Rhode Island: Union to Mayor, Budget 'Ridiculous'
According to The Providence Journal:
PAWTUCKET –– To balance the budget without a big tax increase, the mayor is seeking major concessions from the union representing city workers, union president Augie Venice said.
Negotiators have told the union they need 60 layoffs, a two-year wage freeze, a 20-percent employee health-plan contribution and 12 unpaid furlough days per worker to overcome the city’s financial crisis, said Venice, who heads Local 1012 of AFSCME Council 94 .
The demands, presented at a meeting with the union two weeks ago, are unacceptable, Venice said.
The union might be willing to consider concessions to help the city weather the current fiscal crisis, Venice said, but only if the City Council ratifies the three-year contract with Local 1012 that Mayor James E. Doyle’s administration negotiated and the council rejected last year.
“We’re more than willing to do our fair share and our part, but we can’t do it all, and what they’re proposing is ridiculous,” he said.
Venice revealed the city’s demands a month after Doyle’s representatives met with leaders of all four city unions and said the administration would be seeking concessions...click to continue.
