Finally, someone at the Globe weighs in on behalf of working people

I’m not a huge Kevin Cullen fan, but it’s about time someone at the Globe wrote this column.  My biggest complaint is that it was not written much earlier, and more frequently.  It’s a damn shame that it took until election day, when it’s too late to have much effect.

If there was a message, both explicit and subliminal, in all the debates and some of the news coverage, it’s that the city’s unions and unions in general are peopled by greedy, unreasonable, insatiable Bolsheviks who would gladly make Boston go the way of Detroit as long as they can get Bunker Hill Day off.

Funny, but I don’t know union workers who think like that, but then I’m in the tank.

Righto, Kevin.  As I’ve said before, the media’s – especially the Globe’s – coverage of this race has been embarrassing, largely because of that very point.

And then there’s this point, which is a valid one.  The union-haters (oh, gosh, is “haters” too strong a word for the delicate sensibilities that seem to accompany this issue?  I wouldn’t want to upset anyone … let’s go with “skeptics,” then) seem to think that the people on the other side of the negotiating table are entirely pure of heart and have only the best interests of the public at large at heart.  LOL.

[T]ry negotiating a contract with the union-busting lawyers Rupert Murdoch flew in and sicced on us at Herald Square back in the day. I was just a kid and naively suggested to one of those Armani-clad lawyers my earnest wish that we could agree to add a dental plan because many of my members didn’t earn enough to get their cavities filled. He looked down his glasses at me and sniffed, “Maybe they should get a second job.”

That’s exactly the attitude of McDonald’s and Walmart and any number of corporations that pay their leaders millions and their workers so little that they have to get a second job or, in many cases, file for government assistance. Taxpayers subsidize corporations that pay their people off in the dark.

Cullen then quotes Ed Kelly, the head of the firefighters’ union.  Now, unfortunately, that union has not exactly covered itself in glory in recent rounds of negotiations.  And in general, I think it’s fair to say that the parties on both sides of the negotiating table do not always behave in the most socially optimal fashion.  Still, this point is correct, regardless of the source.

“We are on the cusp of pricing public employees out of Boston. Is that something the public wants?”

That wasn’t part of the conversation as so many worried about the new Red Scare: that unions would ensconce their Manchurian, or at least Savin Hill, candidate in City Hall.

The Globe and the Herald editorial pages can’t agree on what time it is, but they agree on the danger of electing a mayor who is a union activist.

Good on Cullen for calling out his own editorial page.  Would that it had happened earlier, and louder.

Finally, there’s this point, which has been raised by others – notably Joan Vennochi and Yvonne Abraham.  It should have been raised constantly, in debates as well as newspaper columns.  It’s appalling that it wasn’t.

It’s perfectly legitimate to ask if Marty Walsh would be beholden to unions, especially given the amount of money that unions have given his campaign, but both candidates should have been asked just as often if they’d be beholden to developers or law firms or any number of other monied interests.

So, today is election day.  If you live in Boston, get out to the polls and vote for Marty Walsh or John Connolly – and also for Ayanna Pressley, Michelle Wu, Suzanne Lee if you live in District 2, and your choice of other City Council at-large and district candidates.  Let’s hope against hope that, next time, the media can do a better job.

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