Town cuts city workers' payroll to minimum wage.

[Ksandra]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...,2431771.story

(Reuters) - Firefighters, police officers and public works employees in Scranton, Pennsylvania sued the city on Tuesday after the mayor slashed pay for the city's workers to the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Christopher Doherty, mayor of the cash-strapped city, cut the pay of nearly 400 city workers on July 6 in an effort to meet payroll costs.


Doherty, who did not return calls seeking comment, cut his own salary as well as those of the City Council to the state's minimum wage.

Three public sector unions, which under state law are not allowed to strike, launched two federal suits and filed a motion in state court.

One complaint accuses the city of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, while the other claims the city gutted benefits without notice or a hearing for police and firefighters disabled in the line of duty.

Separately, the unions also asked a state court to hold Doherty in contempt. They had sued in state court on July 2 to try to stop the pay cuts from going into effect. A local judge ordered Doherty not to implement the cuts, but the mayor did so anyway.

"It's an economic disaster to them and their families," said Thomas Jennings, an attorney for the unions. He said the judge could ultimately order the mayor jailed.

Jennings also said the wage cuts were the result of a budgetary dispute between City Council members and the mayor.

"As a consequence, my clients -- who fight the fires, arrest the bad guys and fix the potholes -- are stuck in the middle," he said.

City Council President Janet Evans did not reply to requests for comment.

The unilateral pay cut was imposed with just eight days notice, according John Judge, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local Union.

"Our guys can't live on $7.25 an hour. They have families to raise," Judge said.

With firefighters making an average of about $22 an hour, according to Judge, the pay reductions slashed their wages by two-thirds.

Doherty cut wages because of the city is nearly broke. On Thursday, it had $5,000 in cash, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported.

The city's business administrator told the newspaper that Scranton is facing a projected $16.8 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2012.

Scranton, a city of about 76,000 in the northeast of the state, is the latest U.S. city in financial turmoil amid sunken revenue collections, lowered state aid and increased pension and other costs.

Some of the Scranton's current problems also stem from the $52 million in bonds it guaranteed for the Scranton Parking Authority, according to credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service, which does not rate the city.

The city delayed a payment of $1 million payment, originally due on June 1, by two weeks to cover the bonds, raising doubts about the city's willingness to make timely payments, Moody's said in a comment.

The $52 million represents more than a third of Scranton's general obligation and guaranteed debt obligations, Moody's said.

Despite the delay, the payment could help Scranton borrow money for operating expenses through the end of the year with short-term cash flow notes, Moody's said.

The bond attorney for the city and the parking authority declined to comment.

scary to think of that many people going from $22~ per hour to $7.25...

[hey]

Surely there were other things that could have been done? Even if it was just less ridiculous pay cuts, this is insane. $17m per year deficit doesn't seem like too much to borrow while working to fix the problem in a more reasonable way.

[BaneTheBrawler]

At least he cut his own pay, too.

[Marootsoobutsu]

Wow. My father-in-law lives there. He's on government payroll, but I think he's a state employee. Still, he's gotta have some info on this for me. This just looks crazy.

[Kuya]

I hope they took into account the fact that those people might have kids, homes, cars, and debts they have to pay.

[Outlaw]

The unilateral pay cut was imposed with just eight days notice, according John Judge, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local Union.

Wow.

God I hate politicians. These people protect you while you sleep asshole!

[Ragnus]

Yeah... minimum wage as a firefighter / police officer is not enough money for me to be risking my ass every day.

I'm watching this since it seems like a segway to privatized services. The same thing happened here in MA when Gov. Weld pushed to privatize state services such as road plowing. My father was a mechanic working on vehicles and kept getting moved to sites further and further from home until it wasn't feasible to live off his wages. Once everyone on government payroll quit, in came the private businesses bidding on those services.

[AidenCarby]

This is legal?

[Dantrag]

Pretty sure it's not since if I remember correctly a judge said, "No you can't do that."

[Salodin]

Yeah... minimum wage as a firefighter / police officer is not enough money for me to be risking my ass every day.

I'm watching this since it seems like a segway to privatized services. The same thing happened here in MA when Gov. Weld pushed to privatize state services such as road plowing. My father was a mechanic working on vehicles and kept getting moved to sites further and further from home until it wasn't feasible to live off his wages. Once everyone on government payroll quit, in came the private businesses bidding on those services.

This is legal? What they did to pa in law?

[Kerberoz]

If there was ever a situation that calls for arson... just sayin'.

[Raldo]

This.

Surely there were other things that could have been done?

Plus this.

Christopher Doherty, mayor of the cash-strapped city, cut the pay of nearly 400 city workers on July 6 in an effort to meet payroll costs.

Surely cutting 400-ish workers' pay isn't going to put a freaking dent in a multi-million dollar deficit. Certainly not enough to warrant an action that would cause a completely obvious backlash.

[Ragnus]

This is legal? What they did to pa in law?

If what Dantrag says is true, then no.

If it is upheld for some reason, it will cause a massive amount of workers in these areas to quit their jobs due to the responsibility to pay ratio combined with not being able to pay the bills without a second job. Without enough people to keep the forces, where else do you think they're going to go for workers?

[hey]

Surely cutting 400-ish workers' pay isn't going to put a freaking dent in a multi-million dollar deficit. Certainly not enough to warrant an action that would cause a completely obvious backlash.

Assuming $22 per hour average for all 400, that would actually make up like 1/2 of the deficit.

[Melena]

Yeah... minimum wage as a firefighter / police officer is not enough money for me to be risking my ass every day.

I'm watching this since it seems like a segway to privatized services. The same thing happened here in MA when Gov. Weld pushed to privatize state services such as road plowing. My father was a mechanic working on vehicles and kept getting moved to sites further and further from home until it wasn't feasible to live off his wages. Once everyone on government payroll quit, in came the private businesses bidding on those services.

http://www.omnicorp.com/

[greenhills]

Holy shit, minimum wage is only 7.25? For some reason I thought it was around 10.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Nope. ~10 is what the average person in the average community needs to stay in the black.

[Krazy]

"Our guys can't live on $7.25 an hour. They have families to raise," Judge said.

I guess they'll have to line up for some welfare then.

[Niiro]

I guess they'll have to line up for some welfare then.

Bam, problem solved, the system works.

[Necronus]

I'm originally from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area ... I'm not sure if I should laugh or be ashamed.

Edit: Not laugh at the workers of course, just at the stupidity of my home area goverment.