Mayor vows not to bow
Saying he will not be intimated, Bloomberg offers
8 to 9% raises tied to productivity increases
BY GLENN THRUSH AND WILLIAM MURPHY
Staff Writers
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday offered police and firefighters
8 or 9 percent raises tied to productivity increases while vowing
"not to be intimidated" by threats they'd stage work actions
during the Republican National Convention later this month.
Bloomberg, who has been shadowed by a protest posse of uniformed
workers during recent public appearances, is asking the unions for
longer work weeks or lower pay for academy recruits.
On Tuesday, Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association,
and Stephen Cassidy, leader of the Uniformed Firefighters Association,
said they couldn't guarantee members won't strike - or stage a stealthy
"Blue Flu" sick-out. Both actions are illegal under state
law.
"You can rest assured that I will not be intimidated by anything,"
Bloomberg said after dedicating a new housing complex at Brooklyn's
Fort Hamilton military base. "We're not going to go and commit
this city to wage settlements we simply cannot afford because one
group believes it can embarrass the mayor.
"The mayor's a little bit tougher than that," he said.
A Bloomberg aide said the wage hikes will cover the next several
years and would be in exchange for "a longer work day and less
money for the guys in the police academy."
PBA spokesman Joseph Mancini dismissed the offer.
"The city's exaggerating," he said. "The concessions
are worth a lot more than what the members would be getting back.
The PBA is willing to negotiate until they get some realistic offers.
Right now there's an impasse."
The UFA's Web site posted a statement reading, "In a bargaining
session held on Friday, Aug. 6 the city did not offer 8 percent,
but instead offered New York's Firefighters 4 percent over three
years."
The Sergeant's Benevolent Association ran ads yesterday accusing
"our billionaire mayor" of being "out of touch."
On Tuesday, a union member taunted Bloomberg press secretary Ed
Skyler for getting a raise. Skyler's salary went from $162,000 to
$171,000.
Yesterday, protesters serenaded the mayor with "give us our
pay, we'll go away" in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The mayor, surrounded
by a heavier-than-usual security detail, smiled and walked away.
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