SRC's contract slam hurts those most essential

Monday, Oct. 6, is another day that will live in infamy, now that the state's School Reform Commission, in a Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack on organized labor, unilaterally ripped up the Philadelphia public school teachers' union contract.

I haven't changed my mind about the ultimate failure of public education in the city because of the complete lack of political will in Pennsylvania to properly fund a school system responsible for educating mostly poor, and mostly black or Hispanic children.

But I didn't think the end game would be so badly played. Permit me to summarize:

After decades of annual financial crises, the fate of whether Philadelphia public schools would open their doors in September hinged on the approval in the state legislature of a bill that would affect Philadelphia nicotine addicts unwilling or unable to cross City Line to buy a pack of smokes to avoid the $2 tax.

I actually witnessed such a transaction at 45th and Baltimore Avenue, after the cigarette tax took effect. A guy in front of me at the cashier at 6:30 Tuesday morning had a 16-ounce container of coffee and he ordered a pack of Camel Lights. "What?" he said, when told he owed more than $9.

He hadn't heard about the new tax. He looked in his wallet, but he had only $9. I told him that he could buy cheaper cigarettes in the suburbs. "Can I return the coffee?" he asked, and then left with the Camels.

With such a dependable tax base, school authorities expect to raise $230 million "in annual predictable funds." Unless, you know, the tax base dies off or is inspired to quit or even walk across Cheltenham Avenue.

But within days of achieving funding salvation, the SRC turned on the very people who would deliver that salvation to the children of Philadelphia, the teachers and staff secretaries and nurses working without a net in the city's public schools.

By breaking the teachers' contract to require that union members pay up to $200 a month for health benefits formerly paid by the district, the SRC expects to save $70 million annually. But even with that money, a district official warned of another deficit next year.

What will they do then? Cannibalize pension funds? Auction off schools on eBay?

The issue isn't whether teachers should contribute to their health coverage. Of course they should. But the current contract was the result of collective bargaining agreed to by both parties.

The issue here is how badly the SRC executed its decision, in the middle of a gubernatorial race, no less. It was shocking on so many levels. It was a "There's a new sheriff in town" type of statement. By doing it in plain sight, yet in secrecy, the SRC avoided a nasty televised display of emotions at a public meeting for one day.

By not notifying those most involved, the SRC first guaranteed a loss of goodwill from the people most affected, the people most valuable, most essential, most irreplaceable to achieving the commission's goals.

The quote that got me hot was by Commissioner Sylvia Simms, who said, "We need to stop playing games on the backs of our children."

Games? Games are what the previous school superintendent played in her contract negotiations that provided for a million-dollar golden parachute if she failed at her job.

Oct. 6 was the day the SRC awakened a sleeping giant. Philadelphia has been a union town for seven decades. When a state-created agency can announce that a union contract is null and void during the collective bargaining process, you can be sure the other unions noticed.

"The Philadelphia labor movement sees this for what it is," said Patrick Eiding, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. And what he saw was the ugly future of labor relations with the city.

Twice in the last week, Philadelphia labor leaders met in emotional meetings to decide whether to hold a citywide general strike in response to the SRC's surprise attack on the sanctity of a union contract. The labor leaders voted to wait until the outcome of the Nov. 4 election for governor.

The secrecy and the timing of this game-changing SRC announcement have energized labor's commitment to defeat Republican Gov. Corbett.

Mayor Nutter made headlines with his observation about the SRC's handling of the announcement, if not the rationale behind the decision: "Look, it's not the proudest moment in the city's history."

Allow me to suggest other nominees for "not the proudest moment":

South Philadelphia Congressman Ozzie Myers' "money talks and BS walks" comment to FBI agents recording his acceptance of a bribe during the Abscam scandal.

Mayor Frank Rizzo's failing the police lie detector test he volunteered to take.

Mayor Wilson Goode's testimony, under oath to the MOVE Commission, that he thought the static snow on the TV screen in his City Hall office was water from firemen's hoses.

Be proud, Philadelphia. Be very proud.