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Union Rejections Concessions

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

March 25, 2009

One of the city's municipal unions has overwhelmingly rejected the mayor's suggested concessions as a way to help fix the broken city budget.

The members of AFSCME Local 1716 voted the concessions down last Friday by a 110 to 1 vote, union leader Clarke King said.

"We said that we don't mind giving concessions, but we'll sit down and try and come up with a way to save the city money, versus the city dropping it on our laps," said King, pictured. Asked what the union was willing to give, King said, "Maybe paying more for our health insurance, maybe look at postponing negotiations for a year to save them money."

Cityline got a copy of the proposed concessions package (posted below), which included four furlough days, eliminated longevity payments, and had a new health insurance plan design. The health insurance changes would increased various co-pays and changed payments structures for prescription drugs.

Asked for an interview with Perez, his spokeswoman, Sarah Barr, responded with an e-mail.

"Government unions at the state level and in municipalities across the country have recognized the severity of this economic crisis," Barr said in an e-mail. "It is disappointing when a union refuses to help the city address its financial challenges that are obvious to every resident in the city. Concessions that aren't received by unions will have to be made up by tax increases and cuts in services."