City trade unions to work together
Trade unions in the country during recent times have been operating on templates. At least half of all labor unions in New York city have decided to challenge this practice, where the city negotiates a deal with one union and then uses that contract as a sort of template for other negotiations.
Mayor Bloomberg thinks “one size fits all” will not fit any one since the coalition is formed by 20 labor unions that have different work rules and hence it might not be served by working together.
Refuting the Mayor’s apprehensions and calling the move a “milestone” for city municipal unions, in a statement, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said, “With working people losing their pensions and health care, and the erosion of the middle class, many of us realize that the issues that bind us are far greater than the ones that divide us.”
Currently 20 labor unions coalition will bargain on behalf of about 175,000 city workers. The association, yet unnamed, includes civilian and uniformed unions and brings together members of both the AFL-CIO and the neophyte Change to Win coalition.
The ones who have not agreed to take part include the police, firefighters unions, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union District Council 37, the city’s largest public-employee union.
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