New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg used the first State of the City speech of his new term to ask unions to accept changes to health insurance and pension benefits, whose costs, he said, "have spiraled out of control." The statement, a month after a bitter transit strike that centered on that very issue, suggested that the mayor would make such demands a centerpiece of upcoming negotiations with the city's unions.
See "From Bloomberg, Vow on Rebuilding and Unions", Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times, January 26, 2006