Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?

New York City’s billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg generally gets high marks from the media for being a no-nonsense, get-things-done kind of guy, and therefore just the kind of politician who is needed on the national scene to bring us together in order to break the gridlock that we find ourselves in. Moreover he has adopted a soothing, non-confrontational, almost grandfatherly demeanor, far different from his volatile predecessor, Rudi Gulliani.

Most recently Mike has been out on the campaign trail supporting (according to the New York Times, 9/18/2010) “Republicans, Democrats and independents that he says are not bound by rigid ideology and are capable of compromise….” Among the candidates to receive the mayor’s support are Republican Meg Whitman, likewise a billionaire, running for governor of California; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is being challenged by Republican Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle; and Democrat Joe Sestak, who is running for Senate in Pennsylvania.

Many of us who live in New York City, especially city employees, are less enthusiastic about our billionaire mayor, who freely uses his fortune to further his political ends. Mike started out as an unknown quantity who spent 73 million dollars of his own money, out spending his opponent 5 to 1, to get elected mayor in 2001 – he claimed he needed to spend all that money since he lacked name recognition. However, during the 2005 and 2009 elections he spent even more when presumably he was very well known indeed! He also contributes a great deal of money to non-profit organizations in the city and this, no doubt, buys a lot of “good will.” This was especially important in the last election because of New York City’s term limit law (passed by referendum) that allows only two terms for elected city officials. Bloomberg, citing the fiscal crisis, went to the City Council and succeeded in getting them to overturn the law for current office holders, even though he had previously called efforts to overturn the law “disgusting.” The vote was close, 29 to 22, and there was a lot of acrimony, with charges and counter charges. It is to be noted that members of the City Council were also covered under this term limit law--thus those who were in their second term were voting on whether they themselves could run again.

Bloomberg has had rocky relations with municipal labor unions during his terms in office. His administration has often forced unions to work years without a contract by offering little or nothing initially and waiting years before entering into serious negotiations. In addition, “give backs” are always demanded--even for the modest increases finally negotiated. For example, faculty and staff at the City University worked almost four years without a contract beginning in 2002. Finally in December of 2004, CUNY management made an initial financial offer that many considered insulting. Management proposed no increase in the first year of the contract, 1.5% for the second year, 1% in the third year—if union members pay for it through “productivity increases, and 0% in the fourth year. In addition a lump sum of $400 would be paid at the start, but would not become part of the base pay used to calculate further increases. It was not until 2006 that a halfway decent contract was signed--one that provided for a total increase of 9.5% over the life of the contract, November 2002 – September 2007, in addition to increased contributions to the Union Welfare Fund. Other municipal unions had similar experiences. Under New York States’ “Taylor Law,” public employees are forbidden to strike and the old contract remains in force without any cost of living adjustments. This provides little incentive for management to reach a speedy agreement and Bloomberg took full advantage of this. Only once during Bloomberg’s term has a municipal union had the temerity to defy the Taylor Law and go out on strike, and they were severely punished for their actions--a lesson not lost on the other public employee unions.

In December 2005, the transit workers union, TWU Local 100, called a strike during the Christmas shopping season after negotiations with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) broke down. The strike shut down the entire New York City transit system. Mayor Bloomberg appoints four out of 17 members of the MTA and wasn’t directly involved in the negotiations; however he quickly demonized the union and its leader: "For their own selfish reasons, the TWU has decided that their demands are more important than the law, the City and the people they serve. This is not only an affront to the concept of public service; it is a cowardly attempt by Roger Toussaint and the TWU to bring the City to its knees to create leverage for their own bargaining position." The strike only lasted three days, however. Roger Touissant, Local 100 President, who was threatened by large financial penalties to the union and jail time for himself and members of Local 100’s executive board under the Taylor law, called off the strike after secret negotiations with a state mediator, promised to remove the most onerous give backs demanded by the MTA while providing modest wage increases. Harsh Taylor Law penalties were then imposed. Roger Touissant was jailed for 10 days; Local 100 was fined $2.5 million, while striking transit workers lost two days pay for each day on strike. In addition the union lost its dues check off for 17 months.

Bloomberg’s relations with the unions have improved and contracts are settled in a somewhat more timely fashion, as Bloomberg becomes more concerned about his own political future. (It should be noted however, that the City has yet to reach an agreement with the UFT, the union representing the New York City public school teachers whose members have been without a contract since November of 2009.)

Bloomberg has made education a main priority of his tenure as mayor. He started by appointing Joel Klein, someone with no previous experience in education, as New York City’s Schools Chancellor. Bloomberg and Klein have applied a business model, emphasizing results on standardized tests as proof of their success. Recently, however, the claimed gains have been questioned. According to the New York Times (7/28/2010), “Applying new, tougher standards, state education officials said Wednesday that more than half of the public school students in New York City failed their English exams this year and (only) 54 percent of them passed in math.”

Bloomberg and Klein have been enthusiastic supporters of charter schools (as is the Obama administration) despite evidence showing lackluster performance by most charters. A 2009 report by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, states that, while 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were significantly better than traditional public schools, 37 percent of charter schools showed gains that were worse than their traditional public school counterparts, with 46 percent of charter schools demonstrating no significant difference.”
After state legislators passed legislation doubling the number of charter schools permitted statewide, New York State was rewarded this year with a $700 million “Race to the Top” federal education grant. According to the New York Times, (August 24, 2010), Bloomberg and Klein regarded the awarding of the money a “vindication of their efforts,” and Chancellor Klein said: “Race to the Top has been a tremendous catalyst for precisely the kind of educational reform we’ve supported and implemented in New York City.” We find it interesting that so much money is being provided to charters without proof of their superiority--money granted by people who promote test scores with an almost religious fervor. The urge to privatize must be almost irresistible!

Mayor Bloomberg is a plutocrat with an estimated 15 billion dollar personal fortune. Although he maintains a liberal stance on some issues such as, gay marriage, the banning of tobacco use from public places, and gun control, his positions favoring continued tax cuts for the rich, privatizing government services, and limiting the power of unions make him especially dangerous to working class Americans. He is truly a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and therefore it is especially important that the real Michael Bloomberg be unmasked, not the one that has been carefully constructed for public consumption.