Con Ed, Union Negotiations Continue Into 11th Day

Con Edison and members of the Local 1-2 union continued to negotiate on a contract Wednesday in an effort to put an end to an 11-day lockout.

The utility and the union had resumed negotiations on Tuesday, but had not agreed on a contract.

In a press release, Con Ed said it would offer a 10 percent pay hike over four years to its workers, but wanted employees to pay more towards health care by the end of the fourth year.

The utility also said it would maintain current defined benefit pension formulas for those hired prior to July 1.

In a rebuttal, the union referred to Con Ed's offer as a "phony press release full of double talk."

The union contended that increases in employee payments for health care would negate improvements in wages.

The utility's 8,500 workers have been locked out since the beginning of July. In the meantime, Con Ed has dispatched 5,000 managers to handle outages and other issues caused by sweltering summer temperatures.

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