Fresh off the picket line, labor gets behind Slay
Slay
A few months ago, members of the unions that represent municipal workers were picketing City Hall, angered that a pay package they had negotiated had been taken off the table at the last minute amid budgetary concerns from Mayor Francis Slay.
Several of the unions took Slay to court, but, after weeks of wrangling with the aldermen, the city finally approved a raise on Friday.
Now, instead of picketing Slay, unions are lining up to endorse him: On Monday, three unions, including the IBEW Local No. 1, announced their support of Slay for the 2009 re-election. The unions joined several others that have become the first to endorse Slay in his bid for a third term.
Even if the unions have forgotten about the pay scrap, however, the rest of City Hall has not: The Board of Aldermen’s Public Employees Committee will hear a resolution this week calling for an investigation into the pay flap.
Glad to know these hardworking public servants got their raise. I was going to vote against Slay as long as the issue was unresolved, now I will rethink it.
In the middle of an economic crisis, when everyone else’s wages are stagnant, and when unemployment and recession loom, workers of what may be the least efficient political subdivision in Missouri are “hardworking public servants” who deserve a raise. You’re joking, right Richard?
And as far as the unions go … what were they going to do, endorse Irene P. Smith?