Utica's Drastic Solution

City officials often complain about excessive wage demands by labor unions, but Edward A. Hanna, the may or of Utica, N.Y. (pop. 86,000), has hit on the most draconian of solutions. He cut the employees in the department of public works from 240 to 70 in 18 months after he took office.

And this month he fired those last 70 effective March 1. The Mayor insists that the department's The services -- garbage collection, snow removal, street cleaning, road repair--can be performed more economically by contracting them out to private firms. He has already done so with garbage collection.

Utica's nine-member common council has vowed not to let Hanna make the same move with other city ser vices. The Teamsters, who represent the laid-off workers, have taken him to court to prevent him from contracting out the work. But during his first two-year term, Hanna fired one-third of the city employees, cut taxes twice, and turned a budget deficit into a surplus.

In a three-man race last November, he won re-election with just under 50% of the vote.

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