Tactic: pop-up protests
Unions forge effort to show without notice at
mayor's citywide appearances to nudge stalled contract talks
BY WILLIAM MURPHY
STAFF WRITER
Staff writer Sean Gardiner contributed to this story.
Police and firefighters seeking a new labor contract will switch
protest tactics and pop up at public appearances by Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, their unions said Friday.
Both unions confirmed the change, and said they also might appear
unannounced at street fairs, carnivals and other public events.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Patrolmen's Benevolent
Association decided on the change after picketing at Madison Square
Garden for 10 days. They did not rule out more protests there, and
said they would be back in force at the Garden during the Republican
National Convention Aug. 30-Sept. 2.
"Clearly, as our members go around the city they realize that
a lot of New Yorkers just don't know ... that our guys haven't had
a pay raise since before the Sept. 11 attack, both our guys and
police officers," fire union spokesman Tom Butler said.
Union sources said that on the advice of lawyers, they were describing
the tactic as "pop-up informational picketing." They declined
to elaborate.
One union source said the protesters hoped to make their appearances
a surprise by having "floating locations" where they could
show up quickly.
About 250 members of both unions blocked a City Hall gate for 15
minutes Wednesday.
The city has offered the unions a $1,000 bonus and a five percent
wage increase over three years. The unions are seeking a higher
wage increase.
Union officials hope the new tactic will bring public pressure
to bear on the mayor.
"We will be engaging, with the firefighters, in pop-up informational
picketing around the city," police union spokesman Joseph Mancini
said.
Other sources in the police union said some members of its executive
board showed up outside the mayor's home Friday morning, but not
to protest.
They said their members were upset with a report about a plan,
later retracted, to send "Operation Atlas" anti-terrorism
cops to the house if off-duty police protested there.
The switch in tactics came just as the Democratic National Convention
ended and the political focus shifted toward the Republican gathering.
During his weekly radio show Friday on WABC/770 AM, Bloomberg said
the impasse resulted from union leaders who were afraid of losing
their leadership posts. He said the picketing "does absolutely
nothing to influence labor relations ... If you want to picket me,
picket me. I guess it gives the newspapers something to write about."
Staff writer Sean Gardiner contributed to this story.
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