Random image: Japanese and Norway maple leaves. In February, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs predicted, "The bumping rights will put us in a state of chaos."
The administration had identified 15 people to be laid off, but due to Civil Service laws those affected "bumped" others out of their jobs. The mayor wanted another two weeks of talks with the unions to ward off the layoffs, but the governing body wanted to get the budget passed as the city was already in the third quarter of the 2010 fiscal year. Click here to see Plaintalker's full post.
The council is now hoping to pass the budget in December for the fiscal year that began July 1.
As it stands, several employees will face cuts to part-time hours and all staff in the Department of Public Works & Urban Development will have to take furlough days to pass the budget with a 4 percent increase.
But the mayor's fears for the SFY 2010 budget process were corroborated by City Clerk Laddie Wyatt in budget deliberations earlier this month. Wyatt told the council her office is "effectively crippled" by the loss of two experienced staffers who were bumped to other positions in City Hall.
Wyatt said if the situation goes on for another two or three months, her office "will never recover."
The U.S. Department of Labor defines bumping rights this way:
"In a seniority system, the rights of workers with greater seniority whose jobs are abolished to replace (bump) workers with less seniority so that the worker who ultimately loses his/her job is not the worker whose job was abolished."
As times have become harder, the need for budget cuts is clashing with such job protection rules. But the alternative - union givebacks to save jobs - is proving to be a hard sell in Plainfield.
Cynthia Smith, president of the Plainfield Municipal Employees Association, told the council during budget talks that her union has been hit hardest by layoffs. Tax Assessor Tracy Bennett, representing the Plainfield Municipal Managers Association, said her union is working closely with the PMEA to come up with concessions. But other city unions have not expressed the same willingness.
Meanwhile, state legislators have proposed allowing counties and municipalities to withdraw from the Civil Service system that supports bumping rights. Click here to see the proposed legislation. If passed, it would not affect those protected under the old rules.
Something has got to give in the next budget year, when the city will be constrained by a 2 percent limit on increasing taxes. Most of the unions, including police and fire, need new contracts. While awaiting some kind of general job rule reform, it will be a test of officials' skills on both sides of the contract table to see whether common ground can be found to save jobs and share the pain with cash-strapped taxpayers.
--Bernice Paglia
The fact the Mayor warned of chaos and it came to pass was still the result of a budget being passed so late. Yes the Civil Service rules do need to be changed...but good luck with that. Cost savings were only able to be derived from layoffs due to the fact that the budget deadlines and due dates are treated like some mythical wish instead of an actual deadline. This too lays squarely at her feet....again. And other than layoffs this year, what other cost saving ideas have been floated around by her administration...yep, I too won't hold my breath for that list.
ReplyDeleteReduce things that we have to spend Taxes on is the simple answer. Tell people not to do bad things so we do not need such a big Police Force and have a volunteer Fire Department. Oh wait ... that sounds so Old Fashion, lets keep going with Roosevelt's New Deal - A Chicken [only skinless] in Every Pot !
ReplyDeleteWith talk about layoffs and furloughs, has the Mayor or Council proposed their reduction in salary? I mean, it's pretty nice when you do get to raise council salaries and then turn around and cut down the number of meetings to one council meeting a month instead of two.
ReplyDeleteAre we paying full health benefits for council members, and if so, why?
League of Muncipaltied Time -
Who's going?
What meetings did they attend?
Do council members and staff have to have their own rooms double up to cut costs?
What other reimbursable expenses are associated with attendance?
Please someone tell me why the administration and council are so afraid of Police and Fire, they make higher salaries than anyone else and yet refuse to give even a little to help the City out, let's not mention that they don't live and don't have to live in Plainfield, so therefore they don't give a dam about what happens to this City, their tax revenue and all the money they make in this City goes to the city they live in. Why not take a hard stand and show them a little tough love and start laying them off as well.
ReplyDeleteYou say they are needed because of the crime rate, crime is on the rise just like their salaries so I don’t see the problem with laying your cards on the table, either you come up with some real givebacks or you give up your jobs others cities have done it and so can Plainfield.
I think the city needs to opt out of Civil Service. We have laws on the books now that protect people. We do not need the Civil Service laws. We are at the time where we are looking at efficiency - bumping people into jobs for which they are not qualified is stupid and does an injustice to the person who is in that position.
ReplyDeleteGetting rid of Civil Service would be the worst thing any City in New Jersey could do. How do you spell corruption? Chris Christie knows as the past Attorney General that corruption exist in Politics. How many politicians have been arrested already for corruption. It would mean firing people to hire friends by changing the job title. Civil Service is not the blame for the chaos in the Clerk's Office, they put the most senior person in the office on the lay-off list, they refused to promote the most knowledgable staff person, selecting a political favored person instead, and karma came set in. People who give years of service should be protected, from this type of behavior. Forget pay to play, it would change to what seat do you want.
ReplyDelete