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by Richard Schwartz
You might call the contract standoff between the city and its uniformed workers a choice between breaking our hearts or breaking our bank accounts. The heroes of 9/11 are out for big pay raises. And, to that end, they plan to make life very uncomfortable for Mayor Bloomberg and his fellow GOPers during next month's convention if the unions don't get the deal they want.
Cops and smoke-eaters are already running pickets around Madison Square Garden while work crews ready the arena for a tsunami of Republican delegates. "Billionaire Bloomberg says pay for your own raises. Police and firefighters pay every day ... in blood," says one protest flyer.
The language is powerful. And that's just a morsel of what's to come during the convention. But Bloomberg must stand up to the assault. He has no choice. The budget is a wreck.
That won't keep the GOP from pushing the mayor behind the scenes to settle before its Aug. 30 convention. Republicans won't mind coverage of the radical left chanting anti-Bush slogans along the West Side Highway. But 9/11 heroes shouting into an adoring nation's living rooms that they haven't had a raise in two years, that's another story.
Gov. Pataki, with his national aspirations, will no doubt also be pushing for a wrinkle-free image of his city during the convention. Even more pressure for Bloomberg.
The trouble is the city's budget is growing at double the inflation rate, according to figures just released by the Manhattan Institute's E.J. McMahon. The projected 2006 spending gap has exploded "from $1.4 billion to $3.7 billion in the space of just a year," he states.
Wages are one of the biggest drivers of that growth. They increased by a half-billion dollars this fiscal year alone.
So Mayor Mike had better hold tight. His last offer was a $1,000 bonus and a 4% pay hike over three years. And he'd tack on an extra 1% in exchange for productivity savings. The uniformed workers aren't budging. They contend they're entitled to more because of the undeniable burden they still carry from 9/11. But the convention - which is designed to play neatly into Bush's image as the 9/11 President - gives the unions an unparalleled opportunity to pounce.
"It was the Republican Convention committee that decided to wrap itself in the cloak of 9/11. And if they're going to do that, then we have to take advantage of that for our members," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association spokesman Al O'Leary.
"We intend to apply as much pressure as possible on Mayor Bloomberg," said Uniformed Firefighters Association chief Steve Cassidy. "People around the country will be stunned to hear about the shabby treatment the heroes of 9/11 have been getting. We're going national."
Mayor Bloomberg, you'd better start eating your Wheaties.
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