Pepco Workers Win New Deal

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)After extensive negotiations over the weekend, Pepco workers finally won a tentative contract, likely averting a strike."The membership's strength was a huge boost for me and my negotiating committee," IBEW 1900 president Jim Griffin told Union City yesterday. Details on the 4-year deal are not being released until the local's membership has a chance to vote on it later this week. The tentative deal came after mounting frustration by Pepco workers over Pepco demands culminated in overwhelming rejection of Pepco's "final" offer on September 27 ("Pepco Workers Reject Contract," 9/28 UC). Union leadership will be recommending the new deal, but Griffin says it's "up to the membership to vote on it.”