April 30, 2004

Labor's champion
Posted by McQ

One wonders if you'd ever see an opening like this if it were the NYC police union threatening to picket the GOP:

The Republican-friendly police union in Boston is threatening to play "bad cop" at the Democratic National Convention this summer even as hometown candidate John Kerry prepares to accept his party's nomination for president.

Hey ... a union's a union, boys and one would expect John Kerry to be on even a "Republican-friendly" union's side if he's truely labor's champion, right?

The 1,400-member Boston Police Patrolmen's Association plans a picket to help induce the city to accept its pay demands, an in-your-face tactic to embarrass the city and convention delegates usually sympathetic to union efforts. In the past, the union has held true to its threats by picketing state party gatherings.

Ah, you mean a "put up or shut up" confrontation. Wonder if the Dems will cross the picket line?

Surely this is just a ploy, huh?

Menino has said repeatedly that he will not allow the unions' vigorous protests to push him into a contract at a time when the city is struggling to make ends meet. The union's contract expired in July 2002, when rank-and-file officers were earning an average of $79,000 a year.

Wait a minute ... they've been out of contract for almost 2 years? Sounds like a legit gripe to me.

Where's John Kerry? Where's Jesse Jackson? Where's all the Democrat labor types?

Oh ... $79,000 a year. Uh, that would probably make them 'rich'. And it would be unseemly for Kerry, et. al. to be seen helping the rich.

What a dilemma for the champions of labor.

TrackBack

Comments

Actually, here in NYC both Cops and Firemen are talking about doing the exact same thing at the Republican convention...

Posted by: shark at April 30, 2004 04:08 PM

Yeah, but do you think the story reporting it will open with "the Democrat-leaning NYC Police Union..."?

Posted by: McQ at April 30, 2004 04:12 PM

What that $79,000 figure does not tell you is that much of a police officer's compensation in Massachusetts is from paid details, such as directing traffic during road work. They are paid time and a half or double time for these details by the contractors, etc. that need them. There is usually a four hour minimum as well. Attempts to remove the silly requirement of having a cop present for tree trimming have been shot down as local municipalities would then have to pay cops a real wage. Howie Carr, a Boston drive time talk show guy is all over this issue all the time.

And yes, the hypocrisy is amazing but sadly unsurprising.

Posted by: The Opinionator at April 30, 2004 04:51 PM