August 27, 2018

Dear Democratic National Committee Member:

Over the past several months, it has become clear the New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been focused on only one goal: convincing the Democratic National Committee to care about him. Nearly every week, he ignores his responsibilities here in New York so that he can jet across the country — to Vermont (in hopes of becoming Bernie Sanders’ running mate), Louisiana (to speak at an internet activism conference), Wisconsin (to bask in the progressive glow of union-ironworker-turned-Congressional candidate Randy Bryce), even Austin (to give a speech at a music festival) — spinning a tale to depict himself as the most progressive mayor in America.

On behalf of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York — the largest municipal police union in the nation — and the 24,000 active New York City police officers we represent, I write to urge you to judge Mayor de Blasio by his actions, not his words.

Mayor de Blasio likes to claim he is a champion of organized labor, but when it comes to his treatment of his own municipal workforce, he sticks closely to the corporate anti-worker playbook, insisting that city workers pay for their own raises by sacrificing their healthcare and other benefits. Even with those sacrifices, the city’s workforce has received lower raises under the de Blasio administration than they did during comparable periods under Republican Rudy Giuliani and billionaire Mike Bloomberg.

With many city union contracts expired or expiring soon, Mayor de Blasio has an opportunity to correct his labor hypocrisy, but he is clearly checked out from running the city. As of this writing, NYC PBA members have been working for 380 days without a contract. We are now underpaid by upwards of 30% in comparison to police officers in comparable jurisdictions, which has a significant impact on our ability to recruit and retain the Finest.

But in the face of this critical and growing problem, Mayor de Blasio and his team have offered nothing but stalling tactics, unreasonable demands and a complete unwillingness to engage in our contract process.

Fair pay for municipal workers is not the only major issues Bill de Blasio is avoiding at home. New York City’s biggest public housing provider, NYCHA, has been so badly mismanaged that he turned control over to federal prosecutors. New York City’s subway system — the lifeblood of our city’s economy — is in a state of crisis, yet until recently, Mayor de Blasio refused to even meet with the chief of the system. If Mayor de Blasio was truly committed to the needs of working people, he would find a way to address each of these problems. Instead, he’s literally flying away from the very problems New York City taxpayers pay him to solve.

The latest rumor in New York City’s political circles is that Mayor de Blasio wants to become Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. But before you consider putting his name on a ballot, you should look past his self-promotion and consider his actual record. He is neither the “friend of working people” nor the progressive hero he claims to be, and he lacks the basic leadership skills that the position of DNC chairman would require.

If you see the mayor somewhere along his cross-country travels this year, do every New Yorker a favor: tell him to give up his political pipedreams, come home, keep his word to working people, and fix the problems he was elected to solve.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Lynch
President