NEW YORK CITY
Paterson acts to delay strike at Con Edison
NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. David Paterson intervened late Saturday in negotiations between Consolidated Edison and the union representing almost two-thirds of the utility’s work force just minutes before the midnight deadline for a possible strike expired, and persuaded both sides to agree to a “cooling off period,” a spokesman for the governor said.
Negotiations were suspended early Sunday and were scheduled to resume at 9 a. m. Tuesday, Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield said.
Paterson, concerned about the impact of possible service disruptions on customers created by a strike during the summer, reached out by telephone to Con Edison chief executive Kevin Burke and Harry Farrell, president of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, Cockfield said.
Most of Con Edison’s 9,000 union workers maintain the utility’s gas, electric and steam delivery systems. But Clendenin said Con Edison’s managers — about half of whom rose through the utility’s ranks — would respond to emergencies if workers struck.
Negotiations between the union and the utility have gone down to the last minute several times before. The last time it led to a strike was in 1983.
