THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220249
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
With 10 days to go in their three-year contract, Virginia Power and the union that represents 4,000 of the utility's 10,600 employees are trying to work out a new labor agreement.
Dasil ``Cotton'' Sizemore, an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers business manager who is leading union negotiators, said the two sides are about as far from resolving disputed issues as they normally are at this stage in contract talks.
``I think everybody's hopeful we'll be able to conclude this'' before March 31, Sizemore said. But he didn't rule out the possibility of a contract extension or even a strike.
The union's last general strike against Virginia Power was in 1964. It lasted five days.
Neither Sizemore nor Virginia Power officials would discuss specific bargaining issues. However, some union members said the utility has asked for concessions on health care benefits and greater flexibility on work rules.
Richmond-based Virginia Power, a unit of Dominion Resources Inc., has been aggressively cutting costs over the past several years as the threat of competition among electric utilities grows larger. Its payroll is down by about 3,500 from 1989.
Among those represented by the union are production workers at the Surry Power Station and the Chesapeake Energy Center. by CNB