Zinged Twice, Says Union
Union leaders say they were whacked twice last week when the eighth month of negotiations closed. The four-year contract with the city expired last Dec. 31. Not only did City Hall reject the union’s bid for a retiree exemption, the city was shown to have exaggerated its deficit estimates by a whopping 66 percent. “Same old city,” said a woman who worked at City Hall for more than 10 years. “We have been meeting since last November, and the city has been dragging its feet all along. They have a history of saying that the sky is falling. A few months back, they were estimating the deficit was $3.1 million. Therefore, they said, we can’t talk economics in negotiations because we want to see what the final figures will be. So our union and other bargaining units got together and paid for an independent audit. The independent audit produced facts that were very different from what the city was projecting. In every conclusion, our audit showed, the city chose the worst scenario outcome. That was how they got to $3.1 million.
Exploring the Discrepancy
“Our members didn’t understand,” the union source continued. “How could agencies all around us, like the state of California, say the economy was doing well when we were hearing just the opposite from the city. We confronted them. We told them their figures did not match up. But all we heard back from them was more of the sky-is-falling talk. They like to use that a lot. Now this was frustrating. Since the city was off by two-thirds, we pointed out that a all of the data they were using was off. Do you see the logic? But they never got back to us. They never really answered us. Their attitude seemed to be, ‘We don’t want to talk about it. Then, maybe, it’ll go away.’ You would have to say the figures they gave us were more political than fiscal.” Another leading union member said the city’s position on the deficit was a just ploy. “When you are bargaining, obviously it is good business to say that you have no money — until after the negotiations are over and the contract is signed,” she said. “Then you can say, ‘Oh, by the way, we found a windfall.’ It has been the city’s M.O. for years. This is a strategy that we are aware of.”
Another union source told thefrontpageonline.com this was the first time the Employees Association had contested City Hall’s data by ordering an audit.
Postscript
It probably will be a long while before the Employees Association reprises the kind of dignified protest that it staged in Council Chambers last week. Good manners, the union’s leaders have concluded, do not impress City Hall. Garbed in black tee-shirts signifying unity, more than 100 members of the union marched into Council Chambers. They entered so silently as to go almost un-noticed, except there were so many of them. Two spokespersons made brief, low-key pleas to the City Council to reconsider what they have said is the main impediment to a settlement. But since the proposal was flatly dismissed less than three days later, the tactic may be regarded as a dud.
