For the second time in two weeks, the City Council chose to delay a vote on furloughing members of Long Beach's largest employee association following an unusual decision to enter closed session for discussion. The council came back out into the open meeting and voted 8-1, with Councilman Gary DeLong dissenting, to postpone the vote until Nov. 3. Following are some more details from my previous blog entry. Read more in-depth coverage of the meeting later tonight at www.presstelegram.com.
After several public disagreements over whether to give City Manager Pat West the power to implement furloughs for members of the largest city workers union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the council just entered a closed session to talk more in-depth about the ongoing contract negotiations.
It's a strange move, and I don't recall the council ever entering closed session mid-meeting, at least in the two years and change that I've been at the Press-Telegram. Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Dee Andrews were the only council members to vote against entering closed session. They both said they wanted to delay a furlough vote until Nov. 3 to allow city and union officials more time for discussion.
If the union doesn't agree to a pay freeze, West says its members will have to take 15 days of unpaid furloughs over the next year.
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
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I don't mind doing the furloughs if it was across the board. The budget is taken up mostly by the Fire and Police and they are not doing furloughs. So why is it they pick on the little people meaning we make the least of all unions. There may be more people but we don't take up as much of the budget. So how can Pat West justify only giving furloughs to our union? Where is that across the board or fair????? Instead of our union carrying the burdon of doing 120 hours why not all city employees pitch in 10 hours each?