City Hall Memo - Bloomberg and Teachers Wrestle Over 4% Pay Raises - NYTimes.com
As he sought to persuade wary voters that he deserved a third term as mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg sold himself as a no-nonsense financial watchdog who was ready to swing the budget ax.
The powerful union is asking the city for 4 percent annual raises for its 87,000 teachers, the same pay increase that the Bloomberg administration gave municipal workers throughout the mayor’s second term.
A year ago, the teachers’ raises seemed inevitable. In fact, the city has already set aside enough money to give teachers 4 percent increases over the next two years.
But the economic landscape has changed drastically, and Mr. Bloomberg is grappling with a tricky question: In a severe economic downturn, can the city justify giving $700 million in raises to teachers?
The decision is rich in symbolism, and will reveal much about how Mr. Bloomberg intends to govern in his third term.
If he snubs teachers and hurts their morale, he risks jeopardizing his signature policy initiative: overhauling the city’s once-troubled schools. If he demands no serious concessions, organized labor may decide he is weak and resist his spending cuts for the next four years. If he is overly combative, he could alienate unions that paved the way for his re-election, either by endorsing him or staying neutral, as the teachers’ union did.
As he sought to persuade wary voters that he deserved a third term as mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg sold himself as a no-nonsense financial watchdog who was ready to swing the budget ax.
The powerful union is asking the city for 4 percent annual raises for its 87,000 teachers, the same pay increase that the Bloomberg administration gave municipal workers throughout the mayor’s second term.
A year ago, the teachers’ raises seemed inevitable. In fact, the city has already set aside enough money to give teachers 4 percent increases over the next two years.
But the economic landscape has changed drastically, and Mr. Bloomberg is grappling with a tricky question: In a severe economic downturn, can the city justify giving $700 million in raises to teachers?
The decision is rich in symbolism, and will reveal much about how Mr. Bloomberg intends to govern in his third term.
If he snubs teachers and hurts their morale, he risks jeopardizing his signature policy initiative: overhauling the city’s once-troubled schools. If he demands no serious concessions, organized labor may decide he is weak and resist his spending cuts for the next four years. If he is overly combative, he could alienate unions that paved the way for his re-election, either by endorsing him or staying neutral, as the teachers’ union did.