He is the Philadelphia area's ultimate deal-maker.
If there is a major labor deal being announced, or potential work stoppage looming, you can be guaranteed all sides will look to one man to cut a deal.
So I was not in the least bit surprised to see his smiling, ruddy, Irish face as the huge announcement was announced on Monday sealing a deal between Sunoco and the Carlyly Group to continue operations at Sunoco's South Philly refinery under a joint agreement.
All it means is 850 jobs now and likely a couple of hundred down the line.
And have no doubt, this deal does not happen without Rep. Bob Brady, D-1. It was Brady who got involved early, getting the Obama administration involved, and even reaching across the aisle and working with RepublicanPennsylvania Gov. Corbett.
One look at Brady and you know he's a union guy. He worked closely with the United Steelworkers to keep the pressure on all sides.
He reached out to the new Sunoco CEO Brian MacDonald. He found an attentive ear, a marked difference from his predecessor, Lynn Elsenhans, who announced Sunoco's decision to get out of the refinery business and vowed to shut down both the companies South Philly and Marcus Hook refineries if buyers could not be located.
Sunoco's announcement, coupled two weeks later with a similar one from ConocoPhillips concerning its Trainer refinery, delivered an economic haymaker to the region.
Today, Delta Air Lines has set up a subsidiary to run the Conoco plant. Nearly 1,000 jobs have been saved at Sunoco's South Philly plant. Future uses are still being pondered for Sunoco's iconic Marcus Hook refinery.
One man's fingerprints are all over the deals.
That would be Brady, the Philly congressman who represents a sliver of Delaware County along the Delaware River.
When the backs are against the wall, especially when it comes to labor issues in this region, be it Boeing, Sunoco or some other industry giant, it's his face you are likely to see as economic disaster is averted.
When it comes to getting a deal done, Brady is your guy.
Comments
Brady is a dealmaker. Meehan is a dealbreaker.