This is a machine-generated transcript. Text is unformatted and may contain errors.
The following broadcast is a special address by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen the time has come for made a report to you and the citizens of New York on the situation and the issues involved in the strike of the employees of the welfare department against the city government of. Many if not most of my days and nights for the past several days and weeks have been spent in the grocery ation discussion and deliberation on the problems and issues involved in this strike by seven thousand of the twelve thousand six hundred employees of the welfare department I have spent many hours in discussion with the top leadership of the Central Labor Council of the city of. And with key Labor figures who have had contact with the unions representing the employees of the Welfare Department Of course I have had to meet and have met for long hours with my own departmental advisers who have been negotiating with the Union Budget Director William Shatner and personnel director Dr Theodore Lang and their subordinates and of course with welfare Commissioner James Thompson and his subordinates and with the city's legal advisor Mr Leo Locke and the cooperation council and with my staff advisors on labor relations and labor mediation who have worked with me through many a difficult labor situation and a settlement of many strikes over the past years I have studied as painstakingly as possible all of the issues that were involved in the long dragged out negotiations between the two unions concerned because there are two unions and they negotiated the city of New York. I've had to put aside other pressing matters and problems to concentrate on this one because the people who are involved aside from the Welfare Department employees those New Yorkers who are least able to fend for themselves. And who most need the help of government I mean the dependent children the disabled the handicapped the aged people whose essential needs through the welfare department children and specials shelters and childcare centers and unfortunates who are suddenly seized with emergency needs and whose only recourse is the help afforded through the Welfare Department of Fire drives the kind of men families out on the street who takes care of them the wealth and apartment the breadwinner of a poor family is suddenly taken ill who sees that that the children are fed the welfare department these are the New Yorkers whom the welfare department looks after these are the New Yorkers for whom I have been concerned and am concerned and will always be concerned in considering the issues in the strike of the welfare department workers these are the heartbreak people of the city of New York and part of the population almost never see but why on neighbors and our fellow citizens there are five hundred thousand New Yorkers receiving some form of public assistance two thirds of the children the next largest number are elderly people these New Yorkers are my special concern and I was. I can report to you that as of today although the strike of the welfare department employee employees have been going on for a week the most essential needs of the people on public assistance have been being met a number of welfare centers have indeed been closed many services have a cost to be can curtailed some individual hardships have been evident and inevitably these will increase and the strike goes on the negotiations began with excessive demands by the union leaders by their own estimate twenty six million dollars would be required to grant all of the improvements requested this figure averages out to approximately three thousand five hundred dollars per employee the city made what it believed to be a fair offer but the unions would not move an inch from their original demands mediation was invoked and a sincere effort made by the city's chief mediator to find some grounds for agreement this failed and voluntary advisory arbitration was offered by me to the unions This method has been used successfully for settling many just disputes between the city and its employees only last Friday the city's public health nurses availed themselves of this procedure and received a unanimous award with which they please one of the two unions involved in the welfare dispute itself have used this betray Sion procedure several times in the past with excellent results. In this instance however both unions rejected voluntary trade for C.J. and a final effort to get the employees back to work the city offered to set up a fact finding panel which would hear all the issues and make recommendations for the solution of the dispute the offer was as follows one a fact finding board shall be established for the purpose of hearing reporting and making recommendations in connection with proposals on numerous issues and titles involved and they're in the head too for presented by the Social Service Employees Union and District Council thirty seven and they have a local three seventy one the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. To the city of New York and the budget director and the personnel director second the board shall be composed of five persons one to be designated by the S.S.. One to be designated by local three seventy one to be designated by the city of New York and the fifth member of the board who should act as chairman shall be selected by the other members three the board would convene within twenty four hours after the employees the members of the Union report to that position the board should meet in regular sessions according all of the parties an opportunity to present be present at all times and the board would receive the fullest cooperation of the parties in the way a priest producing data which the board should deemed pertinent to the issues the board was to consider all of the proposals and all of them. Submitted to what should not be inhibited from making any recommendation or recommendations because the same might require implementation by executive or legislative action on the part of either the city of the state or the federal government's However it is understood that there shall not be construed as we stated it as a concession by the city's representatives on the board that. Proposals on the go Shabelle and we certainly had to take that position if the board should close its hearings within seven days after the first day of the hearings and should issue its report on recommendations within three days thereafter it being understood that the majority and minority report and recommendations could and would be might be issued the report may be accepted or rejected by any of the parties involved this was rejected by both unions Friday night I believe our efforts have been fruitless because of the after say of the late leaders of the respective unions who have rejected every offer because it did not include a guarantee that the penalty is mandated by law for those who Websense themselves from work illegally would not be involved. It must be completely understood and be made compellingly clear that while we want to continue our efforts toward a just and equitable solution we cannot and will not make any concessions with respect to the applicability of the provisions of the law we renew the office we have made in good faith either the submission of the issues to advisory arbitration under the city's existing system or the fact finding board which I have already mentioned or any other mutually satisfactory method that will not require the city to make Vance concessions and the entrance of the poor who are the victims of this illegal and unnecessary walkout we urge all employees to return to their jobs I have been informed by my corporation counsel and his legal authority in the city that they have only ten days from the date suspension in which to apply for reinstatement this time as fast running out if these employees persist in their present action they may find that they have profited of their jobs with no possible. Return and that under the law to apply for reinstatement all they need to do is to bring to their immediate supervisor a request for such reinstatement and for a hearing if they wish one all employees will be permitted to return to work at once they will be restored to work immediately and the matter of penalty is left to let a determination to me made after the required hearing. The city will continue sincere and honest efforts to resolve the issues that have brought about the dispute there will be no pretext of law or a condition that will be used to frustrate justice this we pledge I know that they work as well I agree they have a prior responsibility to the people to serve in the Department of Welfare to the needy the homeless to the children to the aged the blind and disabled a strike against them cannot be condoned under any conditions the employees of the Department of Welfare are our frontline troops. Against Poverty we need them in our all out effort against this condition which afflicts our society my position stated on numerous occasions is that strikes by public employees cannot be tolerated because of the public interest and the public interest is paramount I whenever it is also clear that because of its harsh provisions the Condon wildland act is not the ensign in fact the in fact they and flexibility of its provisions tend to impede solutions Accordingly I will continue to words its repeal and recommend its replacement by flexible modern legislation similar to the bill which was introduced at my request in the state legislature in Albany and the one nine hundred sixty three session. I have been as a way of tradition from my father and my own conviction a friend of labor through many and many a battle I will always continue to be that friend but I say to those out on strike that they are not helping the great labor movement by their actions and not accepting an opportunity to end this strike and an honorable and right man and by either advisory arbitration or by fact finding in that way they will have justice but justice under the opportunity to present their case in a proper way rather than continuing an illegal strike my objectives are to follow fair and equitable labor relations for sieges for public employees and continuity been a civil services for the benefit of the people of this great city which we love so much the preceding broadcast was a special address by Mayor Robert F. Wagner.