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Cut salaries soon or face layoffs, Williams warns unions in letter
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
Youngstown firefighters aren’t being asked to take the 10-percent pay cut.
YOUNGSTOWN — In a letter to most unionized city employees, Mayor Jay Williams wrote that labor group leaders need to immediately contact the law director to discuss his proposal to cut salaries by 10 percent to avoid layoffs.
“We need to make key decisions within the next 30 days so please contact the law department without delay,” Williams wrote.
“Failure to act timely in achieving necessary savings will unfortunately leave little other choice than to implement a reduction in personnel, an undesirable outcome that no one wishes to occur.”
The letter was sent to members of six unions that are paid through the city’s general fund, which is facing a projected $3.39 million deficit this year.
[Unionized employees in the city’s water and wastewater departments are paid through separate funds to run those departments.]
One union paid with general fund money noticeably absent from the letter is the International Association of Firefighters, which represents about 140 in the fire department.
That’s because the firefighters union agreed to an early-retirement program last year that saves the city about $1.5 million over a two-year period, 2009 and 2010.
“Due to the considerable savings achieved, firefighter furloughs is not an issue being discussed,” Williams told The Vindicator Thursday. “This is not to say, however, that we may not collaborate with them to try and find additional savings.”
Under Williams’ plan, affected city employees would work four fewer hours a week, which would cut their wages 10 percent, to avoid layoffs.
This would be in effect for 10 to 12 months.
“If the financial condition of the city has stabilized, employee labor groups will return to the normal work schedule,” Williams wrote. “If deficit conditions persist, we will convene the employee labor groups in an effort to negotiate a mutual course of action.”
Without the voluntary salary and work-week reduction, the city would lay off up to 60 employees with about half of them being the least senior police officers.
Union officials say Williams is failing to take in all factors — including federal economic stimulus money and a series of cost-cutting measures proposed by the labor groups — before calling for the 10-percent cut.
Edward Colon, president of the 116-member police patrol officers union, called eliminating 30 officers is “insane” and “outrageous. You put the public in harm’s way by layoff of police officers.”
The administration’s goal is to not lay off any of the city’s 850 employees, Williams wrote.
“Yet there comes a point when the fate of an employee labor group rests with in their own hands,” he wrote.
Some “labor groups remain in disbelief, denial and/or blame” over the “economic calamity” facing the city, the region, the state and the nation, Williams wrote.
“They would rather leave the tough decisions to someone else,” he wrote.
Because more than 80 percent of the general fund’s costs go to salaries and benefits, that’s where the biggest cut must come from, Williams wrote.
There have been savings in other areas, but “it is not productive to spend an inordinate amount of effort debating reductions that will yield only marginal results,” he wrote.
Williams reduced his $105,000 annual salary by 10 percent through a combination of a pay cut and givebacks on some of his benefits.
skolnick@vindy.com
Comments
"That’s because the firefighters union agreed to an early-retirement program last year that saves the city about $1.5 million over a two-year period, 2009 and 2010."
Was the Police Officers Union offered this early retirement program last year? This article implies that the Police Union did not agree to an early retirement program, when it was never offered to them. How much does the elimination of 26 Detective Sergeant positions save the City of Youngstown? That savings will continue for years and years to come. And the lack of any possibility of promotion will keep Y.P.D.'s morale where the Mayor wants it.
One correction to your post Ralphie
It will keep the morale where the mayor wants it --- until they leave for a better job in another community.
I could never understand why they always go after the saftey sector when the budget needs trimmed. I often thought that school officials cut bussing because that's what would affect parents the most - is the same true for fire/police in the city?
I'm sure there's still a lot of pork in the budget that can be trimmed before they start laying off saftey services.
How is it that once a year on my yahoo homepage browser there is a news story about the most dangerous places to live, or cities with the highest crime rates and Youngstown is in the top ten every year... Sorry folks but if we are going to make cuts I don't believe that making cuts to the people that protect us is a good place to do so. Maybe the mayor should work for $1 a year, like public servants should. Seems to me that the people that create the problems never seem to have to take the cut, but the little guy is always feeling the brunt of the burden.
at the 7wcc town hall meeting the other evening williams was asked if he would work as a police officer for $28,000 per year; he said he would work for $28,000. i wonder if he would work for the same amount as mayor of ytown especially it is in dire straights? his ten percent pay cut and benefits cut is a slap in the face of ytown residents especially when his wife Sonja is employed at YSU with benefits. i do not know who has more bull???? williams or the former Chicago stockyards. if williams is really serious about cutting back his pay why not by 50 percent. he can still live like a king especially with a two household incomes supported by taxpayers. he and his wife lives a housing development on the westside on Castle court drive with a 75% tax abatement. once again williams is full of himself and for himself and himself alone. the way the safety forces can beat him at his own game is to endose a pro safety forces independant canidate in the upcoming mayor's race and back him/her with full thottle and throw the union buster out of office once for all. a true democrat is not union buster he/she is pro union not anti-union aka jay(roy) williams.
I wonder if Williams will give back the money he used to remodel his office and if any of those employees being laid off will be from the positions he created. What ever happened to the money from the tax that was passed for safety services (police and fire)? Where is that money going since the police and fire departments haven't had an increase in budget since before the tax was passed? He said he would work for $28,000, but would he put his life on the line for that? I doubt it. The police took concessions last year when they gave up the hope of any promotions for the next 10 to 15 years. Isn't that enough? If he only wants to cut 10% then why, if they don't take concessions, is he cutting 27% of their work force?