Mayor's Layoff Threat Not Galvanizing Unions

Mayor de Blasio's warning May 6 that he would be forced to consider layoffs and furloughs unless Federal officials approved a new stimulus package to cover much of a $7.4-billion budget shortfall that the city is facing failed to rally some key union leaders to his campaign to pressure President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have publicly opposed such aid.

Rather, several greeted the threat with a combination of disbelief and anger, with Uniformed Firefighters Association President Gerard Fitzgerald saying the Mayor was needlessly creating anxiety among his members while failing to get behind a pension bill that would help them and their families if they became disabled or died because of exposure to COVID-19.