Clearly the charade Mayor Sullivan was acting out through his Ordinance 37 was never about negotiating for lower wages or benefits for municipal workers. With his outright rejection of a wage freeze in return for taking the ordinance off its fast track to passage, it becomes all too evident that what he is really after is to silence the voice of working people. The ability of workers to stand together and bargain for the wages, benefits and conditions they work under, is the fundamental underpinning of a healthy middle class.

This reminds me of the old James Bond flick in which, as Bond is being tortured by Goldfinger, Bond asks Goldfinger if he wants him to talk (divulge secrets). To which Goldfinger replies, “No Mr. Bond, I want you to die.” Mayor Sullivan isn’t interested in talking to working people about their wages and working conditions, he just wants their voices to die.

— Harry T. Crawford Jr.

Anchorage