PECO Workers Ratify Five-Year Contract After First Strike in Company History; Pensions Extended to All Workers
IBEW Local 614 members ratified a new five-year contract with PECO on July 18 with 97 percent support. The deal extends cash-balance pensions to all 1,500 workers and ends the first strike in PECO's 145-year history.
By 411 Press Newsroom2 min read
Members of IBEW Local 614 voted Saturday to ratify a new five-year contract with PECO, the electric and gas utility serving the Philadelphia region, ending a dispute that produced the first work stoppage in the company's 145-year history.
The contract was approved with 97 percent support, according to reporting by the Philadelphia Inquirer and 6abc. The vote took place July 18, 2026.
The strike and its outcome
About 1,500 PECO workers — field technicians, linemen, and call center employees represented by IBEW Local 614 — walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. on July 4. The three-day strike, the first in PECO's history, ended when the union and company reached a tentative agreement just before midnight on July 6.
What the contract includes
The five-year agreement establishes cash-balance pensions for all covered workers. Roughly 600 workers hired after 2021 had been on 401(k) plans without access to a defined pension — the new contract changes that, bringing all 1,500 workers under the same pension structure. The deal also includes full retiree medical coverage.
On wages, field workers will receive annual raises of 4 percent in each of the first four years of the contract and 4.5 percent in the fifth year. Call center workers will receive 3 percent annual increases throughout the five-year term. The contract also requires 24-hour advance notice before mandatory overtime can be assigned to call center workers.
PECO said the agreement will not produce any immediate increase in customer rates.
Context
Negotiations between PECO and IBEW Local 614 had been underway since January 2026. The union cited pension equity for newer hires as a central issue.
The Labor Notes publication described the outcome as a significant victory for the local, noting that extending the pension to newer workers — who had been excluded from the defined-benefit plan since 2021 — was the core demand driving the action.
The deal joins other recent labor wins 411 Press has covered, including Unite Here Local 11's SoFi Stadium contract.
Sources: Philadelphia Inquirer — Peco workers vote to ratify new contract with raises and pensions6abc Philadelphia — PECO union workers ratify new contract dealWHYY — PECO strike ends as union reaches agreement with utilityLabor Notes — Power workers Independence Day strike wins pensions in Pennsylvania
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