Public Employee Unions in Coral Gables: Not Indispensable

Our Coral Gables leaders–city manager and commissioners–followed a single track during a decade:  they raised taxes and they increased spending over many years without regard for the eventual financial consequences.

Now they want to keep spending up on salaries and benefits and they want to keep up the taxes. It is time to make real spending and benefit cuts, and our city unions may face the same reaction that is taking place across the country against public unions, including police and firefighters who pretend to be indispensable (some are and some aren’t).

Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy.

…

Too many political leaders, they argue, acted too irresponsibly, failing to either raise taxes or cut spending.

via Public Employee Unions Face Rising Public Anger – NYTimes.com.