Today, the City Council voted 9-3 to authorize the elimination of up to 4,000 civilian, police and fire employees. After July 1, that could include SEIU 721 members at our parks, animal shelters, yards, golf courses, zoo and across the city.
It’s important to know what that means, and what it doesn’t. Layoffs won’t happen tomorrow. SEIU 721 members are protected this fiscal year, and if even one layoff happens next year, they City would have to immediately pay raises that workers voted to delay last year. We’re also pushing the City to move faster to transfer employees to funded positions and slash expensive contracts.
But it does mean we need to put the spotlight back on what these cuts would mean for our City. City workers have been at City Hall for the past two weeks with a clear message: These cuts will devastate our parks, streets and neighborhoods. We’ve given the city the tools to deal with this crisis, and it’s time to start using them. And it’s time for leadership, not layoff threats.
I’ve worked for the City for 31 years, and I’ve never seen such a profound failure of leadership. Even during Mayor Riordan’s attempt to sell off trash trucks and cut custodians, the City Council stood up for working families. City workers are the rock of our city’s middle class, which is already under attack from foreclosures and the economic crisis — and now the City itself.
No doubt the City has a serious budget problem, and we can confront it by working together — not through politicians’ empty talk but through actions. Join me at City Hall on Wednesday at 10 AM. Click here to get the details.
Bob Schoonover
SEIU 721 President and LA City Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic