Pepco Union Faults Short-Staffing for Long Outages

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Short-staffing at Pepco is as much to blame for the recent power outages as Mother Nature, according to the union that represents over 1,000 Pepco workers. “We’ve been complaining for years that staffing levels are too low,” IBEW 1900 President Jim Griffin says. Griffin testified at the DC City Council on Friday in the wake of outages that left over a million area residents without power for as long as a week. “Staffing, especially of linesmen, is half of what it was 20 years ago. These are the folks that are vital to keeping the lights on, and we’ve just been decimated.” Contract workers have also been a problem, Griffin said, noting that “They’re here today and gone tomorrow, leaving us to pick up the pieces.” Local 1900 is in contract negotiations with Pepco; the current contract was due to expire May 31, but has been extended through midnight on July 29.