Pepco Union Continues to Hammer Utility on Short-Staffing

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Short-staffing by Pepco contributed to the prolonged outages after the June 29 derecho storm, IBEW Local 1900 told the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) hearing on Tuesday. “Had there been an adequate number of Pepco Line Mechanics available today compared to years past,” said IBEW Local 1900 President Jim Griffin at the PSC hearing. “Pepco would have been able to start repairing more of this storm’s damage sooner.” Griffin highlighted Pepco’s cutting of line mechanic positions as a central reason for the slow response to the storm’s damage, adding that the hiring freeze Pepco enacted in late April “will further exacerbate the staffing problem.” “Local 1900 members make careers at Pepco” said Griffin. “We raise our families in the Washington area and we take ownership of and pride in our work serving Pepco’s customers.” A three-week extension of Local 1900’s negotiations with Pepco ("Pepco & IBEW 1900 Negotiations Extended," UC 7/30/2012) is set to end on August 19.