No progress seen in strike at Illinois power plants

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6 (Reuters) - A strike by union workers at 12 coal-fired Midwest Generation power plants in Illinois headed into a second week on Friday with neither side reporting progress toward opening direct talks.

Bill Starr, president of Local 15 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said a federal labor mediator wanted to set up a meeting on the dispute and the union was ready to attend.

A spokeswoman for Midwest Generation said, however, that no meetings were planned. She said the company "believes things have to cool down on the picket lines'' before there can be talks. The company has attempted to limit the number of pickets outside the plants.

Midwest Generation is a unit of Mission Energy, which in turn is a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX - news), of Rosemead, California.

Management employees continued to operate the plants, which account for about one fourth of all electricity generated in Illinois.

The 12 plants -- seven large stations and five smaller ``peaker'' units for high-demand hours -- produce about 9,300 megawatts, roughly enough to power 9.3 million homes.

Union employees had rejected a company-proposed pay increase as inadequate and, according to the company, demanded contract provisions that would ``compromise the company's ability to operate and maintain its facilities.''

The union, which represents 1,150 workers at the plants, said Midwest Generation had refused to bargain with the union in good faith. The union had been working without a contract since April 1.

Chicago-based Midwest Generation purchased the 12 plants from Commonwealth Edison Co. in December 1999.
posted by Linda Mathews Saturday, July 07, 2001

UMWA Welcomes Utility Workers in Missouri

The UMWA scored an important victory on May 3 when employees of the Macon, MO., Municipal Utility voted 31-5 to join the union's growing ranks, culminating a three-month drive.

The need for better wages and working conditions motivated Macon's power plant and water and sewer department employees to vote overwhelmingly for UMWA representation.

"We are delighted to be joining the UMWA, and we look forward to a fruitful contract between our employer and our union," said Gary Ronchetto, a laid-off L.U. 7866 coal miner who helped organize his colleagues at the municipal utility. "Missouri is the "Show Me' state, he added, "add the UMWA showed us that it is the best union to represent our needs and achieve our goals."
United Mine Workers Journal/May-June 2001
posted by Fran Poe Tuesday, July 03, 2001