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Talk of the bay
Progress Energy, union back at bargaining table
By LOUIS HAU
Published November 14, 2005
In 2002, Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg spent months negotiating a new labor pact with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents about 2,100 Progress linemen, dispatchers, meter readers and other employees.
Now it's time to do it all over again. The company and the union began talks last month to replace a three-year contract that was extended and is now scheduled to expire Feb. 20.
The 2002 contract was the first collective-bargaining agreement negotiated by the St. Petersburg utility's parent, Progress Energy Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. The parent's other regulated utility, Progress Energy Carolinas, is not unionized.
Representatives for Progress Florida and the IBEW declined to comment on the substance of their talks so far. But the two sides said they hope the negotiations will prove to be less acrimonious than the 2002 talks, when the union threatened to go on strike and a federal mediator was called in to help reach a deal.
[Last modified November 11, 2005, 19:12:02]
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