Boston unions use stimulus money as reason not to cut.

Nation: Another intended consequence of porkulus are unions of government workers on all levels will refuse to fix the financial mess nearly every state/city/county is in because taxpayer money bailout lessens the need to fix it.

The prospect of a windfall for the city from the $787 billion package is complicating efforts by Menino administration officials to win a wage freeze from unions, who believe that money flowing from Washington could help Boston solve its $140 million projected deficit without union concessions. "For municipal managers, the stimulus package is a double-edged sword," John Dunlap, Boston's director of labor relations, said after a meeting of the administration and dozens of union leaders yesterday morning. "It's giving all sorts of inter est groups reason to believe that they may not actually need to work with us." All but five of Boston's several dozen unions have balked so far on the mayor's call for a wage freeze. Another key reason for their reluctance is Menino has not guaranteed there will be no layoffs in exchange for a freeze. The city employs 17,000 workers. "We're in a holding pattern," said John Zuccaro Jr., president of SENA Local 9158, which represents about 800 middle managers across the city. It's especially difficult to ask workers to approve concessions when stimulus money might be enough to make them unnecessary, he said. For Menino and other government officials around the state facing big deficits, the calculation is not that simple. The stimulus money will be designated for particular programs and projects, leaving relatively little to trickle down to plug massive holes in municipal operating budgets. The stimulus package includes specific grants that could spare at least some layoffs in public education and public safety. State and local officials do not yet know precisely how much they will receive from those, nor do they know what amount will be left in unfettered funds that the state can distribute to communities for operating budgets.

Once again, unions show themselves to be the problem and not part of the solution. There is no question there is bloat at all levels of the government workforce and to have taxpayers keep it at pre-recession levels or bigger is an abomination.