I was a member of two unions. I also served as an officer and negotiator for one of them and I can tell you that there are two sides to every union story.
One is about unions doing what unions do: negotiating for more money and better benefits. The other is the management that agrees to give it to them.
Before every labor negotiation -- from the school and town side -- I've heard phrases like 'this is a difficult negotiation', 'we have no choice', 'it's not fair', 'we can't re-open contracts', blah, blah, blah.
This is what GM & Chrysler said before they went bankrupt.
Ridgefield's entire budget is $122,660,403. The town's operating budget is $30,941,427. Of that, $22,026,680 represents labor costs which is equals 71% of the town's operating budget.
The First Selectman negotiates all the multi-year labor contracts on the town side. I've never thought this was a good idea & have said so publicly and privately. There's a political conflict of interest.
In executive session (no records), the First Selectman presents the final agreement(s) he has negotiated to the other board members. With no first hand knowledge of the issues, the board consistently votes to support these labor contracts -- not three but four blind mice.
Wouldn't you think even ONE other board member would attend these negotiations to offer their perspective & to grasp the issues? I do. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, this doesn't happen.
I think this should be part of a selectman's commitment to the voters if they are going to vote on 71% of the town's budget.
The rest of the budget review that they make such a show of annually involves only the crumbs from the loaf.
Before every labor negotiation -- from the school and town side -- I've heard phrases like 'this is a difficult negotiation', 'we have no choice', 'it's not fair', 'we can't re-open contracts', blah, blah, blah.
This is what GM & Chrysler said before they went bankrupt.
Ridgefield's entire budget is $122,660,403. The town's operating budget is $30,941,427. Of that, $22,026,680 represents labor costs which is equals 71% of the town's operating budget.
The First Selectman negotiates all the multi-year labor contracts on the town side. I've never thought this was a good idea & have said so publicly and privately. There's a political conflict of interest.
In executive session (no records), the First Selectman presents the final agreement(s) he has negotiated to the other board members. With no first hand knowledge of the issues, the board consistently votes to support these labor contracts -- not three but four blind mice.
Wouldn't you think even ONE other board member would attend these negotiations to offer their perspective & to grasp the issues? I do. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, this doesn't happen.
I think this should be part of a selectman's commitment to the voters if they are going to vote on 71% of the town's budget.
The rest of the budget review that they make such a show of annually involves only the crumbs from the loaf.
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