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by BRYAN VIRASAMI
Hundreds of police officers, firefighters and teachers will launch a 10-day protest today by forming a loose human chain around Madison Square Garden to call for new contracts, union officials said.
Some 400 to 500 off-duty personnel will hand out literature to remind New Yorkers that cops, firefighters and teachers are without a contract, according to Al O'Leary, a spokesman for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.
He said the protest begins today because the city will hand over a symbolic key to the Republicans to mark the start of formal GOP convention planning at the Garden.
O'Leary said the unions agreed to limit the number of people around the Garden but added that their plans were nearly nixed Friday when the city tried to limit the number of groups picketing.
He said the city backed down after the unions threatened to ask a federal judge to protect their rights.
Mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler suggested yesterday in a statement that the unions should learn how to negotiate like the "responsible leaders" of District Council 37, which represents 138,000 city employees and which recently signed a deal with the city.
"The unions protesting continue to prove that the only thing their leaders are good at is grandstanding and diverting attention from the fact that they are incapable of coming to the table and getting raises for their members," Skyler said.
The unions are not pleased with Bloomberg's offer of pay increases similar to that accepted by District Council 37. That plan provides for a $1,000 cash payment and a 5 percent raise over a three-year period that requires increased productivity, longer work hours and lower starting pay.
O'Leary said pickets will avoid creating obstacles by standing 20 feet apart around the arena. Other personnel holding signs will gather on 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues.
O'Leary said teachers have been without a contract for one year, while firefighters and cops have been working without one for two years.
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