Dear
friends,
The front line workers of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA) are telling me that five mandatory furlough days are being forced on them. Whether taken all at once or one day at a time, this is a tremendous burden to place on these men and women and their families—all to pay for an unearned and undeserved $1 million golden parachute for former executives Eric Watson and David Ervin.
The front line workers of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA) are telling me that five mandatory furlough days are being forced on them. Whether taken all at once or one day at a time, this is a tremendous burden to place on these men and women and their families—all to pay for an unearned and undeserved $1 million golden parachute for former executives Eric Watson and David Ervin.
PMUA workers are being told that “Adrian Mapp is at the root of their troubles and that things would only be worse if he becomes Mayor.” As with most of the lies being told by the mayor and her cronies, nothing could be further from the truth.
Let me ask you: What has Sharon Robinson-Briggs done for the front line PMUA workers?
Let's take a look at what she has actually done:
- Sharon supported the $1 million payout to her friends Watson and Ervin
- Sharon supports the five-day furlough of the PMUA workers
- Sharon refuses to support the collective bargaining unit of the PMUA
So much for the PMUA workers’ “friend,” Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs. With friends like that....
Everyone knows that I have spoken out for years against the abuse of the ratepayers by the PMUA. I have also spoken out against the abuse of front line workers and noted they do not have the job protections that the city’s unionized workforce has. I have also spoken out sharply against the $1 million payoff to Watson and Ervin.
Everyone knows that I have spoken out for years against the abuse of the ratepayers by the PMUA. I have also spoken out against the abuse of front line workers and noted they do not have the job protections that the city’s unionized workforce has. I have also spoken out sharply against the $1 million payoff to Watson and Ervin.
The mayor has remained silent on the payout that so
deeply affects the workers’ paychecks. A five-day furlough is a week’s pay, my
friends. Could you do without a week’s pay? How would you feel, knowing that
your hard-earned money was going to support a $1 million backroom deal for
those at the top of the pay scale?
If
I get your support in Tuesday's Primary election and become the candidate for
Mayor, I promise you that when I take office on January 1, 2014, I will use the
legal power of the City of Plainfield to demand that Watson and Ervin be forced
to pay back the $1 million, and I will take legal action to force the PMUA to
pay back any worker who was forced to take furlough days and see to it that
such tactics are never used against the workers this way in the future. Actions
are better than words, but only as Mayor can I take action on your behalf.
There is something else, though, that needs to be done besides giving me the authority to help PMUA workers as Mayor. PMUA workers also need to help themselves. The workers voted to organize a union, but I have not heard that it is actively working on their behalf. They are without a contract, which leaves them unprotected from attacks like this furlough plan.
Democrats have long supported unions as the front line of defense of the working conditions, job security and compensation for workers and their families. That is why I have been endorsed by one of the largest pro-worker unions in the state, the Communications Workers of America, many of whom live here in Plainfield and who are supporting me. They know I support workers' rights. The workers need a union to help them stand up to the PMUA on an equal footing, and I am here to help them get one.
A vote for Adrian Mapp and all the other Democrats in Column B on Tuesday is the only way to get fair treatment from the PMUA.
There is something else, though, that needs to be done besides giving me the authority to help PMUA workers as Mayor. PMUA workers also need to help themselves. The workers voted to organize a union, but I have not heard that it is actively working on their behalf. They are without a contract, which leaves them unprotected from attacks like this furlough plan.
Democrats have long supported unions as the front line of defense of the working conditions, job security and compensation for workers and their families. That is why I have been endorsed by one of the largest pro-worker unions in the state, the Communications Workers of America, many of whom live here in Plainfield and who are supporting me. They know I support workers' rights. The workers need a union to help them stand up to the PMUA on an equal footing, and I am here to help them get one.
A vote for Adrian Mapp and all the other Democrats in Column B on Tuesday is the only way to get fair treatment from the PMUA.
Regards,
Adrian
Mr. Mapp has clearly stated on several occasions that he is committed the continued existence of the PMUA. It is his intention to devise a method whereby the PMUA will bill the City for their services and the City will include in our property taxes the PMUA charges thereby providing a tax credit. I don't know if this is achievable, but the intention is noble. Whether Mr. Mapp will hasten to nominate people outside of the "old crowd" to serve as Commissioners, remains to be seen. The appointment of some capable people who can look under the sheets and initiate conspicuous and long overdue reforms is the only certain path to cost reduction.. Mr. Mapp appears to be more concerned about the welfare of the rank and file than do the sitting Commissioners some of whom continue to collect fat illegal benefit packages while the blue collar personnel get furlowed. As a long time critic of the PMUA I can unequivocally say that Adrian Mapp will be of far greater benefit to the PMUA personnel, and to the public, than the present administration.
ReplyDeleteBill Kruse
Dear Councilman Mapp,
ReplyDeleteWhile you're hard at work getting back that $1 million, how about getting the commissioners who have stolen $100,000s in illegal compensation to return their ill-gotten gains, and removing those individuals who have and are still on the Board?
Your constituent,
Alan Goldstein
P.S. Can we also get some straight answers about the Inter Local Agreement fraud that commenced in 1998?