Detroit mayor on unions: "Either they can't read, they can't add or they can't comprehend"

If you want to investigage what could be coming in regards to political trends, I suggest you take a look at Detroit. I'm not kidding. Mayor Dave Bing, the former Pistons great, has some sound ideas in regards to turning around his troubled city. He's the first Detroit mayor to concede that the Motor City will continue to shed residents, which is why he is exploring consolidating neighborhoods.

And the Democrat has a firm position on what I believe is government's greatest challenge--confronting public sector unions, as the Detroit News tells us:

Mayor Dave Bing today criticized leaders of the city's largest union for foot-dragging on contract negotiations, saying it's costing the financially strapped city $500,000 a month and could result in more layoffs.

"Either they can't read, they can't add or they can't comprehend," Bing said at a press conference this morning in his office at City Hall. "It has to be one of the three.

"Everyone is running with a deficit in their budgets. It's leadership or a lack of leadership that has got us to where we are."

That union is AFSCME. Bing wants to slash union members' pay by 10 percent, impose 26 furlough days, and cut benefits. Tough medicine, but Detroit is facing tough times. Bing, who is also a former business owner, knows the challenge of having to meet a payroll.

Related post:

Motor City mayor looking at Detroit-light

Technorati tags: Detroit Michigan economy dave bing AFSCME labor unions news government