Post by admin on Jan 10, 2009 19:39:01 GMT -5
www.app.com/article/20090110/NEWS/901100321/1001/NEWSFRONT
County warns unions of layoffs
By Bob Jordan • FREEHOLD BUREAU • January 10, 2009
FREEHOLD — Leaders of the unions representing 2,500 Monmouth County workers were told Friday their members face the prospect of layoffs unless the county receives agreements on canceling more than $7 million in pay raises scheduled for this year.
At the meeting with union leaders at the Hall of Records on Friday morning, County Administrator Robert M. Czech said existing contracts will be reopened in order to remove the increases, which average 3.75 percent. The units that do not agree to the one-year wage freeze would be subject to layoffs, he said.
Czech said after the meeting that the county has experienced a $10 million to $12 million shortfall in anticipated revenue over the past year because of the struggling economy.
The real estate slowdown has cut into tax ratable growth and reduced the transaction recording fees the county collects, and investment earnings are also down significantly, Czech said.
"We have to deal with the reality that people living in the county have lost jobs, or had their businesses hurt, or lost their health insurance, and can't make up the difference (through higher taxes)," Czech said.
"Layoffs are an absolute last resort," Freeholder Director Barbara J. McMorrow said. "By law the union had to be notified that this is a possibility, and that was what the meeting was about. It's a very difficult day for everyone."
But union leaders bristled at the layoff threat and a demand that they agree to new terms within a week — though Czech said later that next Friday is the "ideal date" for responses.
"How can they say they'll only do layoffs in the areas where the contracts aren't reopened?" said Pat Panella, head of Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 240, which represents more than 300 corrections officers. "How is that a smart way to operate if they take people out from a department without looking at if the department is efficient and productive?"
The corrections officers are one of a handful of units working with expired contracts. Czech said in those cases the new contracts would be written with a wage freeze in the first year.
The county has about 3,500 employees and a $180 million payroll. Nearly a third of the workers are not union members. Czech said the nonunion employees will also not see pay increases this year.
"It's not like this is it in terms of cuts. We will continue to work to see where cuts can be made," McMorrow said. "We facing such difficult budget issues, and we're trying to minimize the impact on the taxpayers."
McMorrow and other other four county freeholders have already agreed to cut their salaries by 10 percent, from $30,000 to $27,000. McMorrow and fellow Democrats John D'Amico Jr. and Amy A. Mallet said they intend to ask 20 administrators with salaries of more than $100,000 to voluntarily give up 10 percent of their pay.
"If we're not getting the economic growth in the county to sustain our budget, we have to make reductions. We're not living in a bubble. The same economic factors at work elsewhere are happening here," Czech said.
Czech said a layoff plan would be subject to state Department of Personnel approval, a 30-day process, and affected workers would then receive 45-day layoff notices.
"There's never not been a year of no raises here, except for a small unit of about 10 process-servers in the 1980s. Raises are almost cultural. Some people suggested furloughs to save jobs, but that's ineffective in many areas because you would lack sufficient staffing for stretches of time," Czech said.
Bob Jordan: (732) 308-7755 or bjordan@app.com
County warns unions of layoffs
By Bob Jordan • FREEHOLD BUREAU • January 10, 2009
FREEHOLD — Leaders of the unions representing 2,500 Monmouth County workers were told Friday their members face the prospect of layoffs unless the county receives agreements on canceling more than $7 million in pay raises scheduled for this year.
At the meeting with union leaders at the Hall of Records on Friday morning, County Administrator Robert M. Czech said existing contracts will be reopened in order to remove the increases, which average 3.75 percent. The units that do not agree to the one-year wage freeze would be subject to layoffs, he said.
Czech said after the meeting that the county has experienced a $10 million to $12 million shortfall in anticipated revenue over the past year because of the struggling economy.
The real estate slowdown has cut into tax ratable growth and reduced the transaction recording fees the county collects, and investment earnings are also down significantly, Czech said.
"We have to deal with the reality that people living in the county have lost jobs, or had their businesses hurt, or lost their health insurance, and can't make up the difference (through higher taxes)," Czech said.
"Layoffs are an absolute last resort," Freeholder Director Barbara J. McMorrow said. "By law the union had to be notified that this is a possibility, and that was what the meeting was about. It's a very difficult day for everyone."
But union leaders bristled at the layoff threat and a demand that they agree to new terms within a week — though Czech said later that next Friday is the "ideal date" for responses.
"How can they say they'll only do layoffs in the areas where the contracts aren't reopened?" said Pat Panella, head of Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 240, which represents more than 300 corrections officers. "How is that a smart way to operate if they take people out from a department without looking at if the department is efficient and productive?"
The corrections officers are one of a handful of units working with expired contracts. Czech said in those cases the new contracts would be written with a wage freeze in the first year.
The county has about 3,500 employees and a $180 million payroll. Nearly a third of the workers are not union members. Czech said the nonunion employees will also not see pay increases this year.
"It's not like this is it in terms of cuts. We will continue to work to see where cuts can be made," McMorrow said. "We facing such difficult budget issues, and we're trying to minimize the impact on the taxpayers."
McMorrow and other other four county freeholders have already agreed to cut their salaries by 10 percent, from $30,000 to $27,000. McMorrow and fellow Democrats John D'Amico Jr. and Amy A. Mallet said they intend to ask 20 administrators with salaries of more than $100,000 to voluntarily give up 10 percent of their pay.
"If we're not getting the economic growth in the county to sustain our budget, we have to make reductions. We're not living in a bubble. The same economic factors at work elsewhere are happening here," Czech said.
Czech said a layoff plan would be subject to state Department of Personnel approval, a 30-day process, and affected workers would then receive 45-day layoff notices.
"There's never not been a year of no raises here, except for a small unit of about 10 process-servers in the 1980s. Raises are almost cultural. Some people suggested furloughs to save jobs, but that's ineffective in many areas because you would lack sufficient staffing for stretches of time," Czech said.
Bob Jordan: (732) 308-7755 or bjordan@app.com
