IT is hard to imagine many situations that would put major league baseball players, New York City police officers and Lincoln Center musicians in the same sentence. But this summer finds all three groups unhappy with their bosses and ready to do something about it.þþStrike talk is in the air. Indeed, the musicians walked out for a few days, making the annual Mostly Mozart Festival mostly not. Some police officers, angry that a big salary increase is eluding them, are talking about a wildcat, and illegal, strike in September. As for the ballplayers, their union leaders gathered yesterday in Chicago, where they considered setting a strike date in their struggle with team owners. They chose to hold off for now. þþPredictably, no one in these disputes has sought the opinion of those who end up with the bill: the taxpaying, baseball-loving, concertgoing public. That is probably just as well. It is hard to imagine any of them liking what they might hear.þþTake the baseball situation. Essentially, fans are asked to choose between millionaire players and millionaire owners. Some choice! It's like being told to pick a side if Iran and Iraq go to war again.þþIf fans were given the opportunity, they might have demands of their own in return for remaining committed to the game. Some already do, including John Fontana, who supervises operations at a Web site for baseball watchers called FanHome.com. He has a long wish list, which includes bestowing sainthood on Bill Buckner, whose error at first base for the Boston Red Sox made possible the New York Mets' victory in the 1986 World Series.þþMore reasonably, Mr. Fontana wants to do away with the designated hitter and AstroTurf as conditions for continued fandom. He's on the right track. How about also tossing in a ban on exploding scoreboards, ear-bashing music between innings and game delays called to increase television commercial time? That's just for starters. What would happen if we who pay the absurd ticket prices that cover the ridiculous salaries threatened to go on strike unless Major League Baseball met these demands?þþThe police dispute is clearly more nuanced. For openers, the officers are more sympathetic figures than the players. Their starting salary is a puny $31,305 a year. Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers makes roughly that much every two innings.þþAnd unlike the case with the police, who have helped bring crime in the city to its lowest level in four decades, Mr. Rodriguez's contribution has been to lead his team to last place. If you compare the two, cops and players, ÿit's a no-brainer who should get more, as far as I'm concerned,ÿ said Eli B. Silverman, a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.þþÿThere were a lot of winnersÿ as crime went down, Professor Silverman said, citing businesses, politicians and ordinary citizens. ÿThere were only two categories of losers: the criminals and the police.ÿþþFair enough. But leaders of the police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, were apparently out sick from school the day they taught the aphorism about being careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.þþ þWHAT has upset the police are reports that a state arbitration panel, the Public Employment Relations Board, is about to rule that officers should get raises in line with those given to other uniformed city workers. The police say they deserve a lot more — and certainly do not deserve being called on to work 10 additional days a year for their extra money.þþMany of them are outraged, with some talking strike. They seem to have forgotten that it was they, through their union, who had demanded that this state panel be the final arbiter. The city strongly opposed the idea. Now that officers have gotten exactly what they asked for in this regard, they object.þþHere, too, nobody went to the taxpayers for their opinion. Many of them might be eager to give the cops a good deal more. But they might also want something back. Eliminating the so-called 48-hour rule, which effectively puts a two-day hold on interrogating officers accused of misconduct, would be a demand many New Yorkers would make in exchange for higher salaries.þþBut again, no one asked, any more than Lincoln Center ticket buyers were solicited for their thoughts on the musicians' strike, which focused on the process by which orchestra members are dismissed. Some concertgoers might well have insisted, as a condition for their continued attendance, that there be less Mozart. Too many notes, you know.þ
Source: NY Times
