Overview
- A strike-authorization vote was held Saturday by about 1,500 members of IBEW Local 614, a procedural step that would let leaders order a walkout but does not automatically trigger one.
- Union negotiators are seeking higher wages, a single retirement plan for all hires and improved healthcare benefits, with roughly 600 newer employees currently lacking a pension.
- Bargaining has been active since January with roughly 17 in-person sessions and the next meeting set for June 3, and both sides have filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
- Peco says it has confidential contingency staffing plans to keep electric and gas service running if workers walk off the job, and the company serves about 1.7 million electric and 553,000 gas customers in the region.
- The dispute could have wider effects because Peco reported strong profits and briefly sought a rate hike in March, so a work stoppage would heighten public and regulatory scrutiny and could speed negotiations or raise costs for customers.