COURTING A UNION JUDGES DELIBERATE BID TO ORGANIZE (no raise in 10 years)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04152008/news/regionalnews/courting_a_union_106589.htm

By LARRY CELONA and DAREH GREGORIAN

April 15, 2008 -- Judges of New York, unite!

Frustrated over salaries that have been frozen for almost 10 years, a group of state Supreme Court justices are talking about starting their own union, The Post has learned.

In an e-mail dated April 7 that was obtained by The Post, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Wayne Saitta wrote to his colleagues that "a few of us in Brooklyn have been trying to put together an organizing effort," but that to date, it had not gone anywhere.


'Dignity demands that we persue our interests. This is a crisis.'
Judge Arthur Cooperman, who is presiding over the Sean Bell case


Judge William Erlbaum expressed his support for the idea in much coarser language in an April 5 e-mail.

"There is some s- - - we should not eat," he wrote. "It could prove to be a bad mistake for anyone to confuse the dignity and kindness of judges with weakness."

Neither judge returned a call for comment yesterday.

"Dignity demands that we pursue our interests, wrote Judge Arthur Cooperman in an April 2 e-mail. "This is a crisis."

FULL story at link.

[loves_dulcinea]

1. are the bribes not high enough these days?