JCP&L union less positive following talks on Thursday
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/4/05
By DAVID P. WILLIS
BUSINESS WRITER
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Wyatt Earp, international representative for the striking union's Third District, speaks to union members demonstrating outside the Statehouse in Trenton Thursday.
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Negotiators met on Thursday in talks to end a nearly two-month-old strike by 1,350 Jersey Central Power & Light Co. workers, hoping to capitalize on what both sides said was some progress the night before.
But after talks broke for the day at 7 p.m., a statement by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was not upbeat.
"After some encouraging movement yesterday, regrettably the FirstEnergy/JCP&L group returned today to its insistence on discussing antiquated work rules and peripheral issues," union spokesman Jack Moriarty said in a statement.
Negotiations between the company, the IBEW and state and federal mediators are expected to continue today. JCP&L's unionized employees, including line workers, meter readers and customer service representatives, have been on strike since Dec. 8, after talks on a new contract fell apart.
JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano said negotiators spent time Thursday working on agreements, which exist in addition to the contract, between the union and the company, some of which have been in place since the 1950s. "While there was not as much progress as yesterday (Wednesday), we did spend time narrowing the issues around that one area," Morano said.
Since the strike, negotiators had made little progress toward a settlement of the major issues: future retiree health care and work rules governing how employees respond to emergency outages after hours.
But there was a change on Wednesday night.
"The company made some much-needed movement on the retiree health care issue," said Willis D. "Chubby" Wardell Jr., president and business agent for System Council U-3, in a statement late Wednesday night.
Morano agreed there was progress on Wednesday. "There are remaining issues, and they are being discussed," Morano said. "Our goal is to continue to work to resolve our differences, to reach an agreement that is fair and balanced to everyone and to get our co-workers back to work."
On Thursday afternoon, Barnegat resident Wesley Opdyke, a JCP&L chief lineman, said news of progress was encouraging.
"Any encouraging information that is coming out to the general public makes the rest of us hopeful that they will come to a conclusion in a timely fashion," he said.
But by the evening, the union issued a subdued statement. "The union remains firmly committed to progressive discussions and strongly encourages the company to join in fair and legitimate efforts to end the strike," Moriarty said.
Morano responded, "We are involved in fair and legitimate efforts to end the strike."
While negotiations were going on in Edison, union members demonstrated in front of the Statehouse in Trenton. Some strikers handed out "Valentine's Day" cards criticizing FirstEnergy Corp., JCP&L's parent company, which is based in Akron, Ohio.
"If it happens in Asbury Park, it can happen to you, Trenton," exclaimed Neptune resident
Jeff Thompson, 43, a JCP&L meter reader and collector, noting the agreement by Exelon Corp. of Chicago, to buy Public Service Electric & Gas., the state's largest utility.
"We need to let the people know what's going on, why we are out here and what we need to resolve this," said Thompson. "We are here in numbers to try to get that message out."
Lawmakers back union
The union is trying to garner support from politicians, including state legislators and acting Gov. Codey. Already U.S. Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine and state Assemblyman Michael J. Panter, D-Monmouth, have voiced support for the union.
"A utility is supposed to be a public trust that is supposed to answer to the citizens in the community that's paying the bills," said Wyatt Earp, international representative for the IBEW's Third District.
Next week, the union plans to distribute its Valentine's Day card at shopping centers and commuter hubs, Moriarty said.
Meanwhile, the strike is having an effect on some Monmouth County road projects. County Engineer Joseph M. Ettore said one project has been delayed so far and there is a potential for several more.
JCP&L crews began in early November to relocate poles for a road-widening project at the intersection of County Route 3 (Tennent Road) and Route 522 (Freehold-Englishtown Road) in Manalapan.
The work, however, wasn't completed before the strike began and the contractor can't get started. The entire job was supposed to be completed in March, but now the contractor will incur a two- or three-month delay.
Strike must be ended
"We were advised there will be no scheduled work advanced until the strike is resolved. The only work they are responding to is emergency work," Ettore said.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers has asked the county counsel to determine whether there is any way to recover the cost incurred by the county because of utility delays.
Powers has repeatedly said that construction projects often cost the county more than anticipated because of utility delays, and he fears this strike is making matters even worse.
"I fear that we'll be sued by contractors because we're holding them up," he said. Contractors often have trouble meeting their deadlines or have to pay more for labor or materials when they are waiting around for utility poles to be moved, Powers added.
Effect admitted
JCP&L said the ability to do certain types of work, such as those associated with road-widening projects, has been impaired.
"We have maintained a dialogue with the county engineers, and we will reach out to them (Monmouth County) in this case," Morano said.
During the strike, JCP&L is using the utility's management workers as well as those from sister companies in Ohio and Pennsylvania to do priority maintenance and emergency outage restorations.
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