Layoff Proposal Headed To Santa Clara City Council
SANTA CLARA (KCBS) - Yet another cash strapped Bay Area city has indicated that layoffs were imminent unless unions agreed to pay reductions. Dozens of city workers in Santa Clara stood to lose their jobs.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
The layoff proposal was to be presented at Tuesday evening's Santa Clara City Council meeting. The council was expected to vote to lay off 82 city workers if the employee unions didn't agree to forgo a scheduled pay raise next month. The workers were also asked to either take a 5% pay cut or 12 furlough days in 2011.
"Asking the employees to consider these concessions may keep everyone in their jobs and allow us to move forward," reasoned Santa Clara deputy city manager Carol McCarthy. "We don't want to see layoffs in the city but I believe the council understands that the crisis is severe and it is now."
Santa Clara was facing a $5 million deficit this year. A $13 million deficit was projected for 2011.
By Tuesday morning, 3 unions had agreed to take pay cuts. Another 7 unions had not.
If the layoffs were to happen, approximately 9% of the city's employees would lose their jobs, including fire department captains, police dispatchers, civil engineers and library assistants.
"The council is fully aware of our economic situation. It's really a fiscal crisis for Santa Clara," McCarthy said. "You know there's still an opportunity for employees to understand the need for reductions and hopefully they will do that. And the layoffs will not be needed."
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