Tulsa City Workers Split On Union Poll Results

By Terry Hood, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Municipal employees in Tulsa are also waiting to see if the ax drops.

Mayor Bartlett has said 65 jobs are on the line.

The city's non-sworn employees spoke Thursday through an opinion poll at their union office and 73% voted for layoffs instead of pay cuts.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett said he will honor that decision.

1/21/2010 Related Story: Tulsa Mayor Gives Police Fire Unions Noon Friday Deadline

729 Tulsa municipal employees cast their vote in Wednesday's opinion poll. It was non-binding and only for those represented by AFSCME.

The result, 73% would rather face layoffs than a pay cut.

Bill Roland is the union president, "It's tough. How can I look at somebody and say, 'Well, the employees voted that you go out the door?"'

Roland says most employees are still recovering from pay cuts seven years ago and worried that they could not afford another chunk taken out of their paycheck.

'‘There's enough employees that have been around from when Bill LaFortune had to implement the 4.7% pay cut that haven't recovered, not only in their retirement but their social security," Roland said.

Late Thursday Mayor Bartlett sent city employees a memo saying he would honor the poll results and begin the process of cutting 65 jobs.

Not all city employees agree with the union's decision. Howard Coughlin is not a member of the union and could not participate in the poll.

He's disappointed his co-workers decided layoffs are better than pay cuts.

"I thought it was wrong. If a union's for unity why didn't they stand together and take the 5.1 or whatever percent it was and everyone keeps their job instead of some guy being without a paycheck, without a way to support his family, it's not fair," Coughlin said.

Bill Roland says city services will suffer because of the cuts and believes city residents need to be more active is finding a solution.

"This is a citizen's problem not an employee problem. The mayor inherited this and I hate it. There's nothing I can do about it but to lay it on the back of four thousand is wrong."

The mayor's memo today said department directors will begin meeting with affected employees and that the layoffs will be effective February 1st.

Dear City of Tulsa employees,

Members of the AFSCME union polled Wednesday chose workforce reductions as opposed to across the board pay reductions of five percent for all non-sworn employees.

We will honor that decision. It will apply to all departments, except sworn police and fire personnel.

We also gave the police and fire unions a choice between workforce reductions and salary/incentive reductions. The original proposed plans from the departments included layoffs. I did not believe the numbers of layoffs proposed for the front lines of the departments were acceptable, and I asked the police and fire chiefs to present plans that included reorganizations that would help them save money and save jobs on the front lines.

I also offered an alternative proposal to the fire and police unions that included a salary reduction and other cuts to incentive pay and benefits. I left the decision to them. The fire and police union leaders have not submitted the salary reduction proposal to their membership for a vote, nor have they reached an agreement on any of the concession items on the table.

The police and fire unions are still in discussions with my management team regarding any and all alternative expense reduction proposals made to date, whether from my office, the unions or the department leadership. We have informed the departments and union leadership that they must reach an agreement to either accept the proposed plan for salary reductions or an alternative by noon Friday, January 22, in order to avoid layoffs in those departments. We will keep you informed via e-mail and management if there are any new developments.

Today, Fire Chief LaCroix and Police Chief Palmer are scheduling meetings with employees that would be affected by the workforce reductions in order to prepare for layoffs and initiate the seven-day notification period.

Department directors are beginning to schedule meetings with affected employees. Human Resources will provide all the information needed to make decisions with respect to other positions in the department and applications for openings within the City of Tulsa, bumping processes and severance pay. The workforce reductions will be effective Feb. 1. Eligible, non-probationary employees will receive two weeks of compensation.

Employees with seniority who are eligible to take other positions in their department will be given the right to "bump" employees with less seniority.

This e-mail should be considered as a seven-day notification to employees who could be affected by the bumping process.

Please contact your manager, or department head with your questions so they may forward them to the appropriate Human Resources representative; or submit your questions to Human Resources at 596-7427 or jobs@cityoftulsa.org to be forwarded to a Human Resources representative.

Regards,

Mayor Dewey Bartlett