1991: The Year The Union Broke

The last time there were city layoffs, city government cast the choice in terms of employee concessions (“The city has threatened to go through with the layoffs if they do not get the concessions they seek from union leaders, who in turn assert that they must protect their members”). Today, the Bloomberg Administration appears to be setting the stage for a similar scenario:

The [Citizens Budget Commission] study feeds into the Bloomberg administration’s aggressive campaign to get health care givebacks from the unions while urging state legislators to cut pension benefits for future employees.

In fact, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler spoke to members of the Citizens Budget Commission at the University Club last week and warned that out-of-control benefit costs could push the city to the brink of bankruptcy.

Just a coincidence, commission officials said.

“I’m delighted that the mayor is joining us,” said Charles Brecher, director of research and executive vice president at the commission. “We’ve been concerned about this longer than he has.”

“Pensions are important to people. They are important to people who work for the city, but they are also important to taxpayers, because they are a growing expense in the city budget.”