Reuters: U.S.: Con Edison, union to resume talks Friday as NYC broils

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Con Edison, union to resume talks Friday as NYC broils Jul 6th 2012, 14:07 By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK | Fri Jul 6, 2012 10:07am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Contract talks between Consolidated Edison Inc and locked-out union workers will resume on Friday morning while replacement crews struggle to end brownouts in Brooklyn and the Bronx as New York City sweltered in a prolonged heat wave. The company and the union negotiated for about 10 hours on Thursday without reaching a deal. A spokesman for the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, representing 8,500 Con Edison union workers, said the two sides were still far apart. "The sides are not even far apart, Con Edison is on Saturn and we are on Earth," Melia told Reuters, noting negotiations so far have been "grim." Melia could not say whether talks would continue over the weekend, but added, "We'll meet any time, any place." A Con Edison spokesman confirmed that talks would resume Friday, but declined to characterize how the talks were going. Meanwhile, a heat wave continued to bake the Big Apple for the third day in a row and replacement crews made up mostly of Con Edison managers worked to keep New Yorkers' air conditioners humming. Temperatures in New York were expected to reach as high as 92 Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) on Friday, 98 F on Saturday and 90 F on Sunday before returning to more normal levels in the mid-80s next week, according to AccuWeather.com. On Wednesday, Con Edison reduced voltage by 5 percent in several Brooklyn neighborhoods to protect the overall system and maintain service as crews fixed lines feeding power to the communities. On Thursday, the company reduced voltage in additional Brooklyn neighborhoods and in some Bronx neighborhoods. Officials at Con Edison were not immediately available to say how many homes and businesses were in the affected areas. The company said replacement crews made some repairs, but we're still working on feeder cables in the affected neighborhoods Friday morning, and the voltage reductions remained in place. The reductions were the first since the company locked out unionized workers on July 1 after contract talks broke down. Con Edison said the voltage reductions were unrelated to the lockout, noting the company had reduced the voltage in parts of Brooklyn and Queens during a heat wave in June. But the union said the voltage reductions were a sign that Con Edison could not keep the system running without the union workers. "If something goes wrong, Con Edison will not be able to respond in a timely manner, endangering all New Yorkers," the union's Melia said. WORKERS INJURED Melia claimed the replacement workers were suffering injuries due to their inexperience. Four replacement workers have been injured since the lockout began but none of the injuries was life threatening, according to Con Edison. One worker suffered second-degree burns on his face, another had minor burns on the hand, and a third suffered partial hearing loss after an air horn was blasted in his ear. Details on the fourth worker were not immediately available. The company said many managers in the field came up from the union ranks and were experienced in keeping the system running. So far, voltage reductions were relatively minor, and only 37 customers were without power Friday morning -- out of the 3.2 million homes and businesses Con Edison serves in New York City and Westchester County. The company has not asked those in the affected Brooklyn and Bronx neighborhoods to take special measures. Customers don't lose power in a voltage reduction, but incandescent lights, hot water heaters and some motors are affected. (Reporting By Scott DiSavino and Steve James; additional reporting by Balaji Sridharan and Sakthi Prasad; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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