 |
 |
 November 16, 2002 City's Straits Help Mayor in Dealing With UnionsBy JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Mr. Bloomberg is seeking a broad array of such concessions, like longer workdays for civilian city employees, fewer vacations and possibly longer workweeks. Officials would also like to see city workers contribute to their health care expenses, which they currently do not do, and give more to their pensions. Mr. Bloomberg took pains on Thursday to say that layoffs were a last resort, but he quickly added that he would turn to them if needed. "With cooperation from labor — and you will see that that is part of our plan — I believe that we can continue, through early retirements and buyouts, to downsize the labor force without layoffs," Mr. Bloomberg said. "If we can't, nobody is going to stand up and say we aren't going to do it." Asking city workers for concessions or warning of layoffs never endears a mayor to organized labor. But since Mr. Bloomberg released his plan to plug the city's $1 billion hole for this fiscal year, responses from union leaders have been muted. Mr. Bloomberg, who enjoyed almost no labor support when he ran for mayor, may actually find himself in a better position than his predecessors in negotiating with unions, said labor officials, budget experts, and former and current mayoral aides. Days after he was elected last year, Mr. Bloomberg visited the headquarters of several important city unions, and invited union leaders to City Hall. Those leaders knew that Mr. Bloomberg owed them nothing. Next, the mayor settled important contracts for teachers, police officers and firefighters that had been locked up in protracted negotiations. Further, a series of scandals have left District Council 37, historically one of the city's more powerful unions, with a leadership change and less power. This week, many union officials said that the blow of Mr. Bloomberg's requests was mitigated in part by a plan to raise property taxes and impose a personal income tax on commuters, as well as by the mayor's praise for city workers. "You are detecting correctly that the climate is different," said Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers and chairwoman of the Municipal Labor Committee, "because the mayor, instead of going right after labor or services, has really tried to share the pain by calling for tax revenues." She added, "Even though we are very leery of contributions by people who shoulder a lot during a budget crisis, we recognize that there is a budget problem and there is a willingness to sit down and explore solutions." Indeed, the budget, with all its red ink and implied headaches, may be this mayor's best weapon after many years of rancorous relationships between City Hall and organized labor. "Mike Bloomberg is better positioned than anyone has ever been since the 1970's to negotiate concessions with unions," one former city official said, "because there is no one out there questioning this fiscal crisis. No one at all. The worst thing the unions can do is strike, and there will be no public support for them if they do. But the worst thing he can do is layoffs, which is a nuclear weapon." To be sure, the city's labor force is not eager to lead a parade for the mayor. During final contract discussions this year, firefighters and police officers held rallies against the city, and those workers would tell anyone who listened how much they detested the inhabitants of City Hall. Patrick J. Lynch, who heads the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, declined to come to the mayor's early meeting with labor officials, and their relationship has been frosty. "If I had to bet the odds on the mayor's favorite labor leader," said William T. Cunningham, the mayor's communications director, "the odds would be long on Pat Lynch." Mr. Lynch derided the mayor's budget plan on Thursday. "We're at a crossroads with crime and we believe the mayor is making a wrong turn," he said. "Once crime gets out of control, it takes years to get it back under control, and a safe city equals an economically strong city." Some budget experts think that the mayor should be tougher, that now is the time to more sharply reduce the city's work force, which has crept up in the last few decades. "Everybody knows Giuliani grew the work force, primarily in police and education," said Edmund J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative research and policy center. And whether the mayor can even achieve what he is seeking from the unions is an open question. In the budget the city adopted last spring, he called for $500 million in concessions, and so far has gotten only half of that. "The case he made for $600 million was well done," said Diana Fortuna, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission. "But they have a bit of a credibility issue since half of the $500 million was a loan from pension funds and the other half was never achieved." Mr. Cunningham acknowledged that the administration had yet to obtain concessions, and warned that City Hall's conciliatory tone could change. "We haven't gotten what we asked for," he said. "I don't know that I would call labor leaders recalcitrant, but time is not their ally here."
|
clipsed by the bold tax proposals that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
outlined in his budget address this week was a request for $600
million in concessions from the city's labor unions.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |