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     Current Issue Highlights Highlights Archive             Get to know your Business Agent today!  Find out how the union makes a difference on the job. |
Newsline: March 2002 Bloomberg's Budget Slashes Services; Asks Agencies to 'Do More With Less' Haynes Calls Plan 'Disappointing' After pledging that there would be no layoffs, Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a grim $41.4 billion budget proposal last month that calls for deep budget cuts to all city agencies in an effort to close a staggering $4.8 billion gap in the city's budget this fiscal year. Bloomberg, in his first budget address since his election last November, said the city had no choice but to reduce the services it provides, as well as its workforce. With state and federal aid in short supply, the mayor said his commissioners will just have to "find ways to do more with less." The mayor's $41.4 billion preliminary budget for the fiscal year, which begins this July, calls for an average of 20 percent cut in all agencies, but considerably less for emergency services and the Board of Education. It requires reductions in many city services, including services for seniors, libraries, legal services to help people fight evictions, the suspension of the city's recycling program, and the elimination of 75 ambulance shifts to reduce overtime costs. Capital projects will also be cut, meaning delays in the construction of roads, bridges and new schools. "There are no sacred cows" in this budget, Bloomberg declared, pointing out that the Police and Fire Departments and Board of Education will also take hits to their budgets. "The budget that we are going to show you hurts everybody, but we don't think it hurts anybody fatally." He added that he wanted to be realistic about the problems confronting the city "without leaving people with the sense that there is no hope." The city, he stated, is taking extraordinary measures to close the $4.8 billion hole in the city's budget, including reducing the city's payroll — which he plans to achieve through attrition and early retirement incentive packages — taking out a loan to cover basic expenses and raising taxes sharply on cigarettes to generate new revenue. "We have been down this road so many times in recent years, and it is not fair to the people of New York City that Albany is not putting out more for the municipality that has generated surpluses for the state year after year," said Local 237 President Carl Haynes. "New York City is suffering again because of what happened on Sept. 11. Clearly, the federal government has an obligation to provide disaster relief funds. The Bush administration promised the city $20 billion, and we are expecting that they will deliver on that promise. But the state is not off the hook on this either. Albany shortchanged New York City in the last budget and it is shortchanging us again at a time when we need them the most." Haynes said state legislators must meet their obligations and find the funds to help New York City deal with the deficit and to construct and upgrade city schools, which are "desperately" in disrepair. He added: "Labor, as usual, will do its part to help the city weather the crisis because we have a stake in its well-being, but union workers will not be the sacrificial lamb in this scenario since Washington did not hesitate to bail out the airline industry and other major corporations affected by the 9/11 tragedy." |
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Carl Haynes talking things over with a member of Local 237 |
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