GLOBE EDITORIAL
Saving SpringfieldBOTH GOVERNOR Romney and the Legislature know that they cannot stand by idly while Springfield, the state's third-largest city, skids toward bankruptcy. But they disagree on just how much pain Springfield must endure in exchange for a bailout.
Today, officials from Springfield and the Romney administration are expected to make their cases at a caucus at the State House. The governor has proposed a $20 million grant and a $30 million line of credit that would allow Springfield to cope with its structural deficit. In exchange, he wants to establish an oversight board and nullify labor contracts he deems an impediment to recovery. Legislators counter with a bill that would keep the oversight board intact while rejecting the controversial measure of stripping unions of their bargaining and civil service rights. Personnel costs account for more than 70 percent of Springfield's proposed $400 million budget. They are a legitimate area for savings. But efficiencies can be achieved without infringing on the rights of workers to bargain contracts. Under the House-Senate redraft, the Romney administration would still control the majority of the five-member board and call the shots on spending, fee hikes, and other remedial measures. But workers would remain in the conversation. The Romney administration should be able to exert control without stripping workers of legal protections. Nearly all municipal contracts in Springfield have expired or are about to expire. The control board should find itself in an excellent bargaining position. The unions approach the table with the knowledge that Springfield's debt has been downgraded to junk bond status. That should be enough for labor groups to see it is time to accept a greater share of swelling health care costs.
The larding of Springfield's public payroll was a problem in the 1980s. But that is not the problem today. Hundreds of workers have been laid off. Economic malaise, not mismanagement, is the problem in Springfield, where both the residential tax base and the job market are weak. The bailout plan should focus on saving the city, not crushing the spirit of its municipal work force. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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