Duquesne Light union workers go on strike after failed contract negotiations
Nearly 1,000 union workers from the Duquesne Light Company have gone on strike after failing to reach a deal amid contract negotiations with their employer. They walked off the job at midnight on Wednesday and have been picketing outside the company's building in Pittsburgh's Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood.
Business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 29 Josh Ewing said that the union has tried continuously to bargain in good faith and had a conversation with some of the company's top executives Wednesday evening.
"We did make some progress on a few of the issues, but we still have a lot of outstanding key issues that need to be resolved," Ewing said.
Issues that Ewing highlighted include retiree healthcare, retirement benefits, the right to organize, the creation of non-union jobs, adequate staffing and safety concerns not being listened to.
The nearly 1,000 DLC workers, according to DLC, serve more than 600,000 customers in Allegheny and Beaver counties.
A spokesperson for Duquesne Light said the company remains committed to engaging in good-faith negotiations with workers, and that it also has a responsibility to keep costs affordable for customers while providing reliable service to the community.
"We are disappointed that we have been unable to reach an agreement despite presenting what we believe is an industry-leading offer for our employees," the spokesperson said.
The company said that its final offer includes wages that would rank among Pennsylvania's most competitive, a commitment to hiring new union positions, wage increases, and "other significant enhancements designed to support our employees and their families."
Duquesne Light's spokesperson said that as a result of the strike, the company has activated its operational contingency plans to continue providing "safe, reliable and uninterrupted service." The union previously said that the company told it that it planned to bring in out-of-state non-union workers as part of the contingency plan.
Union members are rotating through picket lines with no timeline for how long the walkout could last. Both sides say they're willing to keep negotiating.
