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Eye on Paul Levy

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This space has long been in the tank for Paul Levy. His leadership of BIDMC has recently been much praised — he put the issue of a budget deficit to his staff and they responded with a collection of salary cuts and budget savings that allowed the lowest wage workers to keep their jobs and lowered layoffs by the hundreds. I’m curious how this will affect a certain union’s efforts to demonize his leadership and the institution itself. (There is a link, but I’m not posting it.) I’m guessing that their perplexing (and costly) approach of convincing BIDMC employees that their institution was corrupt and nefarious is over.

Question on Legislative Management?

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The Carol Aloisi story was in yesterday’s Globe, but no one has stopped to ask about how legislative staff gets hired. From the story, Ms. Aloisi was “was assigned by DiMasi’s office to work for Springfield Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera in 2005”. Then, “his office reassigned Aloisi to Kaprielian’s office in August”. Next, Garrett Bradley shows up, finds her in the office and puts her to work. “Aloisi came with Bradley’s new State House office assignment in February, the lawmaker said.” Are legislative staffers typically assigned by the Speaker’s office? Do individual legislators not choose and hire their own staff?

Bailout Fever Continues

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Even those nesting Russian dolls are getting some of the action — Russia is buying $28 million worth of the stuff to compensate for reduced demand.

Love thy Labor

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Mayor Menino is asking bargaining units in Boston to accept wage freezes and other compensation reductions in order to minimize layoffs. Well, in from our former companion state, Maine, comes some very helpful advice as to how unions can interact with the other side of the table in tough times. From our Education Intelligence Agent Mike Antonucci comes this report: I learned the Maine Education Association’s “Dos, Don’ts of Bargaining in Tough Times” aren’t appreciably different from bargaining in good times, or bargaining in OK times, or bargaining in the End Times. Still, this one caught my eye: “Insist that all other steps to reduce costs be implemented, including reduction-in-force if it is unavoidable, before reductions in employees’ compensation are […]

Newsflash: You may be a second class citizen

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The Providence Journal reported late last week that a group of mayors and town administrators, led by Cumberland Mayor Daniel J. McKee, announced yesterday the launch of plans for a novel kind of public charter school. The mayors hope their proposed Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, free from many of the rules and restrictions of regular public schools, will spread through the state as a new educational model. Unlike the state’s existing 11 charter schools, mayoral academies would not have to pay teachers a prevailing wage, contribute to the state teachers retirement system or offer teachers tenure protection. These freedoms would allow the academies greater control over school budgets, culture and personnel, and enable them to attract — and pay for […]