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How New York Labor Can Beat the Con Edison Corporation
No Cuts, No Concessions!
Con Edison is a billion dollar power company in New York that is waging war against its workforce. In doing so millions of other people are at risk of facing power outages during a heat wave. In order to force concessions on the union – Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 1-2 – the company has brought in 5,000 managers to do the work of the 8,000 workers. The workers are 'locked out' of their jobs until they are forced to make concessions for the sake of the company's profits. For the union to win - and it can - it must change tactics, and quickly.
A lockout to prevent a strike?
Con Ed placed a message up on its website saying that it was trying to offer the union every chance to keep working while the discussions continue, but because the union leadership would not agree to a 7-day strike notification, Con Ed was forced to lock the workers out.
There are obvious flaws in the Con Ed statement. Why would you lock out a workforce to prevent them from striking if you are truly concerned about service interruptions? The lockout was triggered over disagreements between the union and Con Ed regarding the company's request for a 7-day strike notification.
This was clearly a weak excuse to cover the fact that Con Ed was preparing a replacement force all along. Con Ed's messaging was an attempt to garner sympathy from the community so as not to appear like strike breakers. In all actuality, Con Ed went on the offensive, using physical force -the lockout - to demoralize the workforce into accepting the company's attack on their health care and pensions.
The work that is being done now is by people from the ranks of management with inferior skills who have not had the experience needed to properly run the complex electrical networks. Already there have been reports of supervisor injuries and power outages in the short time that the Con Ed lockout has taken place.
Con Ed has been forced to significantly curtail many of the services it delivers right in the middle of a heat wave that is devastating New York City among other areas along the East Coast.
The heat waves and power outages affect all workers who have a direct stake that this battle is not won by those seeking to profit from something so obviously in the public interest as energy. This is further reason why this struggle cannot be isolated and made to sound like a "typical labor issue.”
Strategy and Tactics
The fact that Con Ed had the gumption to pull off the lockout is another desperate cry for Labor to abandon the treadmill bargaining timelines and more importantly the predictable ineffective tactics permitted by the National Labor Relations Board that seem to have been designed to benefit the employers the most.
Contract bargaining usually has tight rules around when bargaining begins and ends and this has been in place for well over 70 years. Unions have become accustomed to tailoring their bargaining policy around these timelines and tactics. This makes bargaining largely predictable, which mostly benefits the employer.
The union had been telegraphing to the media and through online reports its intent to possibly strike. This tactic was being used during a time in which Con Ed was planning to defeat such a strike. The predictability of the union's strategy was exploited by Con Ed, which took the bold initiative by locking out the workforce.
The union is now on the defensive; its strategy is limited to calling for federal mediation to end the lockout. This strategy is suicidal for the workers, who are now forced to watch as management is escorted into the building to break their resistance and implement health care reductions and put a 401(k) scheme in place of their defined pensions.
The union's strategy currently doesn't rely on the strength of the union membership and puts the union's fate into the hands of a federal government agency that has proven itself to be as anti-union as its predecessor.
The union instead should mobilize the New York City area Labor Movement and wider community allies to overcome the power exerted by the company.
This can be done by calling on the entire New York Labor Movement - as well as the broader community - to form a mass picket line of thousands to prevent the company's managers from entering and running the company.
Nothing short of this kind of bold action can overcome the determined strategy of the company; this is a struggle that cannot be won by the workers pleading to the government. The company is forcing the issue to their benefit; only an organized force in the workers direction can overcome this.
By simply making their intentions known that they intend to form a mass picket line, the union would win leverage; the union will have inspired the community by waging a serious fightback against corporate power, while striking fear into the heart of the company.
If different unions and community groups vow to join the mass picket, the company will continue to lose ground. As momentum is built for the action, the company may decide to give in before the mass picketing even comes into existence.
If the company refused to budge in the face of a mass picket, the union could win further community support by relieving fears of service disruption, by demanding to be allowed to run the company during the mass picket to ensure New Yorkers delivery of the full complement of needed electrical services. If the company were to continue to refuse, the workers could use the picket line strength to enter the facilities, with the intention of running the company operations themselves, in the interests of the community.
Such a struggle would obviously bring up discussions about the problems of having giant corporations running energy corporations for profit in the same way that the Enron disaster did where Enron manipulated prices to gouge the public and boost their profits. To this extent the demand would emerge to make Con Ed a public utility so that energy could be run in the public's interest, not for the profit of the company’s owners.
As of the time of this report, bargaining is set to continue on Thursday, July 5th, which may or may not bring an end to the standoff.
Workers everywhere must learn from the Con Ed struggle and realize that militant, organized force is the only thing to overcome the force of management and the government that represents their interests, the interests of the 1% first and foremost.
As usual the AFL-CIO has abdicated organizing any meaningful solidarity support, as they are too busy immersing themselves in the electoral season. Solidarity statements are meaningless without solidarity actions.
Resources for this article
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/7460458-union-workers-protest-con-ed-lock-out/
http://www.coned.com/customer-info/page2.asp
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ed-manager-filling-locked-worker-labor-dispute-burned-manhole-explosion-article-1.1107883
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2012/06/28/strike-looms-during-heat-wave-for-con-ed-workers/
A lockout to prevent a strike?
Con Ed placed a message up on its website saying that it was trying to offer the union every chance to keep working while the discussions continue, but because the union leadership would not agree to a 7-day strike notification, Con Ed was forced to lock the workers out.
There are obvious flaws in the Con Ed statement. Why would you lock out a workforce to prevent them from striking if you are truly concerned about service interruptions? The lockout was triggered over disagreements between the union and Con Ed regarding the company's request for a 7-day strike notification.
This was clearly a weak excuse to cover the fact that Con Ed was preparing a replacement force all along. Con Ed's messaging was an attempt to garner sympathy from the community so as not to appear like strike breakers. In all actuality, Con Ed went on the offensive, using physical force -the lockout - to demoralize the workforce into accepting the company's attack on their health care and pensions.
The work that is being done now is by people from the ranks of management with inferior skills who have not had the experience needed to properly run the complex electrical networks. Already there have been reports of supervisor injuries and power outages in the short time that the Con Ed lockout has taken place.
Con Ed has been forced to significantly curtail many of the services it delivers right in the middle of a heat wave that is devastating New York City among other areas along the East Coast.
The heat waves and power outages affect all workers who have a direct stake that this battle is not won by those seeking to profit from something so obviously in the public interest as energy. This is further reason why this struggle cannot be isolated and made to sound like a "typical labor issue.”
Strategy and Tactics
The fact that Con Ed had the gumption to pull off the lockout is another desperate cry for Labor to abandon the treadmill bargaining timelines and more importantly the predictable ineffective tactics permitted by the National Labor Relations Board that seem to have been designed to benefit the employers the most.
Contract bargaining usually has tight rules around when bargaining begins and ends and this has been in place for well over 70 years. Unions have become accustomed to tailoring their bargaining policy around these timelines and tactics. This makes bargaining largely predictable, which mostly benefits the employer.
The union had been telegraphing to the media and through online reports its intent to possibly strike. This tactic was being used during a time in which Con Ed was planning to defeat such a strike. The predictability of the union's strategy was exploited by Con Ed, which took the bold initiative by locking out the workforce.
The union is now on the defensive; its strategy is limited to calling for federal mediation to end the lockout. This strategy is suicidal for the workers, who are now forced to watch as management is escorted into the building to break their resistance and implement health care reductions and put a 401(k) scheme in place of their defined pensions.
The union's strategy currently doesn't rely on the strength of the union membership and puts the union's fate into the hands of a federal government agency that has proven itself to be as anti-union as its predecessor.
The union instead should mobilize the New York City area Labor Movement and wider community allies to overcome the power exerted by the company.
This can be done by calling on the entire New York Labor Movement - as well as the broader community - to form a mass picket line of thousands to prevent the company's managers from entering and running the company.
Nothing short of this kind of bold action can overcome the determined strategy of the company; this is a struggle that cannot be won by the workers pleading to the government. The company is forcing the issue to their benefit; only an organized force in the workers direction can overcome this.
By simply making their intentions known that they intend to form a mass picket line, the union would win leverage; the union will have inspired the community by waging a serious fightback against corporate power, while striking fear into the heart of the company.
If different unions and community groups vow to join the mass picket, the company will continue to lose ground. As momentum is built for the action, the company may decide to give in before the mass picketing even comes into existence.
If the company refused to budge in the face of a mass picket, the union could win further community support by relieving fears of service disruption, by demanding to be allowed to run the company during the mass picket to ensure New Yorkers delivery of the full complement of needed electrical services. If the company were to continue to refuse, the workers could use the picket line strength to enter the facilities, with the intention of running the company operations themselves, in the interests of the community.
Such a struggle would obviously bring up discussions about the problems of having giant corporations running energy corporations for profit in the same way that the Enron disaster did where Enron manipulated prices to gouge the public and boost their profits. To this extent the demand would emerge to make Con Ed a public utility so that energy could be run in the public's interest, not for the profit of the company’s owners.
As of the time of this report, bargaining is set to continue on Thursday, July 5th, which may or may not bring an end to the standoff.
Workers everywhere must learn from the Con Ed struggle and realize that militant, organized force is the only thing to overcome the force of management and the government that represents their interests, the interests of the 1% first and foremost.
As usual the AFL-CIO has abdicated organizing any meaningful solidarity support, as they are too busy immersing themselves in the electoral season. Solidarity statements are meaningless without solidarity actions.
Resources for this article
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/7460458-union-workers-protest-con-ed-lock-out/
http://www.coned.com/customer-info/page2.asp
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ed-manager-filling-locked-worker-labor-dispute-burned-manhole-explosion-article-1.1107883
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2012/06/28/strike-looms-during-heat-wave-for-con-ed-workers/
For more information:
http://www.workerscompass.org
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
I'm a locked out employee of Con Edison. I see it like this, it's all about greed. We want whats fair and Con Ed don't care. Like everyone in this great country we want the American Dream. To be able to provide for our families and have a good life, like owning a home or being able to live our remaining retired years comfortible. Now is that to much to ask for? To us what they want is alot, to them what they want is pennies. Con Edison will not go under if they dont get what they want, but the workers they want to take from will lose everything. To the Costumers you will be affected in some ways. like landlords who wont get rent do to lack of money. how about banks when morgage payments can't be made. How about credit card bills or utility bills. Not to mention all the workers with babies or small children the innocent victims. What good is a full bank account with an empty heart. Please call Coned, the mayors office and even the govenors office and tell them to have a heart. We need your support. No hand outs just a call for humanity. If your well off and it wont affect you still support. Just ask yourself if it were you and yours what would you do. I can truely say I hope no other union or non union hard working americans have to go through this. WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO STAND UNITED.
THANK YOU ALL
I am one of the union members that was locked out by Con Edison this Sunday. As is stated in a few articles that I've read since this all started, the union agreed to work without a contract until both sides could agree upon one. However, the company responded to this by telling its 8500 union employees that their services were no longer needed. Con Ed has a reputation for crying poverty when it comes to contracts for their employees (lower/middle management included) and rate increases for their customers, yet the company reports record profits every quarter. Something doesn't add up.
Then, from the information I’ve gathered, Kevin Burke and the board (whose salary/pension/bonuses are outrageous) recently gave all their higher-level management employees a 20% pay increase. How is this balanced? I don't think Con Ed has any justification for trying to eliminate the pensions for their union workers or raising the cost of their medical benefits, effectively canceling out any percentage pay increase that the union workers receive during the year.
The economy isn't the best right now and I understand that, but that hasn't had any impact on Con Edison and it never will. People need power, period. It's insulting to think that with all the money the company makes that they expect their workers and customers to accept that their bottom line is somehow in jeopardy. And, you can't blame corporate America as many people do, saying that all the big companies do the same thing. What about companies like Google or Apple? Are they as brutal with their employees? Not even remotely. When times are good, everyone in those companies is able to benefit, as they should, because the contributions of all employees are recognized. Not only is that how you get the most talented people in your field, but those are the people responsible for getting your product out to the public.
What's even worse about this whole situation is that because the union was locked out, there are 8500 people that, not only aren't paying taxes to the city/state/federal government on the income they had last week, are now eligible for unemployment right away. Not even factoring in the loss in tax revenue, that's right around $3.5 million every week for unemployment benefits for those workers. So, on top of having no regard for their employees and customers, Con Ed doesn't care what kind of strain it puts on the rest of the system either. As long as they keep their stock prices steady and their salaries/bonuses more in a year than most people could spend in a lifetime, then who cares about the rest of us, right? I do, and I'm sure the rest of the members of the union do as well.
Here is what I would propose to the Con Ed representatives in charge of contract negotiations (and keep in mind I am not speaking for the union, just my own personal opinion)... Leave the current contract exactly how it is, not touching the pensions or raising the benefits and giving the workers the same (modest) yearly pay increases that they have received the past four years. Just take the old contract and reinstate it for another term. But, since the company is doing so well regardless of what they would have us believe, give your customers a break for the next four years. I think that's more than fair, I would happily give up the possibility of a raise that is more in line with how profitable the company is if they would be willing to benefit someone other than themselves. Anything at all.. give all the customers a rebate or a credit or maybe just not be as ruthless next time you apply for another rate increase that you clearly don't need.
Then, from the information I’ve gathered, Kevin Burke and the board (whose salary/pension/bonuses are outrageous) recently gave all their higher-level management employees a 20% pay increase. How is this balanced? I don't think Con Ed has any justification for trying to eliminate the pensions for their union workers or raising the cost of their medical benefits, effectively canceling out any percentage pay increase that the union workers receive during the year.
The economy isn't the best right now and I understand that, but that hasn't had any impact on Con Edison and it never will. People need power, period. It's insulting to think that with all the money the company makes that they expect their workers and customers to accept that their bottom line is somehow in jeopardy. And, you can't blame corporate America as many people do, saying that all the big companies do the same thing. What about companies like Google or Apple? Are they as brutal with their employees? Not even remotely. When times are good, everyone in those companies is able to benefit, as they should, because the contributions of all employees are recognized. Not only is that how you get the most talented people in your field, but those are the people responsible for getting your product out to the public.
What's even worse about this whole situation is that because the union was locked out, there are 8500 people that, not only aren't paying taxes to the city/state/federal government on the income they had last week, are now eligible for unemployment right away. Not even factoring in the loss in tax revenue, that's right around $3.5 million every week for unemployment benefits for those workers. So, on top of having no regard for their employees and customers, Con Ed doesn't care what kind of strain it puts on the rest of the system either. As long as they keep their stock prices steady and their salaries/bonuses more in a year than most people could spend in a lifetime, then who cares about the rest of us, right? I do, and I'm sure the rest of the members of the union do as well.
Here is what I would propose to the Con Ed representatives in charge of contract negotiations (and keep in mind I am not speaking for the union, just my own personal opinion)... Leave the current contract exactly how it is, not touching the pensions or raising the benefits and giving the workers the same (modest) yearly pay increases that they have received the past four years. Just take the old contract and reinstate it for another term. But, since the company is doing so well regardless of what they would have us believe, give your customers a break for the next four years. I think that's more than fair, I would happily give up the possibility of a raise that is more in line with how profitable the company is if they would be willing to benefit someone other than themselves. Anything at all.. give all the customers a rebate or a credit or maybe just not be as ruthless next time you apply for another rate increase that you clearly don't need.
How was Con Ed able to lockout its employees?
The answer becomes another question.
Why do New Yorkers, who think they're so smart, put up with a practice which permits a private for profit corporation to have a complete monopoly in providing electrical power to the city?
Con Ed, by locking out its workers has, once again, thumbed its nose at New York. Because it is a private corporation it's, by law, answerable only to its stockholders; its managers answerable only to themselves. Con Ed will be able to repeat the lockout every time a labor contract expires unless we adopt the intelligent solution.
That is, to do what hundreds of US municipalities have done, take over the utility by eminent domain, just like Los Angeles did years ago, and run it as a non profit public utility just as we do with our water supply. The first thing it would do would be to relieve us of Con Ed's exorbitant rates. It would improve the plant and, most importantly, run the system for the benefit of its users rather than for the benefit of its stockholders and managers. There is no record of any US public utility ever locking its employees out.
Wake up, get our billionaire mayor off his ass, messing with large sodas, and get him working on a project which would benefit all New Yorkers,
As for Chris Quinn, and any presumptive opponents, here's a dynamite campaign issue for you.
The answer becomes another question.
Why do New Yorkers, who think they're so smart, put up with a practice which permits a private for profit corporation to have a complete monopoly in providing electrical power to the city?
Con Ed, by locking out its workers has, once again, thumbed its nose at New York. Because it is a private corporation it's, by law, answerable only to its stockholders; its managers answerable only to themselves. Con Ed will be able to repeat the lockout every time a labor contract expires unless we adopt the intelligent solution.
That is, to do what hundreds of US municipalities have done, take over the utility by eminent domain, just like Los Angeles did years ago, and run it as a non profit public utility just as we do with our water supply. The first thing it would do would be to relieve us of Con Ed's exorbitant rates. It would improve the plant and, most importantly, run the system for the benefit of its users rather than for the benefit of its stockholders and managers. There is no record of any US public utility ever locking its employees out.
Wake up, get our billionaire mayor off his ass, messing with large sodas, and get him working on a project which would benefit all New Yorkers,
As for Chris Quinn, and any presumptive opponents, here's a dynamite campaign issue for you.
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