Con Edison locked out more than 8,000 of its employees represented by Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2 at 2 a.m. on July 1 after the two sides failed to agree to a new contract or extend the previous one.
The two sides had hoped to agree to a new contract by the June 30 deadline. Contract talks broke down at 2 a.m. on July 1, shortly after the old contract expired. The work stoppage represents the first for Con Edison since 1983.
Con Edison said in a July 1 statement that 5,000 management personnel are filling in for the locked-out union workers to maintain electric, gas and steam service to the utility”™s 3.2 million customers. Con Edison has roughly 350,000 customers in Westchester County.
The utility said it offered to extend the UWUA Local 1-2 members”™ expiring contract for two weeks so that talks could continue. Con Edison said the union leadership declined but that the offer remains on the table.
Union leadership also declined an offer to continue negotiations under the condition that both sides agreed to give each other seven days advance notice of a strike or works stoppage.
As Con Edison”™s UWUA Local 1-2 workers begin picketing, union leadership today plans to call on federal mediators to intervene.
