Bloomberg's Unethical Union Deals

As the Mayor of New York, it is important to make sure that city employees are happy with their jobs and what they get paid for them. Yet it is also important for that same Mayor to be fiscally prudent with the city's finances, especially when we are in a devastating recession like the current one. Mayor Bloomberg justified extending term limits based on his financial expertise and strong, "independent" leadership, but the latest deal he made with the municipal unions is as the NY Daily News' Adam Lisberg describes, is "bizarre."

From The NY Daily News:

He cut a bizarre deal with municipal unions last week, one that postponed layoffs for 1,000 or so city workers for 90 more days of negotiations.[...]

But it also leaves plenty of time for the mayor and union bosses to scrounge for some extra millions, figure out a furlough package, or find some other way to save those jobs - then shake hands for the cameras.

And if Bloomberg ends up the savior of municipal workers, it will happen right around the time his political team is asking the workers' unions to endorse him.

That perfect timing isn't something new for the Mayor either. Back in 2005 he did something similar for the Teachers' Union, who mysteriously backed away from endorsing the Democrat in the race. Nowadays he's sticking up for union workers that he initially threatened when the debate over the budget crunch began.

Unfortunately, in the article Thompson says he isn't concerned about the Mayor's about face just in time for the election and the crucial period where candidates get backed up by union support. Thompson is seriously behind in this race and if he wants to get competitive with Bloomberg, then I hope that he worried about it, and more importantly doing something about it in private.