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By Dave Toplikar (contact) 
Published Tuesday, March 23, 2010 | 4:49 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, March 23, 2010 | 6:11 p.m.
Sun Coverage
- Goodman cites ‘gridlock’ in union negotiations (3-18-2010)
- Goodman backs off proposal to fire, rehire city employees (3-15-2010)
- Mayor ‘serious’ about firing/rehiring city employees (3-11-2010)
- Council advances budget that would leave 146 jobless (3-10-2010)
- Las Vegas mayor: Salary cuts needed to save 171 city jobs (3-4-2010)
- Goodman: City could save 171 jobs if unions agree to pay cut (2-25-2010)
- Las Vegas Mayor: No agreement yet on city employee contracts (1-28-2010)
- Las Vegas mayor calls on city employee unions to reopen contracts (1-7-2010)
- Las Vegas City Council OKs 8 percent salary, benefits cut (1-6-2010)
The Las Vegas City Employees Association has extended a new offer to the city in lieu of layoffs -- a second one that doesn't involve the 16 percent pay cut the city would like the union to take over the next two years.
The LVCEA, which has 1,036 members, has offered an eight-point plan that includes forgoing a 3 percent cost-of-living increase next year and would have each employee take 96 hours of furlough time during the year.
The offer says the money saved would be used solely to "reverse dollar for dollar some or all of the Tier II layoffs of LVCEA positions that are currently pending."
Don King, the union's president, said the LVCEA presented it to the city last Friday and is asking the city to respond by this upcoming Friday.
The City Council has approved a tentative budget that would fire 146 employees to save about $38 million as part of cutbacks designed to stave off a $70 million shortfall next year.
Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Manager Betsy Fretwell have offered the LVCEA and the city's other bargaining groups the option of taking a salary cut of 8 percent this year and another 8 percent next year as a way to save all employees' jobs and keep city services from being cut.
However, none of the unions agreed to those cuts, so the City Council went ahead with the option of cutting programs and laying off employees in its tentative budget.
In the meeting when the tentative budget was approved, Goodman had presented the idea of firing all of the city's employees and hiring back the ones who agreed to work a reduced work schedule in order to balance the budget and keep anyone from being laid off. He has since backed off that proposal after getting advice from the city's attorney.
The council will approve a final budget in May. The layoffs would take effect on Saturday, June 12, with employees' last day of work on June 11.
King said this afternoon that that the LVCEA's latest concession offer "is worth basically 8.3 percent." The furloughs part of it amounts to 4.6 percent, he said.
He said the city initially asked its employees to take the 8 percent salary cut, plus forego cost-of-living increases and longevity step increases. However, he said the city's offer never guaranteed that even if those concessions were made, there would be no layoffs. Therefore, the LVCEA's offer includes language calling for no layoffs.
"The majority of the people who are losing their jobs are my members," King said. "My members have made it very clear if they are going to give up something, they want to save our members' jobs."
He estimated that about 120 of the 146 people who would be fired under the city's tentative budget are his members. His members have gone through four other layoffs during the last two years, including about 18 who were laid off in January, he said.
King said his members prefer furloughs to salary cuts, because "if you give up something, like 8 percent, it is very difficult to get it back."
Also, 96 hours of furlough will not affect an employees' benefits in the Public Employees Retirement System, but an 8 percent salary cut would mean lower retirement benefits, he said.
Although the concession offer was just posted on the LVCEA Web site today, King said that Fretwell, the mayor and city council members have had copies since last Friday.
"We are encouraging the mayor and council to look at it and give it some consideration," he said. "The city alwas has the right to come back with a final offer or a final position . . . I really don't know where they're going to go with it. My biggest issue is I would love to save every job I can."
How big of them. They will not take a pay cut but will cancel a raise??? Are they nuts. Then they offer to take time off but not just cut the salary. They just don't seem connected to reality.
Furlough = pay cut (from their perspective). They'd rather take a temporary pay cut through furloughs and then if/when the economy gets better return to full time (2080 hrs).
96 hrs/yr is a 4.6% pay cut (1 day a month), so its not close to the 16% cut the city wanted. Plus, the city is still on the hook for all their health care, pensions, etc, so its not a 1:1 trade vs. laying people off. Seems like a long shot.
Lay them off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The union refuses to release the results of the survey of its members.
The scuttlebutt says the majority of the members voted for layoffs and no concessions.
The union is going against the majority of its members.
Contracts can be emended.
Goodman is trying to balance the budget.
He was here when Las Vegas started.
He's not a bad guy just doing his job.
Union is offering a weiner for a ham.
This is chump change; go after the fire department!
So can we assume Oscar is going to take a paycut also? Maybe the drunk could hold off on a 300 million new city hall. Its not the "workers" fault upper management cant budget our money. No i'm not a city employee.
Leave the public safety services sector alone, union or no union. Public safety is paramount and cannot be compromised!
The city should look into outsourcing the fire department to a private firm such as Rural Metro. If they receive a better bid than they currently spend for fire services they should accept it. Other cities do this, we should learn from them.
This is a statewide fiscal crisis. Every public employee in Nevada should take a cut. All city, county, and state offices should work 36 hours per week- Monday thru Thursday, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM with 1 hr lunch. NO OVERTIME! Public safety workers should give up overtime. With what is paid to them in OT, cutting that out will save big. Look at the base salary vs the salary with OT for the fire captain that was just in the news.
Just hire more Firemen. Kills 2 birds with one stone, creates good jobs that are needed & eliminates there OT... that will lower their high salary
Have the LVCEA take 8% Furloughs till there contract expires in a few years, then they get a fair shot win it back or lose it permanently.
Reject this proposal. Its just time for layoffs. The city is out of control. How nice they are accepting no cost of living raise this year.
They are grossly overpaid anyway, and its time to reduce the ranks 16%. Plain and simple.
"The LVCEA, which has 1,036 members, has offered an eight-point plan that includes forgoing a 3 percent cost-of-living increase next year and would have each employee take 96 hours of furlough time during the year."
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Furlough = vacation time. Hahaha with their overcompensated jobs they can afford to take vacations without pay. How noble of these people. By the way when I lost my job this year my employers decided Im not worth my vacation time that I earned so I lost my 2 weeks vacation pay and lost my job. I was let go for the simple fact they hired another person for less money.I'm employed now doing the same thing but with almost 50% cut in pay.
Now city government employees still would like their cost of living raise for this year mind you they will let go of the cost of living raise next year but not this year. Heck I'll take a furlough knowing I will make an easy 20 to 25.00 dollars an hour sitting on my ass. How noble of these very giving people!!!
Mayor Goodman fire the most senior of all these employees and keep the ones with the least amount of seniority with the lowest salary. Screw loyalty, no such thing!!!!!
Do like the City of LA did get new depts.that do the same things as current ones only they pay less with a different contract with less perks and they won't replace the ones in the older depts.The newbies only get the lower deal
"The scuttlebutt says the majority of the members voted for layoffs and no concessions".
That's the problem with scuttlebutt. The name is very, very accurate. Union member or was until I was laid off. Unless you work for the City and know for sure...be quiet. You're only spreading rumors of something that MIGHT be true.
We did not vote for layoffs. How stupid is that? Voting to deliberately lose your job?
Are you serious?
Really?
I am confident that most members voted for no concessions.
I am confident that union leadership for their own self-interest ignored the wishes of the members.
Lay-offs mean less members. Less members means less union dues. Less union dues means that union management would have to take a pay cut.
Why are they hiding the survey results?
It also makes sense that most would vote for lay-offs.
There are over 1,036 members. Less than 10% are targeted for lay-offs.
So the other 900 members had the choice of voting for concession or voting for the other 100 members being laid-off.
The people who were targeted for being laid-off already knew who they were.
Why would somebody not targeted for being laid-off vote themselves a 8 percent pay cut?
StgRock is CONFIDENT!
who KNEW???
The Union and it's members sound like they are making a concerted effort to work with the MORON & his minions.
Let the process take it's course.
Unions are a joke. Remember the Major League Baseball strike? I still laugh when I look back at that and saw millionaires on strike.
The mayor and the city should deal and tell the different unions separately that without concessions on their part will mean layoffs in their union members. If the Fire Department won't agree to the needed pay cuts, then lay off the commensurate number of firefighters and leave alone the other unions who are willing to help out.
Another place took for savings is to adjust their supposedly cost of living increases. The intent of the cost of living is to cover for inflation but when the economy tanked, there should be cost of living decreases, which means pay cuts.
Sgt Rock,
You answered your own question(Why are they hiding the survey results?) in your next post...
"There are over 1,036 members. Less than 10% are targeted for lay-offs.
So the other 900 members had the choice of voting for concession or voting for the other 100 members being laid-off."
...it makes them look selfish, which is why they won't release the survey results.
The union president Don King said, "My biggest issue is I would love to save every job I can." And yet when given the chance to save the jobs, ("Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Manager Betsy Fretwell have offered the LVCEA and the city's other bargaining groups the option of taking a salary cut of 8 percent this year and another 8 percent next year as a way to save all employees' jobs and keep city services from being cut."), he and his union throw their brother union members under the bus.
If the union chooses not to release the results, so what? None of you are paying members or even members for that fact. So again, you are guessing and gossipping like a bunch of teens in high school or a bunch of old women. There were a lot of options and yes...no concessions was one of the options. It's none of your damned business. Personally, I'm financially well off and I hope EVERYONE can keep their job regardless of what the outcome is. That's my wish instead of playing Monday Morning quarterback gossiping, speculating and just generally bitching while other's futures are placed in jeopardy.
"Personally, I'm financially well off "
If you work for the city then you should offer a 50% pay cut to help save a lay-off person.
Sgt Rock:
You don't read well, if at all. I was laid off. Hopefully someone else CAN keep their job. I don't control the mayor or City Council. Even, if I was to take and 8% pay cut, I would still be okay. Others are not as fortunate as I, so AGAIN, stop the Monday Morning Quarterbacking and put your money where your mouth is. Have you given up 50% of your pay from McDonald's to help someone else?
So if a majority of the union members say "no concession and yes to lay-offs" then who made you God to say the union managment should ignore that.
If the union management is not going to use the results of the dam survey than they should not send it out.
The union leadership of LVCEA is full of BS anyway.
They said stated to the city that they are going 1st this time and that the firefighters unions and other unions need to go first in concessions.
Guess what?
LVCEA is going first again.
The city majically found money and told the firefighters that there would be zero layoffs in their group.
I expect the firefighters to still get raises for the next years too.
LVCEA leadership is weak.
WOW, not even part of the Union, but knows everything that goes on in the Union. But hey, I'm not part of the union anymore, so knock yourself out, dude!!!
Oscar Goodman is really good at firing up the Public by not providing the facts. First, the City has not stopped spending, you should ask how much the City has spent this calender year. Second, if things are this bad why have they not stopped the matching for deferred comp (401). Every company I know has done this first. Maybe that is because the only ones who get it are the Executive and Appointed employees. The classified employees are the only ones to sacrifice.