Consolidated Edison Company of New York, our gas and electric power baron, and representatives of the Utility Workers of America will resume contract talks tomorrow. But there seems no end in sight to the lockout of 8,500 workers or the union’s protest at the utility’s Gramercy Park headquarters, and as New Yorkers continue to swelter in the ongoing heat wave.
A total of 8,500 workers from Local 1–2 in the city and Westchester County were locked out when management and workers hit an impasse over benefits and pay raises.
Forty-year mechanic employee Frank Caira put it in a nutshell, “I’m insulted by this company locking us out and having people with no medical, no money and people have family members that might get sick, children that might get sick, and this is what they do?”
Falisha from Con Ed customer service said, “Our medical benefits, our pension, our health benefits, they’re trying to cut our raises and just give us nothing.”
Con Ed went on the offensive with a full-page ad in newspapers with the headline, “Why Con Edison Union Employees Are Not At Work.” The ad reads, “Imagine if a crew working on an outage at your home or business suddenly picked up their tools and left,” referring to the union’s unwillingness to agree not to strike if the company gave a two-week extension.
Mario Cilento, the president of the NY State AFL-CIO, responded, “Con Edison sunk to a new low with today’s misleading print ads. It’s bad enough that the company locked out workers who were willing to work past contract expiration with no strings attached.” What were in issue were retirement and healthcare packages as well as wages. Mainly union workers complain that the power behemoth wanted givebacks of previous benefits, leaving workers in the lurch in a tough economy.
One union official stated, “Con Ed was aware that the economy had left a lot of people out of work and that there would be a lot of people they could hire for a lot less.” But he qualified that by saying this work “was not child’s play. It was tough and took years to develop the skills that were needed working underground at power and gas lines.” As of the strike, I had about five Con Ed trucks outside of my apartment building looking for a gas leak. The coincidence of a fire in a nearby building basement brought many fire engines and ambulances. Fortunately, though the street was shut down, there were no injuries. But there have been recently.
Locked-out workers spoke to local TV station NY1, saying that the 5,000 managers taking the place of utility workers were and are putting their lives in danger.
And in fact, one manager was injured in a manhole explosion on the Upper West Side last Wednesday. Fire officials say the unidentified man suffered burns to his face while working underground on West 70th Street. He is the second manager hurt since the lockout began. Con Ed officials confirmed the injuries but said this is not unusual with dangerous utility work. Okay, so the company is admitting this is dangerous work, even for workers at management level. So why is there such a paucity of simple fairness?
“We do everything to prevent injuries, they do happen, nothing serious so far, we’re just going to keep the power flowing,” said Con Ed spokesman Mike Clendenin.
Con Ed has reduced voltage in more than a dozen Brooklyn neighborhoods to reduce the strain on the electric grid due to the high temperatures. So, they’re willing to reduce service and revenue to pull off this caper, which is to reduce their overhead to increase profitability and keep shareholders happy.
But let’s look at their 2011 earnings report: The table shown is a reconciliation of Con Edison’s reported earnings per share to earnings per share from ongoing operations and reported net income to earnings from ongoing operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010. You can read the chart and see mainly all the numbers are moving up.
“The Results for the year 2011, the company reaffirms its previous forecast of earnings per share from ongoing operations in the range of $3.45 to $3.65 a share. Earnings per share from ongoing operations exclude the net mark-to-market effects of the competitive energy businesses.
“The company expects its earnings from ongoing operations for the year 2012 to be in the range of $3.65 to $3.85 per share. Earnings per share from ongoing operations exclude the net mark-to-market effects of the competitive energy businesses. The forecast reflects capital investments of $2,200 million, substantially all of which will be spent at the company’s regulated utilities. The company expects to meet its 2012 external financing requirements, including for maturing securities, through the issuance of up to $750 million of long-term debt. The company does not expect to need to issue additional common equity in 2012.
“The results of operations for the three months and year ended December 31, 2011, as compared with the 2010 period, reflect changes in the rate plans of Con Edison’s utility subsidiaries. The rate plans provide for additional revenues to cover expected increases in certain operations and maintenance expenses, and depreciation and property taxes. The results of operations include the operating results of the competitive energy businesses, including net mark-to-market effects.
“Operations and maintenance expenses were higher for the year ended December 31, 2011 as compared with the 2010 period reflecting primarily higher costs for pension and other postretirement benefits and employee health insurance. Depreciation and property taxes were higher in the 2011 periods reflecting primarily higher utility plant balances.” Whoops. So make it up by taking out the labor force.
Perhaps Con Ed could follow the lessons of Henry Ford. He said he wanted to build cars that his assembly line people could buy. .
Jerry Mazza is a freelance writer, life-long resident of New York City. An EBook version of his book of poems “State Of Shock,” on 9/11 and its after effects is now available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. He has also written hundreds of articles on politics and government as Associate Editor of Intrepid Report (formerly Online Journal). Reach him at gvmaz@verizon.net.
