The City Council voted 5-3 Tuesday to have City Manager Pat West implement seven days of worker furloughs for the city's largest union.
City Attorney Bob Shannon announced the vote just after 5 p.m. as the council was coming out of a closed session meeting in which it was to discuss labor negotiations. Shannon said the decision was "due to the fact that there exists and continues to exist a fiscal emergency."
The furloughs would apply to members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents about 3,800 city employees, from janitors to librarians. Police, firefighters, city management and members of other unions wouldn't be affected. The city management association and five unions other than police, fire and IAM, previously agreed to pay freezes.
The council had already authorized West to begin talks with the union for up to 13 days of furloughs, so the seven-day decision could have been worse.
Shannon reported that council members Gary DeLong, Suja Lowenthal, Robert Garcia, Dee Andrews and James Johnson voted in favor of the furloughs, while council members Patrick O'Donnell, Gerrie Schipske and Rae Gabelich voted against them. Ninth District Councilman Steve Neal was absent.
The IAM, along with the police and firefighters associations, are the three largest and most expensive employee groups, and they are the three with which the city hasn't been able to agree to contract concessions. City officials had asked the associations to forgo their contractual pay raises to save almost $11.3 million of the city's $18.5 million general fund deficit.
Without the pay freezes in place, the council voted last month to cut additional personnel and services to eliminate the deficit. The new budget went into effect Friday.
Mayor Bob Foster also used his veto power to cut an extra 1 percent from every department because of the fear that revenue will fall short. In the fiscal year that just ended, Long Beach had about a $12 million revenue shortfall.
City officials didn't say when the furloughs would begin. However, they have said that they don't intend to close City Hall with the furloughs, as happened one day a month over five months at the beginning of 2009.
At the end of last year, the IAM narrowly avoided more furloughs, finally agreeing to a pay freeze in November. This time around, IAM officials have been adamant that they won't give up their salary hikes again.
City Attorney Bob Shannon announced the vote just after 5 p.m. as the council was coming out of a closed session meeting in which it was to discuss labor negotiations. Shannon said the decision was "due to the fact that there exists and continues to exist a fiscal emergency."
The furloughs would apply to members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents about 3,800 city employees, from janitors to librarians. Police, firefighters, city management and members of other unions wouldn't be affected. The city management association and five unions other than police, fire and IAM, previously agreed to pay freezes.
The council had already authorized West to begin talks with the union for up to 13 days of furloughs, so the seven-day decision could have been worse.
Shannon reported that council members Gary DeLong, Suja Lowenthal, Robert Garcia, Dee Andrews and James Johnson voted in favor of the furloughs, while council members Patrick O'Donnell, Gerrie Schipske and Rae Gabelich voted against them. Ninth District Councilman Steve Neal was absent.
The IAM, along with the police and firefighters associations, are the three largest and most expensive employee groups, and they are the three with which the city hasn't been able to agree to contract concessions. City officials had asked the associations to forgo their contractual pay raises to save almost $11.3 million of the city's $18.5 million general fund deficit.
Without the pay freezes in place, the council voted last month to cut additional personnel and services to eliminate the deficit. The new budget went into effect Friday.
Mayor Bob Foster also used his veto power to cut an extra 1 percent from every department because of the fear that revenue will fall short. In the fiscal year that just ended, Long Beach had about a $12 million revenue shortfall.
City officials didn't say when the furloughs would begin. However, they have said that they don't intend to close City Hall with the furloughs, as happened one day a month over five months at the beginning of 2009.
At the end of last year, the IAM narrowly avoided more furloughs, finally agreeing to a pay freeze in November. This time around, IAM officials have been adamant that they won't give up their salary hikes again.
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
politics. A newcomer to the Press-
Kris Hanson reports on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
covering environmental issues, economic triumphs and
pitfalls and trade trends of America’s largest port.
He also writes a weekly column “On The Waterfront”,
appearing Tuesdays, and also produces an occassional video
and column titled “On The Job,” which follows the hard-working
men and women who keep Southern California’s economy humming.
Karen Robes Meeks came to work for the Press-
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