Blast from the past

August 10, 2006

Dennis Hughes
President
New York State AFL-CIO
50 Broadway
New York, NY 10004

Dear Dennis,
I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the events that transpired during the recent blackout in Northwest Queens. Many of my members were held up to ridicule and scorn by the New York tabloids the Daily News and Post. My staff spoke to the editorial writers of the Daily News who later printed what was tantamount to a retraction, but as you know the N.Y. Post is a virulently anti-worker anti-union paper and the less said about them the better. What was particularly galling was the response of the Democratic Legislators (with the exception of Cathy Nolan (D-NY)) to the crisis in Queens. In their zeal to attack the performance of Con Edison while pandering to the legitimate anger of their affected constituents, they indiscriminately attacked Con Edison and any and all associated with it. They made no distinction whatever between the managerial corps at Con Edison (the decision makers) and the everyday rank and file Con Edison unionized worker. They stoked the anger of the community to the boiling point. As a result of their actions our members were subjected to an unparalleled vicious verbal assault by members of the community along with being pelted by rocks, eggs, tomatoes etc. along with being spit at while doing live electrical work. Amazingly during the restoration we only had one worker severely burnt, two others overcome with smoke inhalation and one heat stroke victim while working 16 hr shifts for 14 consecutive days to restore electrical service to the community. In speaking to some of my members they felt large segments of the affected community were on the verge of riot. What these politicians did was tantamount to yelling fire in a crowded movie house. As you know our Union has had wall-to-wall coverage at Con Edison since the 40’s. To have a highly trained, highly skilled unionized workforce subjected to the scorn and ridicule of Democratic Officials is hard to take. To this day Assemblyman Gianaris, City Council members Vallone and Gioia, have yet to make a distinction between the hardworking union men and women of Con Edison and the managerials who make the decisions on investments in upgrading the infrastructure. They take our money, our phone banks and our endorsements and when the chips are down often abandon us. I know at the upcoming C.O.P.E. Convention some of these same politicians will be receiving the endorsement of the N.Y. State AFL-CIO. I am asking at the very least for you to read this letter to your Executive Council before your endorsements.

Fraternally,
Harry J. Farrell
President