D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has reached out to the unions that represent 25,000 city workers in a move that both fulfills a campaign promise and helps shore up support with key political allies as his administration continues to fend off corruption allegations.
“Having effective labor relations really requires that we work effectively together,” Gray said before signing a new labor-management partnership agreement. “That is what we are trying to do, and we’re going to continue to build upon that.”
Friday’s agreement was a formal effort to repair the government’s ties to the unions that represent 72 percent of the city’s workers after former Mayor Adrian Fenty repeatedly angered labor groups during his term as chief executive.
“It is always a pleasure when we can meet in situations like this, and both employer and employees can agree on one or several issues,” said Jos Williams, president of the Metro Washington Council of the AFL-CIO. “I view today’s event as really a start to re-establishing something that got sidetracked for a short period of time. This is a first step.”
Gray touted the agreement and the revitalization of the Labor Management Partnership Council, a working group poised to meet quarterly, as integral to improving city services.
“My commitment is to develop and maintain a positive labor-management relationship for the good of our residents, our workers and our city,” Gray said.
But there could also be political payoff for Gray, who has long been a favorite of labor unions but has seen his broader support in the District erode after administrative missteps and word of a federal investigation.
Making amends on the city’s behalf with the District’s powerful union helps Gray keep the support of the labor movement that helped propel him into the mayoral suite. One union official said the labor movement stood by the 69-year-old mayor.
“Mr. Fenty and [Attorney General Peter] Nickles and [Public Schools Chancellor Michelle] Rhee together marched labor backwards at least 50 years,” said John Rosser, the vice chairman of the union that represents corrections officers. “Mr. Gray witnessed it, and he didn’t like what he saw. … Now he’s trying to put those pieces back up and put it on the track. I think he’s doing quite a job.”
Gray acknowledged the political benefits of making good on campaign vows.
“For me, first and foremost, it’s having people recognize that when we talked about these things that we wanted to do and would do that they are, in fact, getting done,” Gray told The Washington Examiner. “When you talk about things during campaigns, you don’t want people left with the feeling that it was nothing but campaign rhetoric.”
