Who Cut off the Lights?

On Sunday, July 15, the standoff between Con-Ed and Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America, inched a little closer to an accord after Con-Ed agreed to reinstate the health insurance of the 8,000 utility workers it had locked out beginning July 1, amidst a contract labor dispute, a company spokesman said.

The workers have been collecting unemployment benefits for the last two weeks since the start of the labor dispute, but they had to pay for their own prescription medicine and doctor visits, because the company cut off health coverage when the old contract expired, at midnight June 30.

Con Ed also wants to increase the share of health insurance costs for the utility workers over four years to 24 percent, from 17 percent, but it also has offered to increase their wages by 10 percent over the next four-year contract.

Negotiations resume today, but apart from that one concession made on Sunday, neither side seems willing to budge further.

And with record-high temperatures predicted for this Tuesday through Thursday, city officials are watching to see how the company will handle possible power outages with a scaled-down staff.

Who would you blame if a power outage were to affect you in any way over the next few days? Con-Ed has made one concession, so is it time for the union to bend a little more, or do you feel it should stand its ground for its workers?

Take our poll, and tell us what you think in the comments?