PECO and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 614 reached a deal late Monday night to end a three-day strike that began during a major heat wave and continued through multiple severe storms.

Local 614 officials said the tentative contract incorporates all of the union’s major priorities, including cash balance pension plans, retirement medical benefits and significant salary increases.

“Tonight, we declare victory,” Larry Anastasi, Local 614’s president and business manager, said in a statement. “This is the beginning of a new era at PECO, one where greed does not go unchecked and the workers who make modern life possible get the respect and dignity we are owed.”

PECO representatives stated that the contract “recognizes the contributions of our employees while supporting our responsibility to deliver reliable, affordable service across southeastern Pennsylvania.”

About 1,600 PECO linemen, gas technicians, mechanics, call center staff and office workers walked off the job on the Fourth of July, initiating the first work stoppage in the electric company’s long history. They will return to their duties as Local 614 organizes a contract ratification vote.

Both sides announced the tentative agreement at around 11:30 p.m. Monday, hours after union leaders told reporters that negotiations were slow-going inside the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing.

Local 614’s previous contract expired March 31, and discussions around a new deal intensified in recent weeks, with near-continuous talks since the beginning of July.

Union officials alleged that the utility company struggled to respond to recent thunderstorms; Anastasi commented Monday: “Without our labor, our expertise, and our experience, PECO saw widespread outages that they were slow to address.”

PECO has disputed that assertion, saying that power was restored to about 90% of customers who lost it within 24 hours of the storm that hit the Philadelphia region Saturday night. The company utilized non-union supervisors and contractor crews from as far away as South Carolina to conduct emergency operations.

MORE: Electric bills to jump $5 a month beginning in August, PECO says

Keywords

PECO strike,

PECO union agreement,

IBEW Local 614,

PECO workers,

Philadelphia labor news,

PECO contract,

Philadelphia strike