Hardball! Who is playing hardball?

I wish the kids, or more of them, were playing hardball -- err -- baseball.

I really wish and work to getting the kids to play water ball -- err -- water polo. But, that is not only a wish, it is a desire that I made happen last year. But.... all of a sudden, it's no-ball, no-call, no-mo-jo.

Union and city bicker over hiring of summer help: "A 20-year-old program to hire summer laborers for Pittsburgh's Public Works Department is foundering for reasons city and union officials disagree on, raising concerns about whether the city will look its best this season.
The city annually hires 15 to 30 laborers who work 40-hour weeks anywhere from April to November, cutting grass, picking up litter and performing other work. The positions pay $17 per hour.
None has been hired so far, and it's possible none will be hired all summer, Public Works Director Robert Kaczorowski said.
Mr. Kaczorowski said the union's hiring demands, including that he forgo background checks on program participants and hire the people the union tells him to, has stalled a program that's operated smoothly for years.
'All of a sudden, it's hardball,' he said."

Ugh.