Pending union contracts represent one of the biggest threats to the city’s long-term fiscal health, the state controller warned Wednesday.
The looming labor bill — which could cost taxpayers as much as $7.8 billion — has jeopardized the city’s otherwise improving outlook, Thomas DiNapoli warned. “The lack of labor agreements with the city’s unions … create uncertainty for the city’s fiscal health,” he said.
Some city workers have had no contract for four years — the longest stretch since unions were forced to work without contracts during the 1970s fiscal crisis.
DiNapoli’s dire warnings came as city Controller John Liu pinned the blame for the ticking time bomb on Mayor Bloomberg. He claimed the mayor “put aside bupkis — which is what my grandmother in Taiwan used to say — for any retroactive wages.” Bloomberg says he doesn’t think the city can afford to give raises.
edurkin@nydailynews.com and jfermino@nydailynews.com
