Metro

Mike: Pension $lash before union pacts

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It’s war!

Mayor Bloomberg went to the mattresses yesterday against the city’s municipal unions, demanding a sweeping series of pension givebacks under threat of withholding all future raises.

“That is not a negotiating stance. It is reality,” the mayor declared in his 10th State of the City speech, delivered before an audience that filled Staten Island’s renovated St. George Theatre.

“And so today, I will make this commitment: I will not sign a contract with salary increases unless they are accompanied by reforms in benefit packages that produce the savings we need.”

Bloomberg also called for increasing the retirement age of all future non-uniformed employees from as low as 55 to 65 and demanded the return of a $12,000-a-year pension supplement granted years ago to retirees in the NYPD, Fire Department and Correction Department to save $200 million annually.

If that weren’t enough to inflame union leaders — who promised to fight them all the way — Bloomberg proceeded to renew previous requests for the right to lay off teachers without regard to seniority and to negotiate pension benefits at the bargaining table.

He called pension reform “our No. 1 priority in Albany.” And he said former Mayor Ed Koch will help lead the fight over pensions.

All the initiatives require approval from the state, where the municipal unions have significant clout.

“He’s setting a tough tone,” said one union official. “What does it mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

None of the city’s other top elected officials — Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio or City Council Speaker Christine Quinn — was willing to immediately endorse the mayor’s call to arms.

“There aren’t any new ideas that haven’t been talked about in the past,” observed Liu.

Gov. Cuomo issued a statement describing the mayor’s agenda as “innovative and realistic.”

“During these difficult times, tough choices and sacrifice are required,” Cuomo said.

It appeared the two were headed in the same direction.

A top aide to the governor said Cuomo “in the near future” would propose a less generous pension tier for new state workers — just as Bloomberg was asking for a similar lower tier for new city workers.

Cuomo adviser Larry Schwartz also told those who attended the first meeting of the governor’s Mandate Relief Redesign Team that a push would be made to suspend a law that continues public-sector union contracts after they expire, which critics view as giving the unions leverage in negotiations.

While the audience included the top ranks of his administration, the mayor received only a mild response when he began talking about the pension system. But there was applause when he promised: “We will not raise taxes to balance the budget.”

Additional reporting by Brendan Scott

david.seifman@nypost.com