is why did NIPSCO, a fully regulated utility, sell ~20% to Blackstone to begin with and why did regulators approve? Probably because some big swinging d**k power player somewhere got a free lunch, or something much more substantial than just a lunch.