By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

PHOENIX – Leaders of eight public employee unions are demanding that Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton immediately “censure and sanction” City Councilman Sal DiCiccio for using “inflammatory” rhetoric that carries “racially bigoted overtones.”

What in the world did DiCiccio’s say?

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It seems the councilman has made a habit of referring to labor leaders as “union bosses.”

Isn’t that what they are?

DiCiccio and the unions have been publicly sparring over using tax increases to fund pay raises for city employees. Apparently the city councilman likes to use the term “union bosses” when discussing the leaders of the unions.

That phrase hurts the labor leaders’ feelings, and they want Mayor Stanton and the rest of the City Council to tell him to cut it out, notes Laurie Roberts of The Arizona Republic.

In a letter to the mayor and city council, the union leaders write:

“ … (I)t should never be acceptable for any one of us speaking at a public council meeting or other public arenas to use offensive language towards one another, employees or elected officials.”

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They also claim the phrase “union bosses” is an “offensive and derogatory” term that has “historical and racially bigoted overtones.”

The average citizen will be confused by that last charge. The term “union bosses” brings to mind images of thugs using intimidation or violent behavior to get their way – which his historically typical behavior for some union leaders. It does not call up thoughts of race or bigotry.

Unsurprisingly, the eight labor leaders don’t offer any evidence to defend their charge of racism. That’s probably because they can’t. They’re content to use it as a random, hit-and-run attack on a political opponent.

Isn’t that far more offensive than what they’re charging DiCiccio with?

The labor leaders end their letter by requesting that the mayor and city council “make a public declaration that such conduct among its members is not condoned by them, is unacceptable and that an immediate end to the use of this offensive and deliberately inflammatory phrase shall ensue.”

There’s no indication if – or how – city leaders will respond to this request to curtail a member’s First Amendment right to free speech and expression.

For his part, DiCiccio isn’t backing down in the face of “Chicago-style intimidation tactics.”

“I will not be bullied into silence by labor representatives of the City of Phoenix (a.k.a. union bosses),” DiCiccio wrote in a prepared statement. “The letters and the social media posts will not deter me from doing the right thing for the taxpayers.”