New Yorkers can breathe easy, now that Con Ed and its union have struck a deal on a new contract — ending the company’s nearly month-long employee lockout.
Workers are back on the job, making sure lights and computers and air conditioners keep a-humming.
It’s great news — though it’s not exactly clear yet how the deal will affect Con Ed customers. (The union reportedly agreed to cost-saving pension and health-care reforms, though full details have not yet been made public.)
One thing is clear, though: Gov. Cuomo’s presence in the negotiations made a critical difference.
Unlike the decidedly unhelpful roles played by labor-bought officials — City Council Speaker Chris Quinn, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and others.
Competing fiercely for the union’s love, these pols used the power of their public offices (Quinn, remember, is expected to run for mayor) in a thuggish campaign of intimidation aimed at Con Ed.
“Your actions do not have my support,” Quinn told the utility.
She accused it of moving “to unilaterally impose a lockout during a heat wave,” escalating tensions and “placing many New Yorkers’ lives in danger.”
Rosenthal demanded that Con Ed drop its request for 72 hours’ notice of a strike — so the union could keep a gun to management’s head while talks proceeded.
Cuomo took a different tack.
He waited patiently, monitoring the progress of negotiations and keeping a close eye on the impact of the lockout.
Then, with a storm threatening, he put his foot down — without kowtowing to either side.
“This lockout has gone on long enough,” the governor wrote in a letter to Public Service Commission Chairman Garry Brown.
“Both Con Ed and the union will be held accountable by the people of the state if their failure to settle the dispute contributes to service disruptions or impacts safety,” he said.
On Thursday, the sides got together and settled their differences, agreeing to a new four-year contract and ending the lockout.
True, with the help of a federal mediator, talks had already made notable progress by then.
But Cuomo’s commanding presence pushed the deal over the goal line.
That kind of leadership — as opposed to the threats and thuggery of Quinn & Co. — is becoming a hallmark of Cuomo’s tenure: Recall the deals he struck on no-raise union contracts for state employees and recent public-pension reforms.
He seems to understand that the people, not the special interests, come first.