They Were Told There Would Be No Community Spirit

9:49 am, 11/18/09

Let's say you're a public employee in a Pensylvania city, and a helpful young man steps up to help clean the city's streets. What should you do?
Some would congratulate him for his civic spirit, but others would have their union file a grievance with the city.

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council....given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

When you think about it, that's odd, because even before the layoffs SEIU workers apparently had no inclination to clear the path. Whether it's because nobody told them to or because they didn't bother to is beside the point: it simply never happened, and it doesn't seem like it was ever going to unless someone stepped up.

However, instead of being glad they have a new path to clear, Balzano wants to "look into" the person who did the work. In spirit, it's basically racketeering: "no work gets done in this city without our say-so, or else". Maybe the city should be hiring Eagle Scouts, instead.

For example, the city currently does not have an electrician available because of the layoffs and an employee on an extended sick leave. As a result, the city has been forced to hire an outside union electrician to oversee the installation for the popular Lights on the Parkway holiday display.

"In the spirit of the holiday, we decided to let that go," Balzano said.

How kind of them.