11th Hour Effort To Avoid Layoffs
City labor union meet with City Manager to negotiate pay cuts, not job losses
Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009 | Updated 7:25 PM PST
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In a last-minute attempt to avoid 31 layoffs, leaders of a city labor union met Tuesday with Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips about voluntary 5 percent pay cuts that would make the layoffs unnecessary, city and union officials told the North County Times.
The meetings took place one day before the City Council is slated to approve the layoffs as part of $3.2 million in emergency budget cuts. Those cuts have been prompted by estimates that plummeting sales tax revenue has increased the city's projected budget deficit from $1.7 million to $6 million since July.
Union president Russ Lane said Tuesday morning that he expects the voting to conclude by 8 p.m.
Read more about the negotiations in the article in the North County Times.
