RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The union that represents electrical workers on strike against Dominion Virginia Power asked a federal mediator Wednesday to set up a meeting with the company to resume contract talks.
Brad Stevens, a spokesman for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 50, said in a prepared statement that the union contracted the federal mediator and "requested that he arrange a meeting with the company as soon as possible to resume negotiations."
Union and company representatives met briefly Monday with the mediator, whose name has not been released. At that meeting, Dominion and the union agreed to notify the mediator if they wanted to talk again.
The electrical workers' union, which represents 3,700 Dominion employees, called the strike Friday after seven months of talks failed to yield a contract agreement.
Stevens said the issues of contention are retirement benefits, elimination of a success sharing bonus plan and loss of retroactive pay.
Dominion Virginia Power is a division of Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc. Shares of Dominion Resources gained 50 cents, or 0.84 percent, to close Wednesday at $60.05 on moderate volume of 984,500 shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The union's last strike against the company was in 1964 and lasted six days. The union represents Dominion workers in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia.
