Nutter will ask court to let him impose terms on DC 33
After years of stalemate, the Nutter administration on Friday asked a judge to allow the city to impose his "final offer" on the city's largest union.
Nutter will ask court to let him impose terms on DC 33
After years of stalemate, the Nutter administration on Friday asked a judge to allow the city to impose his "final offer" on the city's largest union.
Nutter is seeking permission from a Common Pleas Court judge for the city to implement the plan he presented to District Council 33 two weeks ago. The plan includes incremental pay raises in exchange for cost reductions in overtime rules, possible furloughs, a less generous pension plan for new hires and other changes.
"Union leaders have held our public employees and the taxpayers hostage," Nutter said at a press conference. "We are no closer to an agreement today than we were four years ago."
DC 33 President Pete Matthews said that his union is still willing to bargain and that Nutter's desire to implement terms unilaterally is typical of the way he negotiates.
"That does not surprise me. I’ve said it in the past: He tries to act like a dictator. He dictates terms," Matthews said.
It looks like an uphill battle for the administration. In 1993, a Commonwealth Court ruled that the Housing Authority was not allowed to impose terms on its workers as long as they didn't strike, and the state Supreme Court took a pass on the case.
But Shannon Farmer, the city's chief negotiator, said Friday that the facts of this case - DC 33 has been without a contract for years, not months like the PHA workers - will lead to a favorable decision.
Nutter says an overhaul of pensions and work rules for city workers is necessary for the city's financial health.
Union leaders, however, contend the city can pay for its workers since it balances its budget every year and can still afford vanity projects like the Dilworth Plaza renovation outside City Hall, which will cost the city tens of millions of dollars.
The only mistake DC 33 President Pete Matthews's made above in his remarks was putting the word 'negotiates' and Nutter in the same sentence! Negotiations imply give and take by both sides, which is something not put into practice by the city or reported on either...— dtmcgraw68- Again, here is Nutter wasting the taxpayer's money on a lawsuit. He has yet to implement the terms of the arbitrator in the case of the firefighters contract, and is challenging the reopening of the police union as provided for in their contract signed by the city. It's time to revisit the Mayor's misuse of funds.— gb
- Nutter has done nothing for this city. His lip service only amounts to double talk. He wants this issue to be handled by the courts so that he won't have to deal with it anymore. The next Mayor will. The only thing he has done for this city is hire all his friends and raise taxes.— DEBBY1958
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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