Letter: Change labor arbitration law
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone attends a news conference in Greenport on May 5, 2015. Credit: Randee Daddona
One thing we know is that politicians will always find somebody else to blame for their problems. A case in point is Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone .
Bellone said that police costs are high, but the problem was created by decades of mandated arbitration awards before he took office.
It's true that police officers earn much more than the ordinary worker in Suffolk County. What Bellone failed to say was that he added to the problem by negotiating a new contract this year in which police officers' salaries will increase by 11 percent over the next three years. The problem seems to be that the county negotiators are afraid an arbitrator will award more.
Our political leaders must advocate to change the law so that they and the legislators are in charge of collective bargaining, not some unelected arbitrator who answers to nobody.
Police officers have a dangerous job. But there are more than 10 applicants for each opening, indicating that the conditions are acceptable. We just can't afford to pay the huge salaries.
Irving Gerber, East Meadow
