The company “should think of people’s safety,” said Barbara Adams, a striker at the rally. One of the central issues in the strike is the lack of adequate staffing and the forced overtime many workers have to put in.

Adams also pointed out she had to cancel a doctor’s appointment when the company cut off medical coverage shortly after the strike began, even though the company had told workers their benefits would last 60 days.

A second issue in the strike is the company’s demand to cut benefits for retirees. At the rally workers recalled the recent examples of the Polaroid and Gillette bosses in the Boston area, who slashed retirement plans. “This company made a lot of money last year, record profits,” one worker said at the rally.

A large handmade banner read “Profits and Greed Before Workers in Need.”

Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, was one of the featured speakers at the rally. “It’s time for labor law reform and the end of scabs and replacement workers in America,” Roberts said.

Gary Sullivan, president of UWUA Local 369, chaired the program, which also included Donald Wightman, national President of the UWUA, and other local labor officials and politicians.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the union negotiating committee and the company reached a tentative agreement. No details of the proposal were released before the membership voted on the offer May 31.

On May 29, NStar announced it had retroactively reinstated health benefits to the striking workers.

Compounding NStar’s difficulty in keeping the gas and electric company operating with management personnel was a “nor’easter” on May 26. With its high winds and rain, the storm knocked out power to at least 20,000 NStar customers, the Boston Globe reported. Many had to wait 12 hours or longer for power to be restored.

Laura Garza contributed to this article.  
 
 
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