Dozens walk picket line after company turned away workers April 2

This article is brought to you by Moore’s Home Health and Medical Supply. For more than 70 years, Moore’s Home Health has been Howard County’s leading provider of assistive and adaptive ​home medical equipment and supplies. Call 765-454-5210 or visit Moore’s at 608 W. Markland Ave. to let them help meet your healthcare needs!

Lines of people have been standing along East Boulevard for more than a week, waving signs and entreating motorists to honk. The effort is to raise awareness that NIPSCO, the primary provider of natural gas in Kokomo, has locked out its workers across the state and is refusing to negotiate a new contract with its workers.

So, those workers – 20 of them, locally – and their friends and family have been joined by local unionists and supporters is demonstrating against the company until it agrees to return to the bargaining table.

“It’s an illegal lockout,” said Domonick Durham, a member of United Steelworkers Local 12775, NIPSCO employee, and picket line captain. “What makes it illegal is they’re refusing to come to negotiation table right now.

“What they’re trying to do is scrub our contracting-out rule so they can contract out work. And when they contract out work, that pushes the cost directly the customer So, this isn’t only a union problem. We’re fighting for the community, too.”

Durham explained that the contract between the union and NIPSCO expired April 2 after a two-day extension produced no results. Since then, the workers have been walking the picket line. It hasn’t gone smoothly at times. A contract worker – a scab, in labor language -- crossing the picket line incited an altercation last week, and multiple incidents of hired security guards laying hands on picketers have been reported. But the workers and their supporters remain resolute.

Some of those supporters include candidates seeking statewide political offices. Kirsten Root, MSW, a Democratic candidate for Indiana Senate District 21, was joined by Jack Chance (Democratic candidate, House District 30), Nate Stout (Democratic candidate House Distrist 38), Natasha Baker (Democratic candidate, Senate District 22), and Blythe Potter, (Democratic candidate, Indiana Secretary of State) in writing a letter to NIPSCO leadership, demanding that NIPSCO end the lockout and negotiate a new contract in good faith.

“While standing on the picket line (April 7), a union worker told me about his wife who suffered a stroke last year,” wrote Root. “She is paralyzed and no longer able to work as a respiratory therapist. Following the buyout of the hospital she worked at, she was fired. The couple had to change insurance midyear despite meeting their deductible.

“Now, they are at risk of once again losing their benefits because of NIPSCO’s decision to lock out union workers. She will not receive the services she requires to stay alive and recover because NIPSCO refuses to offer fair contracts. Under your hands, this cruelty and suffering can be completely avoided …

“When public utility workers are locked out and replaced with outside contractors, it is not just a labor issue. It puts lives at risk, jeopardizing families, workers, service, and NIPSCO’s brand within those communities. That trust and reputation will be harder to rebuild the longer you deny workers a fair contract.

“NIPSCO’s profits are at a record high. NiSource had a gross profit of $5 billion in 2025 and is projected to have even higher profits through 2039. Meanwhile, workers are being denied fair and safe contracts, while consumers saw a 27-percent increase on their bills in 2025. Do you really expect profits to continue rising while you destabilize the communities that fund them? This practice is unsustainable …

“In the wake of this lockout the community has spoken, so let’s make things clear: Utilities are not a business that can focus solely on profits, they’re an integral part of the infrastructure we all rely on. Union workers are being illegally locked out of their buildings to avoid accountability, safe working conditions, and appropriate pay. While NiSource executives revel in their million-dollar compensation packages, union workers are left without pay, and families will lose their life-dependent benefits in the upcoming weeks.

“We are demanding NIPSCO immediately end the lockout and return with good faith negotiations. Offer workers a fair contract and stop exploiting workers while hoarding the profit. The people of Indiana stand with the unions. We will not be intimidated, and we will not abandon our fellow workers.”

Durham disclosed that the union’s goals in the next contract had nothing to do with raises. The workers instead want a better quality of life. Those pleas were rejected.

“They’re trying to ruin our work-life balance,” said Durham. “They want us to work mandatory overtime. They’re trying to entice us with more money in the next contract, but we’re not looking for that. We just want work-life balance, better healthcare benefits, and we want to get back to work.”

More than 1,600 workers and their families across Indiana are directly impacted by the lockout, including 20 families in Kokomo. The union has a strike fund which it can use to partially support its displaced members, and the workers qualify for unemployment benefits since NIPSCO voluntarily locked out its employees.

“Whether you like unions or you don’t, this is 1,600 families being hurt,” said Durham. “(NIPSCO) wants to gouge its workers. It wants to gouge its customers. This is corporate greed at its finest.

“We just want support. We want to be heard. We want everybody to come out, walk the picket line with us, and spread awareness. We can’t let these greedy corporations take over the working class. Let’s get back to the bargaining table.”