Two-hundred and ninety-five fossil fuel generation workers at 10 plants in Exelons Mid-Atlantic fleet in Pennsylvania and Maryland will comprise the new IBEW Local 614. The local will be based in the Philadelphia area.

IBEW Third District International Representative Brian Brennan credited an enthusiastic and hardworking volunteer organizing committee and lots of assistance from neighboring IBEW locals for the win.

"Everybody really pitched in and made it happen," Brennan said.

Issues for the maintenance and production workers included the incremental erosion of benefits that eventually became too much, Brennan said. The PECO workers called the IBEW in August.

"With a union, we can have a voice, and have the ability to hold the company to their promises," said a web site for the PECO workers. Members of IBEW Local 15, Downers Grove, Illinois, whose utility is also owned by merchant generator Exelon, traveled east to help dispel mischaracterizations the company used during the campaign, said Third District International Representative Paul Simon.

"The company said the PECO workers had better wages and benefits than the Local 15 members but the Local 15 guys showed them it wasnt true," Simon said.

Brennan said IBEW members from surrounding jurisdictions were invaluable to the organizing effort. They volunteered to make house calls, handbill and send mailings, as well as attend meetings and encourage the volunteer organizing committee.

Unions have targeted PECO several times. The last attempt was in 1999 by the Utility Workers Union of America, which lost an election for the companys transmission and distribution workers. The IBEW lost elections in 1996 and 1991. Last month, the IBEW narrowly lost an election for the 1,100-worker distribution unit. Organizers have filed objections to the companys actions during that campaign and are awaiting a decision by the NLRB on a possible revote. The IBEW is also pursuing organizing nuclear generation and supply workers.

Local 614 members have begun drafting bylaws and proposals for negotiations.