CWA 1180 - Political Action

A FAIR BUDGET EQUALS A GOOD CONTRACT
City bargaining: Gearing up for a long, hard battle
April 2003

UPDATE 5/03
In a significant victory for New York City's working class, state legislative leaders and the mayor agree to a tax plan that asks the rich to help; but the battle for a fair budget is far from over; click here for details.

Local 1180 has started preparations for bargaining the next contract with New York City. This next round of negotiations is expected to be extraordinarily tough because of the budget climate, and the union has shifted resources to a long-term campaign that goes beyond the usual mobilization in order to secure a good contract.

A large component of the early part of this campaign is fighting for a fair city budget. As municipal workers, 1180 members' fate at contract time has always been tied to the budget, but with the current deficits and layoffs the connection is even tighter—and more perilous. The mayor has thus far succeeded in framing the crisis as one the municipal unions need to help solve. His call for $600 million in concessions is constantly in the news, and the city's corporate media portray union resistance to those concessions as a primary cause of 'deepening budget woes.'

PROTEST APRIL 15,
4 TO 7pm, GPO

April 15 is tax day. Join Local 1180 members that day to protest the unfairness of current tax and budget proposals. Come sign our pledge to fight for a fair budget and let the mayor know we won't solve this budget crisis on our ours again.

Tuesday, April 15, 4 to 7pm, on the steps of the General Post Office, 8th Ave. between 31st and 33rd Sts.

Download a flyer for the event by clicking her and spread the word!

In reality, the vast bulk of the city's budget deficit is the result of irresponsible tax cuts in the 1990s that put money in the pockets of the rich (while city workers got a double-zero contract) and left a huge structural deficit. The real problem with the city's budget—which was temporarily masked by the boom-time tax receipts of the 90s—is a lack of revenue, and the only real solution is therefore an increase in revenue. Yet Mayor Bloomberg never acknowledges any of this. Indeed, his current budget proposals still include a call for a cut in the city's personal income tax. (The mayor is due to release his full 2004 budget proposal April 15.) This would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, again, and further destabilize the city's long-term fiscal health. Asking hardworking civil servants to cough up over $2,000 a year in concessions while millionaires and billionaires (like Bloomberg) would get tens of thousands of dollars in new tax breaks qualifies as a new definition of chutzpah. And on top of that, the mayor announced on April 7 that he was laying off 3,400 city workers.

The Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), the Working Families Party (WFP), the Budget for a Livable NYC Coalition, City Project and other groups have all put together detailed studies and proposals that document the structural deficit problem and offer concrete and viable revenue solutions that do not place yet another burden on the city's working class. For instance, a 1% increase in the personal income tax for people making over $250,000 would add $611 million to the city's coffers. That's just about the amount the mayor wants city workers to give up in concessions. Given the fact that the $250,000+ set has been raking in the tax breaks at the state and federal level while city workers are being hit with fare hikes, rent hikes and "fee" increases, which proposal is fair?

Corporations must also pay their fair share. Currently, over half of the city's corporations pay a minimum tax of $300 a year, while a family of four struggling to survive on $30,000 pays nearly twice that in city income taxes. The general corporate tax minimum has not been increased since 1966. Increasing it to $1,000 would add over $100 million in city revenue (and adjusted for inflation that is still less than $300 was in 1966).

BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS

On April 7, Mayor Bloomberg announced he was laying off 3,400 city workers. Information sent to the union that same day indicated that 86 Local 1180 members would be affected. Bloomberg has talked a good line about the value of public services, but at the end of the day he let his millionaire friends walk away without paying a dime while city workers and New Yorkers who depend on them are paying the price. Local 1180, of course, is fighting for every single job.

These are just two examples of many fair ways to balance the budget and fix the structural deficit. Getting City Hall to take these proposals seriously instead of laying off city workers and beating concessions out of them is the first part of Local 1180's contract mobilization. Without a fair city budget, we cannot win a good contract.

Local 1180 members came out in force for a March 20 event sponsored by the WFP and the Central Labor Council to demand a fair budget. On April 15 the union is planning a media event to highlight the tax injustices of the current budget proposals (click here to download the flyer—and please spread the word widely!). Meanwhile, every 1180 member has been asked to sign a pledge to fight for a fair budget, and stewards are meeting at the end of April strategize ways to get as many members actively involved as possible.

Thus far 1180 members have responded. Over 1,400 filled out an initial survey about the mayor's demands for concessions. A second survey, asking for input on the local's own contract demands, will be out in early May. Stewards are working to make that survey an opportunity for members to meet and discuss and strategize about ways we can win a good contract.

The struggle for a fair budget is just one part of the contract campaign, and it will be many months before we even start formal negotiations. There's a long and difficult road ahead, but if 1180 members are united and active we will win the contract we need and deserve.

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