August 20, 2004

Swipes across the sea

Frank Lombardi and Michael Saul DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Mayor Bloomberg and the police and fire unions kept up their contracts battle - even though they were separated by 5,000 miles.

The day's first shot across the bow were full-page newspaper ads taken out by a coalition of seven public safety unions depicting the mayor with a Pinocchio-like nose and accusing him of lying about the labor fight.

Halfway across the globe, during a visit to Athens for the Olympics, Bloomberg dismissed the ads as: "Good for the economy. Good for the economy."

Union leaders set up a mock bargaining table near the City Hall gates, with an empty chair for the "jet-setting" mayor.

They said a new contract could be hammered out "in 44 hours" if the mayor personally came to the bargaining table.

"He's a businessman," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. "He knows in times of crisis you need to sit down and put the heads together and come up with a resolve."

Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, urged the mayor to "come to the table" with a fair contract offer or "step out of the way" and let state arbitrators set new contracts.

Bloomberg insisted the unions wouldn't fare better with binding arbitration than through a negotiated agreement.