Con-Ed Strike Could Be Coming This Weekend

For all the shit I give Con Ed, the great majority of it is expressly for the management. Sure the workers might have had a role in that steam pipe explosion that killed a woman and injured others last year, but the steam system shouldn't have really been there in the first place. Electric current has been around long enough for them to replace the old and dangerous system. Now the management is at it again, this time fighting with their union workers over pay....and it has gotten bad enough that thousands of utility workers will strike starting this weekend.

From The NY Daily News:

"We're miles and miles apart," said Joe Flaherty, spokesman for the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, which represents electric, gas and steam workers in all boroughs except Staten Island, as well as Westchester County.

Flaherty said Con Ed is refusing to budge on wages and medical costs, as well as a proposal that workers who retire while on workers' compensation have to repay benefits from their pensions.

"It's basically the Nancy Reagan school of negotiations - 'Just say no,'" he said. "It seems to us that they want to initiate a walkout."

Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin declined to discuss the status of the talks, but said utility managers are prepared to handle a strike.

"We plan for any contingencies - strike-related, too," he said. "More than half of our management is up from the ranks themselves."

Clendenin can talk tough to the media, but when push comes to shove he better get ready to negotiate with the UWUA. Does anyone really believe that the managers and himself can put on the gear and fix the myriad problems Con Ed has every time it starts to rain? When those severe storms hit the city (and especially up in Westchester) power goes out at the drop of a hat. Let's see what happens to the grid when 9,000 workers aren't there to get your back. Chances are there are going to be a lot of unhappy Con Ed customers...and when they hear about why it takes days instead of hours to fix the problem they'll be going after people like Clendenin and not workers that want a decent wage and good benefits.

If Con Ed can continuously ask for increased rate charges, they can pass some of it on to those that keep their decrepit system running.