NEW YORK, NY July 02, 2008 —After negotiating through the night and into the early morning, Con Edison has reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing 9,000 of its workers, averting a possible strike.

A weary-sounding Joe Flaherty, who's a spokesman for the union Local 1-2 says both sides documented their agreement in a "memorandum of understanding." The memo must now be reviewed by lawyers for both sides.

FLAHERTY: The next step is to have it approved by the union's executive board. And then the membership will vote to ratify or accept the contract.

REPORTER: Flaherty says that vote will happen before the end of the month.

A Con Ed spokesman says they're pleased with the outcome of the negotiations and that all the parties involved worked well together.