The San Diego City Council will get an update tomorrow on negotiations between the Mayor’s office and the city’s five labor unions. KPBS reporter Katie Orr has details on what the largest union is being asked to concede.
The Municipal Employees Association has about 4000 members. General Manager Judie Italiano says the Mayor’s office wants the union to make 32 million dollars in concessions to help close the city’s 60 million dollar budget deficit. Italiano says the two sides aren’t far apart in terms of money. But she says the sticking point is how to make the cuts.
“They want something permanent. So it’s leading us to believe that this isn’t about the current budget crisis. It’s more about political issues that have become nightmares in the community. I mean he’s looking at ways to cut things permanently like DROP, like employee health,” she says.
The DROP program allows employees to keep working while receiving retirement payments. It has already been eliminated for new union members.
Katie Orr, KPBS News
