Unions press city for contract
Friday, June 19th, 2009
By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org
An old-fashioned, horn-honking union rally blocked the streets around City Hall during last night's evening rush.
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More than a thousand members of the unions representing city blue and white collar workers joined members of the Transport Workers Union for the protest around City Hall. Pete Matthews is head of District Council 33, which represents blue-collar workers. He says even in the bad economy, they will strike if necessary.
Matthews: We have made sacrifices in the past, and we continue to make sacrifices, this day. Case in point we signed a one year contract last year no pay increases, no increases to health and welfare, which saved the city 50 million dollars.
Only a few politicians attended the rally. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell says she's afraid the union solidarity will cause major problems in the city this summer, but she's hopeful a deal can be done to avoid a strike.