Mayor seeks millions in savings by cutting city workweek

Fire union president Tom Wescott says the refusal means the mayor is giving up $1 million in 2010 savings the bargaining unit already has agreed to.

Sullivan said he's worried that a contract extension tied to the fire concessions could cost the city more money in the long run when delayed wage increases come into play. Wescott said that's not true, that union and city negotiators would sit down in the extended contract years and renegotiate.

Sullivan said he talked with several union leaders in a series of meetings at City Hall Wednesday and discussed the shorter workweek, among other things. More meetings are ahead today.

"What we've proposed is wherever possible we want to institute a 37 1/2-hour workweek," instead of the 40-hour week employees work now, Sullivan said. The workweek shift could save the city $10 million to $12 million next year, he said.

"That preserves jobs and it also maintains their wage levels, so we put that out there," he said.

"It doesn't fit everybody," Sullivan said. "You've got police and fire, which are 24/7, you've got generators that run 24/7." With union leaders who represent such crucial service employees, "we've asked them to come back with suggestions to help us if the 37- 1/2 hour week doesn't work for them," Sullivan said.

Sgt. Derek Hsieh, president of the police union, said he talked with the mayor and other city executives Wednesday but he didn't want to say much about the conversations. Hsieh said he plans to send out a letter explaining what was said in the meeting to all members of the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association.

"Generally I would not call this negotiations," he said. "I would say, problem solving between unions and the administration or department heads should be done in some degree of confidence and respectful of the process."

City officials have been struggling to close budget deficits with service cuts, wage freezes and some layoffs all year, and Sullivan is projecting another $25 million shortfall next year. This year's problems are caused in part by poor returns on city investments and lower than projected tax revenues, and Sullivan says a necessary $12 million contribution to a police and fire retirement fund next year complicates matters even more.

Wescott, a fire captain and the head of the International Association of Firefighters Local 1264, said his conversation with the mayor was discouraging.

"I got the sense that regardless of what we do, he's shrinking the fire department and the rest of the city," Wescott said.

Wescott said the transition report on the fire department prepared for Sullivan when he took office by former chief John Fullenwider reported the department already is short-handed, a problem that could cause overtime problems down the road.

Wescott said he's worried that Sullivan's budget-cutting is going to mean additional layoffs next year and maybe closures of some engine companies.

Sullivan said he's asked all the union leaders to come back within 10 days with reactions to his proposals and ideas of their own for saving money.

Sullivan faces an Oct. 1 deadline for submitting a proposed 2010 budget to the Assembly.

"We'd like by the first week of September to have some response from them, and I have no idea what the response is going to be," the mayor said. "Because they had to go through a round of this earlier in the year, I think some of them are going to be hesitant to participate, but the other possibilities are going to be a reduction in the number of employees.

"I'm hoping with this broad brush of the workweek changing we can actually preserve public service and a lot of positions."

The city has roughly 3,000 employees, most represented by unions.

Contact Don Hunter at dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349.