Linemen, call center workers, and other Peco employees went on strike Saturday. The roughly 1,500 unionized workers, part of IBEW Local 614, officially walked off the job just after midnight, becoming the first employees to strike in Peco’s history.
The work stoppage marks an escalation in what have been challenging negotiations between the union and Peco. The IBEW contract expired March 31, and both sides have accused the other of using unfair tactics.
Joseph Vassallo, 43, was among a dozen Peco workers picketing in the sun outside Peco’s Market Street building on Saturday. He expressed frustration that things had to come to this. The union business agent has worked for almost two decades as a Peco power line worker.
“I have been working 16-hour shifts almost every day before this,” Vassallo said. “The amount of time, effort, wear and tear on your body is a lot, and this is what they think our value is?”
Peco has a contingency plan in place, and customers shouldn’t expect delays or interruptions in service, Nicole LeVine, the company’s chief operating officer, has said.
“Our employees are the backbone of our business, and we recognize the talents and value they bring to the company,” Peco said in a statement after the strike announcement. ”We are bargaining in good faith and provided a competitive offer that is fair for employees and customers. Unfortunately, the contract between Peco and IBEW Local 614 expired on March 31, and the union has elected to strike.
“We are committed to engaging in good-faith negotiations to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, while supporting the long-term needs of our customers and the communities we serve. We encourage continued dialogue and hope the union will work with us to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Negotiations continued amid the strike Saturday, but Peco and the union failed to come to an agreement before wrapping up at 9 p.m., IBEW Local 614 said in a statement. Bargaining was slated to resume at 10 a.m. Sunday, and pickets would continue throughout the region, the union said.
In addition to raises and better healthcare benefits, the union wants its contract to include a uniform retirement plan for all members. Some 600 workers who were hired in recent years haven’t had a pension, while other groups have pension plans with varying terms.
Peco said that it had offered a nearly 20% wage increase over five years, as well as improvements to retirement and medical benefits.
In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Peco provides electricity to 1.7 million customers and natural gas to 553,000.
IBEW Local 614 said in a news release Friday that the union local representing Peco contractors and a half dozen locals representing workers for other regional utilities had directed their members not to cross the picket line.
Union president Larry Anastasi announced the strike just before midnight Friday outside the Hilton Hotel at Penn’s Landing, where negotiations had been taking place earlier in the day. With a large group of union members behind him, Anastasi was asked by a reporter whether workers were supportive of the strike.
“Hey, boys, they want to know if you’re ready to strike,” the union president said, letting the group answer.
“Yeah!” they responded in uproarious unison.
“We wish we had better news,” said Stuart Davidson, the union’s attorney.
What a strike means for Peco and its employees
Peco has said its contingency plan includes some workers who are familiar with the company’s specific system and others coming in from outside the region. The company has said customers should not expect delays or interruptions in service.
But utility companies sometimes encounter challenges when they bring in temporary staff from outside the region, says William Dwyer, associate teaching professor at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.
If they don’t know the area well, it takes them longer to get around, noted Dwyer, who previously worked in labor and employment relations at PSE&G in New Jersey.
Temporary workers “may not be familiar with Peco’s particular distribution network, the way that the system is designed, so there could be delays in operating based on safety concerns around that,” Dwyer said. “There’s a lot of efficiency that’s lost when you’re not dealing with your regular workforce doing the work.”
But if Peco’s contingency plan works efficiently, he says “that takes away a lot of the union’s leverage at the table.”
“They might end up accepting what they walked away from on the day of the strike,” he said.
Utility companies started moving away from providing pensions to new hires in the 1990s, Dwyer said, leaving a 401(k) as the typical retirement benefit. At Peco that happened later — the company stopped putting new hires into its pension plan in 2021, according to the union.
Peco and IBEW Local 614 now find themselves in a “high stakes” situation, says Dwyer.
There are downsides to a strike on both sides, he says. There’s the possible “loss of efficiency” at the company, and the “after effects of a strike or a lockout could take decades to get over in terms of damage to morale and the spirit of the workforce.”
Staff writer Michelle Myers contributed to this article.
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