I don't mean the police and fire contracts - I mean with businesses who do business with the city and have existing contracts. For example, did you go to the office supply person and renegotiate with him? Maybe you could have had him lower the price of paper by 25%. You know the answer to that one. What about the oil company? The gasoline stations? The electrical power company?
What about every other business who has contracts with the city? Of course you didn't - you wouldn't even consider that and neither would they.
No - you go after labor. They are the easy target. They also can take the heat off of you and your fellow Alderman. It's the unions, you say - they won't give anything back.
Not saying they couldn't or wouldn't do their share IF it would make a difference. In the case of the CSEA - they couldn't make a dent. So - to your untrained eye - they were unreasonable and you bash them. You are wrong.
Opening the contract would have a longer lasting and more devestating effect on bargaining for decades and possibly forever. It is not their fault the jobs are being lost - it's yours. You and the Alderman got your end of the bargain during contract negotiations. Concessions were made in bargaining and increases in employee health costs were had in return for a pay raise. Now you can't balance your books and you come to the well. You take the easy road.
You claim the union doesn't care for its members - you're wrong. The union is thinking AHEAD for the good of ALL of the members. Fortunately, they had the entire membership in mind when they considered this situation - not just the 14 you point to. If the gap could have been reached they would have done what they could have. They proved that with last years budget.
What you wanted from the CSEA this year was - excuse my french - equivilent to pissing up a rope - know what I mean?
Making up $1.2 million was impossible. So that being the case, they had a choice - insist on the contract staying intact or allow themselves to be whored out forever and during EVERY CONTRACT from now on.
So ease up on the CSEA - they hated losing those jobs more than you ever did. They did the right thing in the BIG PICTURE though. In comparison, so did the police and firefighters. The difference was those two unions goal was possible and reachable.
One message to the CSEA - you guys should be looking to bring back Ashdown next election. It's only gonna get worse from here boys and girls. You need somebody whose been around and who will stand up and be counted.
21 comments:
Madsen will be a legislator next year. He will want the county CSEA to open up its contract. But will he vote to give up health insurance for part time legislators.
Landi is a clown who wont be around the next time contracts are negotiated in 2012.
REynolds and Hofffay will try to get union support, but did little to help this year.
CSEA, IBEW, Teamsters, Teachers unions will not open contracts. No real unionist would ever do that.
The Police and Fire will never see a good contract again. They folded under pressure and the public knows it. When the City comes with it hand out again in 2010 the police and fire will have to ante up.
no thanks about bringing ashdown back the membership is looking at a new union to come in when this contract is up
It doesnt matter what union you go to Ashdown was the best guy to have sticking up for you guys and if you didn't see that your out in left field someplace anyway.
The city doesn't need to renegotiate a contract with a supplier to spend less money. All they have to do is use less of a commodity to spend less and now they will be using less of the commodity the city CSEA is offering.
Bullhorner, you are 100 percent correct when you say it is not a good practice to open up a contract and begin to give back items that were already negotiated for previously. The time and place to do so is IN BETWEEN contracts at the table, and not a min. before! No union worth a hill of beans would dare to do so. Of course politicians want unions to do so, thats why they cannot be trusted most of the time.
Bullhorner don't unions have rules about raiding other unions? What will Kingston get? CSEA will prove its worth over the next 2 years protecting whats left of its membership.
Why would a union be blamed for layoffs when in fact the council itself voted for the layoffs, not the union! The contract and its contents need to be in place in any workshop or the workers will be compromised, as well as management. Both sides agreed to the contents. This isnt rocket science.
10:16 to quote the great Abraham Lincoln
"Labor is not a commodity"
asshole
4:56 -
Yes there are rules about raiding and they exist so existing relationships and contracts between the parties are not disrupted mid-stream. We have politicians for that.
CSEA has stood thier ground this budget year, once again. I have heard that CSEA is soft, but that is not what I observe at all. At least not in kingston. It is too bad that some hard workers are being layed off, but you can't put your whole bargaining unit in jeopardy for a small percentage of the membership. Management will put a gun to your head every budget season if you do. It was a hard decision for csea, but in the end it was the right one.
Will madsen blame the teachers union in saugerties for not opening up its contract. Madsen is an asshole and degenerate like Hoffay. Both know nothing about unions.
Ashdown is a shop steward in the union and has handled political action in the past. He IS NOT interested at all in serving as an officer in the union now or in the future. He is quite content serving as a steward. Count him out for any running for offices in 2012.
if csea is so united why is there so much unrest at the dpw with the union why dont you listen to the membership and give them what they pay for good honest representation
The union did represent all of us. You are under the false impression that they didn't -you are wrong.
The only unrest at DPW is Charlie Thomas. He is trying to save his sons job. If Charlie would stop wrecking the equipment we could afford to keep his son on.
Charlie wrecked another truck today.
9:41 Charlie wrecked another truck Thursday. Slammed into the wall on Deleware Avenue. This was after the storm on dry road. He wasn't tested for being drunk, but was seen coming out of the Hoffman House a few minutes before the accident.
Coming out of Hoffman House doesn't mean he was drinking though - be fair.
You union guys are all for amnesty for illegal immigrants. You should see where Madsen is on that issue. You're not gonna like it.
4:28 that's where you are wrong - we are split on that issue. My opinion is you come in the front door or not at all.
I am sorry but the truth is you cannot be consistent on immigration while at the same time bashing politicians because it is politicians in this country who have failed to belly up to the plate on immigration. So please enough of your disdain of your fellow man--and let's include a fellow worker in Kingston who got the axe by silly Sottile named Edwards who is of the opposite gender to what that phrase implies-- who was the object of enough disdain to have a legitimate complaint and is yet another victim in Sottile's war on labor in Kingston.
Or should I just leave my feces in someone's gloves--or perhaps the Mayor's boots-- to make my point?
Post a Comment