MASS FIRINGS: Experts: Dangers await Las Vegas if city fires, rehires workers

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL ^ | Mar. 12, 2010 | ALAN CHOATE

[redreno]

Las Vegas could be walking into a legal and financial minefield if the city decides to fire its employees and then rehire them at reduced hours in order to deal with a projected budget deficit, according to experts and interested observers.

Mayor Oscar Goodman pitched the idea this week, saying the inspiration came from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who actually is implementing the idea.

[jiggyboy]

They never make the economically obvious choice of simply eliminating jobs. That would be an acknowledgement that the kingdom is too big, and that the king has too big of an army.

[Balding_Eagle]

I’ll bet there are long, long, waiting lists of people who want to be firefighters.

Fire the current workers and hire new.

Obviously a certain amount of judgement needs to be used in order to maintain a certain level of fire crew experience.

[Just Slightly To The Right]

You bet lots of people would be in line for fire fighter jobs in Las Vegas. When you have battalion chiefs making 600k those jobs look awful good.
Source:http://transparentnevada.com/salaries/all/

[Anti-Bubba182]

Could they put the city in bankruptcy and do it that way?

[hoosierham]

Public employee salaries simply are ridiculous considering the nation’s economy;and the pensions are more than ridiculous.

[Jim from C-Town]

The most logical approach is to privatize the fire services. They simply put the jobs up for bid. They fact is that firefighters are the Worlds most expensive insurance policy. As important as they are the majority of the time they sit around and watch TV at the taxpayers expense. It is time to eliminate the repulsive costs of keeping these people on staff. Private firms would do best at managing and paying these people. We would eliminate the repulsive pay and benefits packages and the ridiculous pension plans that allow people in their forties and fifties to retire with lifetime pay and benefits.

[Eye of Unk]

I do believe there was a tax break just introduce for new hires, perhaps there is a loophole businesses are using, fire your workforce and then re-hire, get a tax break.

[cherry]

stop hiring and lay off workers ...NOW.....after the unions give back some of their wages and benefits, and pensions, consider rehiring but not until then.....

the sad fact is this ...the union people in this country ( and I am union) have invited in 2nd tier wages/benefits for new hires....greatly reduced wages and benefits....

you can't pay a teacher nearly full wages and benefits at age 55 and expect the system to work....it can not....

[cherry]

there has been a nationwide campaign to push out volunteer fire depts and expand the hired hands...

[Thunder90]

Fire them ALL and hire on others.