It is easy to criticize, condemn, and complain. I find this to be true when I don’t agree with something. Yet, let me be the first one to compliment Mayor Bergson on his actions regarding employee heath care at the city. Good job, Mayor Bergson, good job.

Mayor Bergson has accomplished what many before him could not: getting a union to agree to lesser benefits.

Although the retiree health care problem has not been solved, Mayor Bergson’s progress with the union is a start – and a start in the right direction.

Now, I am not against union labor, nor am I against a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. There are unions that I admire greatly. The men and women of the Building and Construction Trades here in Duluth, for example, train and equip their people to be some of the best, most efficient, and hard working people I have ever met. Consequently, the companies that their people work for are able to compete even against non-union workers. Simply put, the union workers of the Building and Construction Trades union are top notch and, as a result, their companies are top notch as well. This paradigm results in good wages and benefits.

The city’s union has been seemingly less concerned about efficiency and worker productivity. There are many good workers in the city – but it appears as if the union’s objective within the city is territory protection - rather than helping the city figure out ways to do more with less. While many may think this not to be the job of workers and their union, forces beyond their control will eventually dictate otherwise. Look at Northwest Airlines - who, even ten years ago, would have thought overcapacity and intense competition would have brought such a company to its knees? Our city faces similar circumstances and unless we realize that the city could be brought to its financial knees we would be wise to demand those public employees and their unions adopt the golden rule of business: do more with less.

There are many who will tell you that employees took less in pay increases in order to get better lifetime benefits. What were those employees thinking? This is tantamount to paying a CEO a bonus for declining company shares or stock options. We all know that when the going gets rough, many CEOs are able to walk away and sell their stocks for millions while the company languishes – this is criminal in my mind. Who loses? The shareholders, the employees, and the public who no longer have respect for American businesses – they’re the ones who lose. Giving away future benefits to city employees was a bad idea – where are those politicians who were so shortsighted?

Americans want accountability and common sense in both the business world and in government. The marketplace by its very nature will demand that in the world of business, Mayor Bergson is starting to do that in our city. Mayor, I tip my hat to you.