In his State of the City address on Wednesday, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said that he would not sign contracts that included raises for workers unless the unions gave up retirement benefits. The Mayor said that workers receive retirement benefits that are better than the private sector, and the city cannot afford them. Bloomberg also said that he wants the law that prohibits the city from negotiating pension benefits through collective bargaining overturned. The president of the United Federation of Teachers said that he thought the Mayor was taking out the city's financial issues on the working class and poor. He also added that the Mayor will not meet him to negotiate.
See "Mayor Pledges Tough Stance on Unions", Michael Howard Saul, The Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2011