Akron Beacon Journal (OH) - Friday, February 26, 2010
Author: Gina Mace , Special to the Beacon Journal
A day after Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart floated the idea of scrapping public employee unions - the reaction within his own city was swift.
Ohio Police Benevolent Association lawyer Randy Weltman said the suggestion is laughable. The union represents the city's police officers.
''[Robart] is the poster child for the need and utility of public unions,'' Weltman said. ''Without a union in Cuyahoga Falls, we would not have a trained, neutral observer [to] review - and in most cases - reverse not only many of his managerial actions but also his proposed pay schemes.''
Falls Firefighter Chris Martin, who is president of Local 494 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, was disappointed by Robart's comments during his State of the City address on Wednesday.
Robart suggested the change as a way for the city to more quickly respond to a drop in tax revenues.
''We have always been reasonable and productive,'' Martin said. ''When we go to negotiate a contract, we don't go to gouge.
''We are living in this economy too and we know how hard it is.''
Martin said his union has a history of working well with the city's negotiator.
''To say that every union is a problem, that's just not the case,'' Martin said. ''[The city] agreed to everything we signed off on last time. We had pretty steep health care concessions and got 2 1/4-percent raises. And now since last year, we have a gun to our heads to give those back.''
Both Weltman and Martin agree that unions help keep workers safe.
''It's a dangerous game to play when you're running safety forces with a bottom line only,'' Martin said. ''At some point [Robart] will have to recognize that these are high-cost entities in the city.
''But we're the only ones who show up when you call 911. We save lives.''
Weltman said without union representation, employees would have no say on the terms and conditions of their workplace.
''Without collective bargaining, [the city] has free rein to do what they want as long as they don't violate any laws,'' Weltman said. ''If the goal is to preserve revenue, the last thing [Robart] wants is to buy a new police car because the old one has high mileage. He won't be motivated to get the right sort of weapons officers need to do their job. We have a say in all of that.''
Robart said union representation of public workers is proving to be too costly for taxpayers.
The Republican mayor said he is confident there would still be plenty of interest in being a policeman or firefighter in the Falls if the pay and benefit package was less than it is today.
''When we give a test, we might have 300 people who want to be police officers,'' he said. ''If the salary goes down a little, we may have a few less but I don't think it would be appreciable.''
He said the health and safety of city employees would not be compromised if they were not represented by a union.
''We've not done anything in 24 years because the union was pushing it,'' Robart said. ''We've done it because we care about the safety forces as much as anyone does. We cherish our workers. We cherish our police and fire, and we're going to take care of them whether there's a union or not.''
Weltman suggested Robart resign as mayor and make a bid for the state legislature if he has a problem with public sector unions.
''We would have no objection to that,'' Weltman said.
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