On Wednesday, a St. Louis County judge denied a request by AFSCME Local 66 to temporarily block the city from terminating 21 full-time employees.
"We\'re doing everything we can to save good jobs and the services that Duluth residents want and need," said Alan Netland, president of Local 66, the city\'s largest union. "Today the court refused to help us, but we won\'t give up."
Mayor Don Ness said up to 217 workers, full-time, part-time, and seasonal, will be laid off by the end of the year to address a $6.5 million budget deficit.
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| Sue Schumacher, a 10-year employee of the Duluth Public Library who is losing her job, spoke at a rally Aug. 18 at Duluth City Hall. Photo by Larry Sillanpa, Duluth Labor World |
"We expect a better solution from Mayor Ness," Netland said. "Other cities balance their budgets without eliminating core services and busting union contracts. They don\'t abolish recreation programs when families need a safe place for their kids to go after school. They don\'t carve good jobs into temporary work that can\'t support a family.
"Despite today\'s ruling, we\'ll continue to pursue a legal remedy. The city is violating our contract. It\'s illegal to lay off full-time employees while retaining temps."
At a City Council meeting in late August, the union supported Councilor Greg Gilbert\'s proposal, which was adopted, to divert $600,000 from the Housing Investment Trust to help offset the deficit. Gilbert also proposed taking $300,000 from Visit Duluth\'s tourism marketing budget and cutting $100,000 from the Greater Downtown Council\'s beautification budget, but those measures were dropped.
In addition to imposing layoffs, Ness has asked city workers to take off four unpaid work days annually, a move the union said would violate the union contract.
Program cuts have Erin Bates, who was laid off at Portman Recreation Center, worried for kids. Bates is one of six layoffs so far in that department.
"We are the city employees in the neighborhoods, working with troubled youth, teaching kids, remolding behavior," said an emotional Bates as she recounted all the 19 community centers she had worked at.
AFSCME 66\'s Deb Strohm, an employment counselor for the city, said layoffs may mean there will be no ice skating rinks this winter, garbage may not get emptied, and grass may not get mowed, "all good jobs that fuel the local economy."
Netland said the job cuts are shortsighted.
"It\'s time for citizens to create the political will to protect the services they want and need. It\'s a matter of priorities. You can save core city services, or you can be a city that\'s open to tourists and closed to residents."
Local 66 is part of AFSCME Council 5, which represents 43,000 public and non-profit workers throughout Minnesota, including 543 of the 800 workers employed by the City of Duluth.
This article contains information from Council 5 and from The Duluth Labor World newspaper. Visit the newspaper\'s website, www.laborworld.org
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On Wednesday, a St. Louis County judge denied a request by AFSCME Local 66 to temporarily block the city from terminating 21 full-time employees.
"We\’re doing everything we can to save good jobs and the services that Duluth residents want and need," said Alan Netland, president of Local 66, the city\’s largest union. "Today the court refused to help us, but we won\’t give up."
Mayor Don Ness said up to 217 workers, full-time, part-time, and seasonal, will be laid off by the end of the year to address a $6.5 million budget deficit.
|
| Sue Schumacher, a 10-year employee of the Duluth Public Library who is losing her job, spoke at a rally Aug. 18 at Duluth City Hall.
Photo by Larry Sillanpa, Duluth Labor World |
"We expect a better solution from Mayor Ness," Netland said. "Other cities balance their budgets without eliminating core services and busting union contracts. They don\’t abolish recreation programs when families need a safe place for their kids to go after school. They don\’t carve good jobs into temporary work that can\’t support a family.
"Despite today\’s ruling, we\’ll continue to pursue a legal remedy. The city is violating our contract. It\’s illegal to lay off full-time employees while retaining temps."
At a City Council meeting in late August, the union supported Councilor Greg Gilbert\’s proposal, which was adopted, to divert $600,000 from the Housing Investment Trust to help offset the deficit. Gilbert also proposed taking $300,000 from Visit Duluth\’s tourism marketing budget and cutting $100,000 from the Greater Downtown Council\’s beautification budget, but those measures were dropped.
In addition to imposing layoffs, Ness has asked city workers to take off four unpaid work days annually, a move the union said would violate the union contract.
Program cuts have Erin Bates, who was laid off at Portman Recreation Center, worried for kids. Bates is one of six layoffs so far in that department.
"We are the city employees in the neighborhoods, working with troubled youth, teaching kids, remolding behavior," said an emotional Bates as she recounted all the 19 community centers she had worked at.
AFSCME 66\’s Deb Strohm, an employment counselor for the city, said layoffs may mean there will be no ice skating rinks this winter, garbage may not get emptied, and grass may not get mowed, "all good jobs that fuel the local economy."
Netland said the job cuts are shortsighted.
"It\’s time for citizens to create the political will to protect the services they want and need. It\’s a matter of priorities. You can save core city services, or you can be a city that\’s open to tourists and closed to residents."
Local 66 is part of AFSCME Council 5, which represents 43,000 public and non-profit workers throughout Minnesota, including 543 of the 800 workers employed by the City of Duluth.
This article contains information from Council 5 and from The Duluth Labor World newspaper. Visit the newspaper\’s website, www.laborworld.org