So let’s give Local 73 the benefit of the doubt and interpret this as the next step in a series of cynical steps based on the assumption that the mayor’s unbeatable.
But the mayor’s not unbeatable. At the moment, he’s very vulnerable—recent polls show him getting about 8 percent of the black vote and 2 percent of the Hispanic vote.
So it seems that not only is Local 73 president Christine Boardman betting on a man her members oppose, it’s not even a sure bet.
Moreover, if the mayor wins reelection, there’s a good chance he’ll double down on his union-whacking policies. So Local 73’s effectively donating money, collected from its members’ dues, to a mayor whose policies hurt its members.
Think of it as helping Mayor Emanuel buy the rope he’ll use to hang them—to paraphrase Lenin.
As far as I can tell, capitulating to a political bully has never, ever worked. The teachers’ union tried that tactic back in the 90s and early `00s, and look where it got them. Mayor Daley took the money he was supposed to be paying into its pension fund and spent it on other things. Now Mayor Emanuel—Daley’s handpicked successor—is saying “Sorry, guys, but I’m gonna have to cut your pensions.”
I’ll give the teachers’ union credit on this score. Apparently they’ve learned their lesson—finally!