Civil Unions

CSEA owes Mother Nature a debt of gratitude. In fact, they might want sacrifice a goat to mighty Zeus or some equivalent deity for the forecast of the severe thunderstorms that prevented the union from making asses of themselves and the greedy city labor leaders they were foolishly trying to support.

The giant inflatable rat will be tucked away in its satchel, when CSEA launches their quizzical protest of the New York Conference of Mayors meeting this afternoon. Union leaders claim the prediction of high winds and heavy rains prevented them from toting the iconic balloon the Saratoga Springs Hilton, where CSEA members will picket at a conference entitled “municipal budgeting during tough economic times.”

So let’s get this straight: The union that refuses to forgo pay raises and vociferously argued against cutting any City Hall or Public Works jobs to stop the ballooning Saratoga Springs budget was going to inflate a giant rat outside of a conference aimed at making reducing cost burdens so that workers won’t be laid off. Yep. Guess they didn’t think that one out too well, now did they?

Today, the rat and the CSEA cronies that inflate it serve as a constant reminder of the bloated, fetid condition of organized labor as it continues to show how much of a lumbering dinosaur it has become. This is especially the case with the Spa City’s civil service unions, which seem to view themselves as immune to the ongoing economic woes that have and will continue to inflict a burden on the taxpayers. It’s an ironic symbol of the inflexibility the city’s union leaders show when it comes to adapting to dire economic conditions.

And today’s demonstration is no exception. The intended target was obviously Republican Mayor Scott Johnson, who the CSEA is trying to portray as a hard-line union buster more interested in lining the pockets of wealthy law firms during a tough election year. But the whole approach has backfired when Johnson took to the press last week, outlining the atrocious recalcitrance of the unions as city –and state –taxpayers struggle to pay bills.

The city’s demands don’t seem all that unreasonable. Basically, Johnson’s hired ringers are asking the Public Works and City Hall employees union to forgo their annual raises this year, which amounts to a pay boost of about 3 percent. Raises would be boosted to 1.5 percent in 2010 and 2.5 percent in 2011. The unions were also asked pay a $500 annual contribution to their health care costs, an amount that works out to be less than $10 per week; a modest tithe to collect from the 195 workers, half of which receive free health care.

The unions responded with what can only be termed as an insult, considering the financial tumult facing the city and remembering how vehemently they protested to retain all of their jobs last winter. They agreed to waive their salary increase this year, but are demanding bi-annual raised for the next two years. These contractual raises –3 percent in January and 1.5 percent in July –would be given automatically without regard to performance. And no mention of whether they’d help reduce the burden of inflated health care costs that are driving the city’s budget upward at an alarming pace.

Certainly, the unions don’t want to capitulate too much, because they fear they’ll lose negotiating power when contract negotiations start again in 2012. They’re right in a sense. But they’re also not giving any credence to the situation facing the city this year and far into the future of the union contract. The City Council put a dump-truck sized band aid on the budget in the form of raiding the fund balance.

All this seems inconsequential to union sympathizers, who are again looking to boost revenues rather than make concessions. One of these trolls recently chimed in on the Saratogian’s City Desk blog, claiming the paper had unfairly maligned the plight of the unions by publicizing Johnson’s rhetoric.

“[It] would be nice to see you offer possible solutions to these problems instead of consistently being a mouthpiece for certain members of the city council,” chided the anonymous poster. “The unions provided this city council with a plethora of ways to raise revenue such as; a public safety tax added on to each hotel room in the city and a public safety tax added on to a ticket purchased at SPAC. These two revenue generating ideas have been implemented in cities across this state and would generate a tremendous amount of income for the city.”

Right. So to allow the unions cost-of-living increases double the size of most private sector workforces and to arbitrarily lend half the workforce free health care, city officials should consider imposing even more random taxes on the already-overpriced concerts, which aren’t even under the auspices of Saratoga Springs’ government. Sorry, but this sort of palaver is at the root of why the city is in the budgetary condition it’s in today.

Unions have enjoyed a good run in the city and have secured very reasonable conditions for the workers they represent. But to continue this run at infinitum is simply not possible, by any stretch of the imagination, especially when the year-after-year excuse for budgetary increases is the cost of healthcare and contracted raises. Their cost-of-living increase and healthcare benefits have long since outstretched the level of services they provide for the cost. Now is the time for the unions to extend a bit of civility to the city, rather than immediately chanting ‘inflate the rat.’ Their dickering has made them look foolish, greedy and ultimately uncaring about the residents they allegedly serve.