Since Berry took office, he and Perry have not backed down from their efforts to remove all city paid compensation to city employees who get paid to work for their unions. This is an ideological argument that neo-conservatives can't seem to get over. Nevermind the fact that at most we're talking about a handful of employees and that in reality they bring a positive savings that out weighs their earnings. But by the city's actions of not negotiation on this issue, they have brought an impasse to union contracts with the police, fire, and AFSCME covered city employees. And from those impasse's there are lawsuits and decreased productivity. Not bright executive management style at all if you ask us. Out of protest of a few employees, Berry/Perry have harmed thousands of other employees.
While Berry/Perry's lead contract negotiator has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in his efforts to make sure all the main unions do not get new contracts, the affected employees have also seen their pay go down while their expenses go up. Now with the AFSCME president bringing attention to this matter, Yermal goes on the offensive in actually blames her for the impasse.
Oddly Yermal makes the statement that had the unions folded on this issue all employees would have seen a 1% raise each year for each of the last three years. Funny, affected city employees have seen a reduction in income and had this increase occurred it would have been a pay restoration and not a raise. Silly Yermal.
Yermal then closes the memo by saying, after his lies, that he hopes the "memo clears up and confusion and misunderstanding regarding the City's position." Right, because only in the land of Berry/Perry is it called leadership where you punish the vast majority of your employees while you give your impulse control impaired CAO a $33,000/year raise.
We at the Eye have to state the obvious, Yermal sounds way too upset for a guy that according to the city's transgression, oops we me transparency, site makes $45.94/hour.
But then again, since Yermal only gave $500 to Berry's campaign (reported on August 20th), unlike the $2500 Perry gave Berry, I guess we shouldn't be surprised he's been tasked to push back against the city's workers.
Given how APOA Vice President Willoughby can't support APD interim chief Allen Banks enough praise (even though Banks is even more anti-union than Schultz) we don't expect much from the city's finest to fight for their wages. AFD shows promise but the cards are still out.
Who knows, maybe it will be the clerical workers, the solid waster drivers, or perhaps those fiesty librarians that finally pull the plug on Berry/Perry & Company's war on their employees. We do know that they just got a huge ally with the election of Diane Gibson to city council.....we see.....
