Unions Must Unite

 
To the Editor:

It's all smoke and mirrors, ladies and gentlemen, all smoke and mirrors. We are fighting amongst ourselves, and that's just what the city administration wants.

Who has the most dangerous job? It depends on who was killed that day.

A cop is shot, a sanitation guy gets covered in acid, a firefighter dies in a fire, and an EMS worker dies in an accident. And what does our Mayor Mike say about it? He will talk about our dedication to duty and family and how he supports us, all of us, with an unwavering fortitude.

And then the contract talks begin. What can we give back, sell out, or just give up? Getting four quarters for a dollar is not a raise. That's what the Mayor wants to give all of us.

We are fighting and arguing in this newspaper all the time. Let's stop with the constant "he said, she said" crap and unify. If we all get together, we will have some impressive numbers.

Don't try to get a raise on the premise that you do more than me. Let's get our raises on what we do, not what we don't. Crime is down, but that's not counted as productivity. EMS runs all night and day; that's not productivity either.

The Fire Department has slower response times and no one can fix it. Now let's see, we closed firehouses in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and The Bronx and the response time went up, but in Staten Island we opened a new house and the times went down. I am just a civil servant, so I may not have this right, but let's try reopening those closed houses and see what happens.

If you are jealous of a particular job, don't air your anger in the newspaper, go get some counseling. What we all need right now is people who care about our jobs and want to preserve them for our future generations. The civil service has always been a noble calling. We will never get rich, but the reliability of a job like this has its merits. Don't let the administration ruin a good thing. Bond together, people, let the administration know that we have had enough! Reward the civil servants for the work we do in this great city.

TONY TRICARICO, Captain, FDNY Squad 252