For Release: 03/19/2009

Wisconsin Public Service Issues 12-month Notice of Possible Union Layoffs

While the company calls layoffs the "least desirable option," it must have flexibility if the economy doesn’t begin to recover in the next year.

Green Bay, WI – In largely a procedural move, Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG) has issued a layoff notice to Local 310 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Due to the 12-month notice requirement in the union contract, uncertainties of the current economy, a decrease in customer-generated work requests, and a drop in electricity use by customers, the company felt it was prudent to issue the notice now – even though laying off employees is the least desirable option. The notice reflects certain Energy Supply as well as Energy Delivery and Customer Service jobs in certain locations.

“We made this procedural move, because Local 310 has a 12-month layoff notice in its contract,” said Barb Nick, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery and Customer Service. Nick noted that WPS had already noticed a reduction in the demand for electricity, as well as decreased requests for new electric and natural gas service because new construction is down. “However,” she said, “if the economy rebounds in the next year, we won’t have a need for these layoffs.”

Integrys officials said the company is also looking to balance work and the number of workers required in other union and non-union areas of the company, including its subsidiaries in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.

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