Tomorrow night I put my career on the line

I can't tell you much about the circumstances until Wednesday. I am a shop steward for AFSCME Local 251. The Mayor Elect has proposed eliminating a contract we voted on and accepted over a month ago. Tomorrow the Mayor Elect will be at our normal monthly meeting. I've contacted some friends in Labor around the country. I will have legal and labor precedence on my side. Let me just say I will be going toe to toe with my future boss. Wish me luck. August 29th will be the nomination of officers for the Local. I'm running for VP.

OS



By Maggie O’Brien
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Omaha’s largest civilian union is in a showdown with the City Council over proposed pay raises during what’s shaping up to be a tough budget year.

Making reference to the 1966 Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” City Councilman and mayor-elect Jim Suttle asked the Omaha City Employees Local 251 to give up 2.75 percent annual pay raises in a proposed union contract that went before the council Tuesday.

“We’re going to go through a whole lot of ugly before we can get back to the good,” said Suttle , who takes office June 8.

Suttle wants the union and the city to return to the bargaining table and “zero out the pay increases” for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 before coming back before the council July 21.

If the city didn’t give raises to any of its civilian employees, that would save about $1.5 million a year, said City Finance Director Carol Ebdon. However, another civilian union, the Functional Employees Group, negotiated a similar agreement with raises, and the council had previously approved that contract.

The Functional Employees Group has 30 members, while Local 251 has about 600 members.

The city is trying to figure out how to address an $8 million budget shortfall, caused in part by a decline in sales tax revenues amid a tough economic climate.

The council had been set to vote on the contract Tuesday, but instead unanimously voted to delay the issue.

Local 251 President Kevin Brown said he was surprised at the council’s decision. “Negotiations are supposed to be between two parties, not in the media,” he said.

Brown said union members would likely support giving up raises if other city unions did as well. “As long as it’s fair across the board, I think the members would go for something like this because it’s best for the city,” Brown said. “But ultimately, the members have the final say.”

This year, the city experienced its first decline in sales tax revenue in its history. Sales taxes make up nearly half of all revenue the city collects.

Current Mayor Mike Fahey has said cuts in city services are likely as well as possible layoffs to deal with declining revenues. He has said he will meet with Suttle to discuss the situation.

Late last year, Fahey made $6.2 million in cuts to the 2009 budget that affected every city department. No employees lost their jobs, but a police recruit class was delayed.

The council has put off a vote on the Local 251 contract for months. Earlier, councilmen expressed concern about a contract provision that would change some part-time employees’ pay to the lowest grade — regardless of how much money they made or how long they had worked for the city.
On Tuesday, however, the council focused on the proposed pay raises.


“How do you pay for increases when there is no revenue to pay for them?” said Councilman Chuck Sigerson. “This is a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s certainly better than a permanent layoff.”

■ Contact the writer: 444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
“We’re going to go through a whole lot of ugly before we can get back to the good.”
Jim Suttle , city councilman and mayor-elect

I know you're on the right side of this and hope you are successful and have the support you need to succeed.

:thumbsup:

:patriot:

:hug:

:thumbsup:

:fistbump:

And for everyone supporting you. :grouphug:

Cause the union makes us strong.

So...what will the Union do when that's threatened? We know that, given the atmosphere created by the Fire and Police pension spiking scandals, folks here are dug in against ANY tax increase. You and I both know 2.75% won't even keep up with inflation, but I would guess the citizens of our fair city would rather see 30-50 employees put on the unemployment line than see their taxes go up a buck a month.

Also, would somebody explain this to me, again: how we can afford the new Downtown Ballpark, and afford to invest in all of the lovely redevelopment I saw in the World Herald the other day (including a park w/ Ferris wheel & other goodies), but we can't afford to pay our workers?

Good luck, Steve

and I'm not saying you should give anything up. But if you do, they have to give something up also.
In Solidarity,
John- Shop Steward, Local 1199, SEIU, Everett, WA.

just to do their bit?

You have hit on one of the points my local will be bringing to the table.

just to do their bit?

Don't worry too much; even if it doesn't go well, I imagine there will ALWAYS be a place for you in the Labor Movement somewhere.

pay cut? How about members of the board of supervisors and the mayor-elect, have they given up any money or benefits ? If not why?

if the above folk aren't taking a hit why the hell should union grunts be punished?

I'm a shop steward for CWA local 2410.

So thank you, Omaha Steve! Stewards get it from both sides, quite often from their own brothers and sisters who may not agree with the outcome of a grievance hearing and then blame it on the steward. I'm a 20 year Teamster, and have never had the guts to try and be a steward.

I appreciate the fact that you bring us labor news continually. Those of us who support labor but don't have a need to belong to a union are able to read the issues through your perseverance.

K&R

Officials and non bargaining folks have opted for unpaid furloughs in support of our AFSCME people. Our hope is that we can avoid layoffs by taking this option. We all are standing together in support of our co-workers, and I am extremely proud.

Have your city officials taken a similar step? Would they be willing to?

In solidarity,


Laura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52LEcOVblU

For the fired auto workers
Who were twisted, tricked and robbed
To the peasant in Guatemala
In a sweatshop got your job
And she can't feed her family
On the pennies that she makes
Meanwhile the crime rate's rising
Up and down the Great Lake states

Like vegetables left in the field
The signatures smell rotten
On the contracts and the deeds
That push the race down to the bottom
As they load the rubber bullets
As they fire another round
I'm heading into the tear gas
Dig in man, hold your ground

For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
For our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
For the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
For the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong

Si nos quedemos
Juntos vamos a ganar? Si!
Hit em where it hurts
And bite the hand that feeds
You might get one to three
Or probation and a fine
But I know where I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be right on that front line

For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
For our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
For the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
For the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong

Now dirty scabs will cross the line
While others stand aside and look
But ain't nobody never got nothin'
That didn't raise their voice and push
Like the steel worker in Ohio
The miner in West Virginia
The teacher in Chicago
Janitor in Mississippi
From the sweatshops of L.A.
To the fields of Mission Flats
There's a thunder cloud exploding
And I'm free at last

Like Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez
Who fought in their own time
Like our brothers and our sisters
Up and down that picket line
Like the unnamed and unnumbered
Who struggle brave and long
Like the union men and women
Standing up and standing strong

The times they are a changing. We have lost what the previous generations fought and endured so much suffering for.

At least they had the backing of BOTH PARTIES!!

(Pullman Riots - Chicago - 1893 - even the Republican Party took out newspaper ads in support of the workers!)

Now we only have the Money Party.

do your best. There is nothing more thankless than a union officer job.

RV, been there, done that.

:thumbsup:

:patriot::thumbsup::patriot:

Anything we can do to help? Contact the mayor-elect?

:kick:

no raises, then so should everyone in city government.

Speaking as a taxpayer and small business owner and given the current economic situation I'm astonished that the union or the administrators/elected officials are pushing for a raise for ANYONE.

:toast:

:yourock:

After the lawsuit anyway?

David