Unions To City: Get Out Of Bankruptcy Court And Back To Bargaining Table
DETROIT (WWJ) - Get out of bankruptcy court and get back the bargaining table.
That's what some local union officials are saying about the city filing for bankruptcy reports WWJ's Beth Fisher.
UAW President Bob King says the state has the responsibility to live up to its promises.
"This governor, time and time again, says one thing and does another," said King. "I'm so angry - I read his comments this weekend that said he cares about people on a fixed income yet his emergency manager is saying that people on a fixed income are going to take a substantial cut in their pensions; it's immoral, it's wrong."
Kings says that during the auto crisis they worked with the auto companies to save money. Very different, he says, from what is happening in the city of Detroit.
AFSCME Council 25 President Al Garrett says, it just shouldn't have come to this, about the city of Detroit filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
He believes Governor Rick Snyder planned it all along, but says it's not the crisis they're making it out to be.
"They can sit down at a bargaining table, bargain with the unions, get out of bankruptcy court, collect the revenue, take the t-a and let's move forward," said Garrett.
"Bankruptcy is not the solution ... it has been the plan of this administration ... there has been a decision made that the people running Detroit, the people who live in Detroit, ought not have a say in what the destiny of the city of Detroit is," said Garrett.
Garrett says the emergency manager never bargained with the unions.
He does say part of the problem is how the state funds municipalities....saying that needs to change.
He says their attorneys are keeping an eye on the process, since he says the governor is moving to disavow the state constitution.
