NYT: Con Ed Curtails Services After Talks Break Down (8,000 unionized workers who were sent home)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/nyregion/con-ed-curtails-services-after-talks-break-down.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y


By ANNE BARNARD
Published: July 1, 2012

As the city heads into a week of expected high temperatures that could strain the electricity grid, managers at the Consolidated Edison Company began settling into new roles on Sunday, doing the jobs of more than 8,000 unionized workers who were sent home after an early morning breakdown in contract negotiations prompted the company’s first labor lockout in decades.

The workers, members of the utility’s largest union, were locked out after their contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, and talks broke down less than two hours later. About 5,000 managers, including some former union members, will step in to keep the utility running, Con Ed said. But union leaders warned that those managers, who they said included retired supervisors called back to work, might not have the numbers or the training to keep up if the hot weather and the increased demand for air-conditioning created major power failures.

“This was an irresponsible move on Con Ed’s part,” said Harry Farrell, the president of the union, Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America. “What they said last night to the people of New York was, ‘Drop dead.’ ”

Asked if he believed the management stand-ins could handle a crisis, he said, “They’re asking retired supervisors to climb poles and work in manholes and stuff — I just don’t see it happening.”

FULL story at link.