Letters to the Editor: Firefighters' Special Treatment
To the Editor:
      Mayor Bloomberg, commenting on Firefighters' latest contract coup, called the settlement, "a fair agreement." What's fair, or fiscally responsible, about compensating one uniformed city service markedly better than all the others? Tell our lesser-paid cops that the pay disparity is based on the dangers of firefighting and they'll go ballistic.
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CONTRACT A WINNER
To the Editor:
      Congratulations to Steven Cassidy, the Uniformed Firefighters' Association executive board, Jim Hanley of the Office of Labor Relations and the Fire Department on the new Firefighter contract. It was so important to negotiate the contract after the 2005 PBA arbitration which provided a 10.25-percent increase in salary but included a 4.
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ROSES FOR BERT
To the Editor:
      Kudos to Richard Steier regarding his wonderful tribute to the late Bert Rose (March 9 issue). I had the privilege of knowing and working with Bert for nearly half a century. I first met Bert in 1962 when he was dispatched to the old Borough Hall Welfare Center by then-DC 37 Executive Director Jerry Wurf to deal with the "wild men" of the newly formed Social Service Employees Union.
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SHE'S NO ANTI-SEMITE
To the Editor:
      I am responding to your column piece entitled For the Record in the March 9 edition. The 2007-2009 "illuminating" elections are over. I was victorious! This insulting and disparaging characterization of my being an anti-Semite was disseminated in the campaign literature of the opposition and it dissolved with no merit.
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LUMP-SUM LOSSES
To the Editor:
      I have a question that - for reasons I can't fathom - hasn't been addressed by our union leaders during contract negotiations. When negotiations carry over for two or three years and are finally settled, the back-pay is received in one lump sum. The amount is credited to the pension for the year paid.
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