The solid wages and benefits that Con Edison has traditionally offered are under threat, as the utility and the union that represents 8,800 of its nearly 14,000 workers try to hammer out a new four-year contract. The most recent pact expired on Sunday morning, with the union angry over what it described as the company?s proposal for a 1.5 percent annual wage increase ? short of the 4.2 percent inflation rate ? and a 401(k)-style savings plan, rather than the traditional pension, for new workers. ?When I started, Con Ed was a very good company with great benefits, job security,? said Ken Burns, 46, a splicer who works in the Bronx and has 22 years with the company, where his grandfather spent his working life. ?But with each contract, our benefits have decreased.?
See "Union Fears the Loss of High Pay and Solid Benefits, Once Virtual Givens at Con Ed", Ken Belson and Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, June 30, 2008