Small business must practice efficiency in order to win and thrive. Even if jobs don't return to WNY soon, tax reduction and regional cooperation are imperative measures we can no longer afford to ignore. Local leaders must challenge their municipal unions to aggressively negotiate more equitable salaries, reduce overtime and eliminate their current vacation and sick pay packages. Municipal unions are crippling our local landscape. At the current rate, we'll never see taxes decrease, our local economy will continue to die and municipal workers will be the only ones left.
Municipal unions seem unwilling to budge.
Remember, it's free market economics around the globe, and whether we like it or not, global factors are here to stay. Closed economies have failed entire countries. Unfortunately, WNY works like a closed economy. For far too long, the local landscape has been kind to the very municipal departments we need the most. Police, fire, teacher and sanitation.