The head of the city's largest civilian employees union said Wednesday he has reached a tentative agreement with Mayor Jim Suttle to freeze wages to help ease city budget problems.
Kevin Brown, president of Omaha City Employees Local 251, said the freeze isn't a done deal. Now it's up to union members, who are set to vote on the proposal Wednesday.
“We are very happy with the progress that we're making,” said Ron Gerard, a spokesman for the mayor. “This is what we've been after for a very long time. We appreciate the efforts of the union representatives.”
The tentative wage freeze comes less than a week after Suttle announced that the city would lay off 130 civilian employees by Sept. 6.
Local 251 represents about 600 workers. Brown said nearly 400 are expected to vote on the freeze proposal.
The mayor has been trying to negotiate wage freezes with civilian, police and fire unions for 2009 and 2010. Suttle has said two years without pay raises would save the city about $10 million.
Brown said Local 251 also is willing to freeze wages in 2011. But he said the union reserves the right to seek wage hikes that year if the city's revenue situation improves or if other city unions receive wage hikes.
The City of Omaha has been struggling with its budget because of the economic slowdown and tax revenue falling short of projections. Suttle has scrambled to balance this year's budget, and he also has proposed tax hikes and budget cuts for 2010.
“It's a testimony that the city's civilian employees have stepped up to the plate and done their part for the City of Omaha,” Councilman Chuck Sigerson said. “My hat is off to the civilian employees for doing this.”
Negotiations with the police and fire unions continue.
“We recognize this is a tough economy,” said Aaron Hanson, president of the Omaha police union, “and we are trying to find a resolution to this contract that protects police officers and their families and makes sense for the taxpayer.”
Brown said he hoped police and fire unions would agree to a freeze in pay.
“I understand there is a crisis,” he said. “But it's not just a crisis for us to deal with. Everybody across the board needs to deal with it.”
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