The state and local fiscal crisis of the last two years has prompted numerous face-offs between politicians and government 
unions, including a number of cases where public employees refused to give ground on concessions, prompting layoffs and service cuts instead. But government workers in Pennsylvania's capital city, Harrisburg, say they are ready to give concessions to help bring their city back to fiscal health, if only city leaders will stop bickering among themselves and come to the table.
unions, including a number of cases where public employees refused to give ground on concessions, prompting layoffs and service cuts instead. But government workers in Pennsylvania's capital city, Harrisburg, say they are ready to give concessions to help bring their city back to fiscal health, if only city leaders will stop bickering among themselves and come to the table.
Harrisburg is on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to some $300 million in debt largely from an incinerator project that became a boondoggle. The project is a legacy of former Mayor Stephen Reed, once described by a local paper as a politician who "never met a bond deal he didn't like." Reed used debt to build a local stadium for a minor league baseball team, then used debt to purchase the team when its owners threatened to leave town. He built a money-losing Civil War museum with debt and even used borrowed money to buy artifacts for a museum of the American West that never saw the light of day. When he was done Harrisburg's debt equaled five times its annual budget.
Pennsylvania has saved Harrisburg from defaulting on earlier bond payments but has also demanded that the city work out a rescue plan. Consultants enlisted by the state developed one that included selling certain assets and renegotiating city contracts with workers agreed to by Reed just before he left office in 2009. But the city council rejected the plan. Instead, members want bondholders to share in the pain of recovery by taking a haircut on their payments.
The upshot, however, is that Harrisburg is now about to run out of money. It has two bond payments as well as two payrolls it must meet in September, and not enough cash on hand to do that. Union leaders, watching the city approach default, say they are ready to renegotiate with officials but haven't gotten the chance because the city council has yet to approve a bailout plan.
"Fundamentally, we are very frustrated that we have not had the opportunity to sit down with the administration to see what we could bring to the table," one union leader recently told the press. Stay tuned.
Pennsylvania has saved Harrisburg from defaulting on earlier bond payments but has also demanded that the city work out a rescue plan. Consultants enlisted by the state developed one that included selling certain assets and renegotiating city contracts with workers agreed to by Reed just before he left office in 2009. But the city council rejected the plan. Instead, members want bondholders to share in the pain of recovery by taking a haircut on their payments.
The upshot, however, is that Harrisburg is now about to run out of money. It has two bond payments as well as two payrolls it must meet in September, and not enough cash on hand to do that. Union leaders, watching the city approach default, say they are ready to renegotiate with officials but haven't gotten the chance because the city council has yet to approve a bailout plan.
"Fundamentally, we are very frustrated that we have not had the opportunity to sit down with the administration to see what we could bring to the table," one union leader recently told the press. Stay tuned.
There should be no union for public service employees. The public is in the position of employer; but, has only the laughable right to vote out public officials who fail to bargain in their best interest.
If there are to be public employee unions, then any contract between labor and management (?), the public should require ratification by the real employers, the public, at the ballot box.
There should be no union for public service employees. The public is in the position of employer; but, has only the laughable right to vote out public officials who fail to bargain in their best interest.
If there are to be public employee unions, then any contract between labor and management (?), the public should require ratification by the real employers, the public, at the ballot box.