01:00 AM EST on Friday, February 11, 2005

Providence Mayor Cicilline and the crossing guards' union are patting themselves on the back for a new contract. The mayor is proud that future crossing guards will be paid $11.20 an hour, instead of the $16.95 received by current guards; that they will face consequences if they fail to show up for work; that benefits will be scaled back; etc.

This may be true, and some improvements are better than none. But Providence's current 85 crossing guards will continue to receive superb pay and benefits, under the basic Laborers'-union contract with the city. And the future hirees, under the new, separate contract, will still be lavishly rewarded.

Look at what the "tougher" agreement for future guards contains:

-- Taxpayer-funded free health care for life for all crossing guards with 10 years' service!

-- A guaranteed four hours of "work" a day -- though only part of that time is spent supervising children crossing streets -- letting guards rack up a total of 20 hours a week and thus be eligible for city pensions. The guards will use up the extra time by patrolling schools and doing whatever principals tell them to do, said John Simmons, the mayor's director of administration.

-- Protection against privatization of the crossing-guard program (Cranston discovered that private companies were willing to deliver the service at a much lower cost). The contract stipulates that layoffs cannot exceed 10 percent of the workforce.

-- Minuscule co-pays for health insurance. Crossing guards would pay only .006 percent of their base salary for an individual program, and .0138 percent of their salary for a family program. Do the math: If their annual salary is about $8,006, they would pay $48 a year for the individual plan. (But at least the city got its foot in the door by requiring some co-pay!)

-- Free dental coverage.

-- Extra money if they don't participate in the health plan -- say, because a spouse on the public payroll already gets free coverage. Crossing guards would get $750 a year for declining the individual plan.

-- Another $8 a day from the taxpayers, to go into a fund to pay for drug prescriptions, vision care and "wellness" benefits.

-- Another $8 a day per guard to go into the Laborers' pension fund.

-- An extra $1.20 per day per guard to go into a Laborers'-connected legal fund.

-- Time off, with pay, for three crossing guards to engage in union negotiations.

-- Paid vacations.

Is this really the cheapest way to provide crossing guards? Mr. Simmons insists that it is, arguing that under state law only Laborers' members may serve as crossing guards.

But in Rhode Island, only Providence, Cranston and Warwick taxpayers are supporting such ridiculous programs. In Woonsocket, for example, the teachers help the students cross streets.

In Cranston, Mayor Laffey is fighting this outrageous waste of taxpayer money. He has already established, by going to court, that taxpayers in his financially troubled city need not fork over vast sums for public services that can be done at much lower cost. Mr. Cicilline could fight harder, too, if he wanted. But he seems to fear repercussions if he stood up too boldly for taxpayers against the politically powerful Laborers' union.