By Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com The Huntsville Times
on November 02, 2012 at 11:28 AM, updated November 02, 2012 at 1:54 PM

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Vehicles are submerged on 14th Street near the Consolidated Edison power plant Monday, in New York. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo)

DECATUR, Alabama - Ray Hardin, general manager of Decatur Utilities, verified claims that his crews were returned home from Hurricane Sandy recovery because they are not union-affiliated but he says they were not "turned away."

Media reports overnight stated that three area utilities were turned away in New Jersey, but Huntsville Utilities and Joe Wheeler Electrical Membership Cooperative said this morning the claims are not true. 

Read story here.

Huntsville crews are working today on Long Island and Joe Wheeler crews, which are unionized, are on their way home after completing jobs in Maryland for Sandy recovery.

The press release states that six Decatur Utilities workers were not in New Jersey but were stopped at a staging area in Virginia and asked to sign papers for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before they could assist in storm recovery.

Here is the press release in its entirety:

"Decatur Utilities sent a 6-man crew to the Northeast Wednesday, October 31, bound for Seaside Heights, N.J., to assist with power restoration. Communication with Seaside Heights was poor due to lack of cell phone service in the area. Upon arriving at a staging area in Virginia, crews were held in place pending clarification of documents received from IBEW that implied a requirement of our employees to agree to union affiliation while working in the New York and New Jersey areas. It was and remains our understanding that agreeing to those requirements was a condition of being allowed to work in those areas. As we waited for clarification, we became aware that Seaside Heights had received the assistance they needed from other sources. To be clear, at no time were our crews 'turned away' from the utility in Seaside Heights.

"In connection with state and regional public power associations, Decatur Utilities attempted to contact other areas that needed assistance. However, based on the uncertainty of union requirements that we could not agree to and the uncertainty of whether a resolution could be reached, we ultimately made the decision to return them to Decatur after being stalled in the Virginia area most of the day on Thursday."