Overview
- IBEW Local 614 announced on June 25 that roughly 1,500–1,600 PECO employees will walk off the job starting July 4 if no new contract is reached.
- The union has been negotiating since January, its five-year contract expired March 31, and members authorized a strike in late May after talks stalled.
- Union demands focus on higher wages, restoring pension protections by ending PECO’s tiered retirement system and improved medical benefits; the tiered system has left hires since 2021 with reduced or no pension.
- PECO says it has offered a market-competitive package that would amount to about 20% pay growth for field staff over five years, notes linemen averaged roughly $243,000 in 2025 including overtime, and says contingency staffing plans are ready.
- The sides will meet again on July 2 after months of bargaining and mutual unfair-labor-practice filings, and the union chose the holiday deadline to increase pressure because the work is safety-critical and highly visible during outages.