Unions object to Sacramento County plan to cut employee hours (County takes radical action)

Sacremnato Bee ^ | Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2009 | Robert Lewis

[dennisw]

For the first time in a public meeting, Sacramento County staffers advanced their controversial proposal to lay off almost every non-public safety employee in the county and then rehire them to part-time positions.

The complex move, presented at the Board of Supervisors meeting this morning, is designed to save money in lieu of furloughs, which the county can't contractually enact without cooperation of its employee unions.

The move would effectively cut most workers' time by 16 hours a month. County employees who refuse to shift to the new position effective Nov. 8 would lose their jobs.

Unions are calling the move a back-door furlough and a violation of their contracts.

In addition to more layoffs, the county executive's office is proposing to change most jobs to nine-tenths positions down from full-time jobs.

The move is expected to save about $7 million a year for the general fund, $25.4 million a year total, said Steve Keil, the county's chief labor negotiator.

The county had pushed the unions to agree to concessions over the past year, including foregoing scheduled raises and taking furloughs.

[dennisw]

I have never heard of such a scheme! But the country will still be paying up the wazoo for outrageous retirement benefits

[Achilles Heel]

Now if some judge doesn’t throw a wrench into this.....

[dragnet2]

Now if some judge doesn’t throw a wrench into this.

Judges are way over paid, and they too need to have their salaries, benefits and those lottery style government retirement pensions reduced and slashed.

[John Galt's cousin]

The retirement benefits are probably protected. The politicians agreed to the contracts including the benefits over time, and now the sucessor politicians have to deal with the costs

As I read the scheme, I expected the story to report that the County was filing for bankruptcy and this was a pre-packaged plan to present to the court

It will be interesting to learn how the labor contracts would allow mass termination from employment and then rehiring the same people to do the same work at lower wages

[dennisw]

The retirement benefits are probably protected. The politicians agreed to the contracts including the benefits over time, and now the sucessor politicians have to deal with the costs

Biggest scam isn't it! Hacks bestowing largess on union hacks
This can only be undone by bankruptcy and that just might happen

It will be interesting to learn how the labor contracts would allow mass termination from employment and then rehiring the same people to do the same work at lower wages

A Marx Brothers scheme sure to be challenged in court. I think it will pass a court test because the judge will say "Screw the law", he will see there is no other way out