Update: Duquesne Light union workers ratify new contract reached after 8-day strike
Key issues for union members included wages, working conditions and job security.
Duquesne Light workers ratified a five-year contract agreement Sunday, ending the first work stoppage at the utility company that serves most of Allegheny and Beaver counties in nearly 60 years.
The news comes after about 1,000 workers from IBEW Local 29 struck for eight days over issues that included wages, working conditions and job security. Workers were walking picket lines 24/7 at nine locations throughout Allegheny and Beaver counties.
The union and the company both announced Thursday that a tentative agreement had been reached.
During a ratification vote on Sunday, the workers approved the contract by a vote of 526-184, according to the union.
Details on the content of the tentative agreement were not immediately available.
The union said at the onset of the strike that the company wanted the power to outsource its work, which workers believed would lead to local jobs being eliminated. The strikers include those who work on power lines, customer service representatives and others.
In the Thursday Facebook post, Duquesne Light said “this agreement, forged through many days of discussion and negotiation with union leadership, confirms how much we value our represented workforce and their safety while also addressing our customers’ concerns regarding affordability and reliability.”
Representatives of the union and the company had been negotiating since the strike began at midnight Sept. 30 when the workers’ previous contract expired.
This story originally published on Oct. 9, 2026, and was updated on Oct. 12, 2026.
