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To the editor:
"The flaw of creativity" is another excellent letter from Harry Weiner (The Chief, Letters, June 6). Municipal Labor Council Chair Harry Nespoli says, "We had to be creative and at the same time not hurt the city's finances…. We had a management that's willing to bargain with us fairly." There's something wrong with a union leader who thinks that funding raises for his workers should not come from the city. So he thinks funding it from his workers' health fund is a fair solution?
Unfortunately, this thinking is not unique. For decades, many union leaders have found it acceptable to be required to fund their workers' raises with givebacks. Often, these raises have not kept up with inflation, making them real-money pay cuts.
Workers are supposed to do more with less, but not landlords. The thought of the rent stabilization board voting for a rent freeze is often treated as radical. But when your rent is rising more than your salary, that creates a problem.
Richard Warren
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