Gothamist: Con Ed, Union Continue Talks; Deadline at Midnight

FrankTheTank

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:37:15 -0500

Most of con edisons construction divisions are HIGHLY skilled labor. Take a look at going wages for Lineman specifically around the country. Con Ed is on the low end, and it's workers live in one of the most expensive cities. Without a union, safety would take a back seat and you would see significantly higher rates of injuries and deaths, both to the public and the workers.

csk

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:42:12 -0500

s.d. no college degree and making 100k is being overpaid. not jealous, just keepin' it real. maybe i'm still bitter about the blackout where con ed did nothing to repay those inconvenienced by their inept behavior. unions should all be abolished. it's bad for the US. look at gm and ford. you suck money out of true market forces.

JMH

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:44:03 -0500

If there are 26,000 applicants for 528 positions, I think the salary and benefits that are already in place are a lot better than their union would have us believe.

eyekantspel

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:06:34 -0500

I only know what ConEd has supposedly offered, does anyone know what the union is demanding? I can certainly agree that a .5 percent increase doesn't seem like much - and it probably isn't unreasonable for the union to be requesting more. The problem is that these increases are always a one way street -- it's .5 percent for year 1, compounded by another 1% in the next couple of years... Also need to factor how an increase rippples into overtime costs. Maybe a greater increase is warranted, but it would help to know what the union's position is here. Are there arcane positions that the union can allow management to eliminate to create cost savings? What health care/fringe benefits/pensions do these folks get? A couple of percentage points applied across the board to retirement benefits can equal a lot of money. So far, I have to say that the union seems to be acting pretty reasonably. Hopefully our ConEd overlords are as well.

dick980

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:59:46 -0500

realize that most these guys make OT, and anyone with 10+ years usually makes more than 100K. Not bad for not having a college diploma. Sometimes I wonder why they make so much OT when I see them sitting around in their trucks all day.

S.D.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:56:46 -0500

csk, You have any facts to base that assertion or are you just jealous of ConEd Employees? And I'm just dying to know: What can the mayor possibly do to workers in a private company?

whantmoore

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:42:34 -0500

Well Con ed cant keep the power on with out a strike in the summer cant wait to see what happens when workers strike

csk

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:20:04 -0500

you won't win with a strike. bloomberg will kick your ass. most con ed workers are already overpaid, more so than twu workers.

fugothamist

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:19:46 -0500

^^ meant to type 40K

fugothamist

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:17:29 -0500

.5% raise on a 49K salary that what, $200? nice!