Teamsters reject NLV contract proposal

The city of North Las Vegas' largest employee union has rejected a proposal to forgo a 4 percent cost-of-living increase for a year to save the city about $4.4 million.

Teamsters Local 14, which represents 780 city employees in a variety of jobs ranging from secretaries to managers, voted overwhelmingly against the proposal Monday night, said Dana Phillips, business agent for the union.

The city would not provide a guarantee against layoffs if the union agreed to contract concessions, Phillips said Tuesday.

"What's the incentive for giving concessions?" she asked.

City Manager Gregory Rose said the city can "never guarantee actions that may or may not occur in the future."

"Much of it is determined by the economy, which we have no control over," he said.

Rose said the city believed it could avoid layoffs if the proposal had been accepted.

Now, "it looks like we will have that opportunity" to consider layoffs, he said.

Phillips contended the city didn't do an adequate job preparing a concession agreement.

Among other preparations, North Las Vegas should have held meetings on the city's financial condition with all union employees, provided the union a list of positions targeted for layoffs and formed a "critical needs committee" to identify positions that must be filled, she said.

Rose said the city discussed its finances with the union several times, and also has explored the issue in open City Council meetings.

North Las Vegas, which has trimmed about $16 million from its 2008-09 budget, initiated the union talks in late February as a way to save money in the face of declining tax revenues caused by the economic slowdown.

The city, which has 1,801 full-time employees, had hoped to save about $13.5 million through contract negotiations with its three employee unions.

Its firefighter union voted late last week to defer its 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase for a year beginning July 1, among other concessions, which the city said will save about $1.5 million. The city is still in negotiations with its police union.

Rose said the city had no reason to believe the Teamsters wouldn't accept its proposal.

"The offer we made was a generous one that minimized the impact on employees' overall compensation and resulted in services to our citizens being uninterrupted," he said.

Both the union and the city said they are willing to sit down together again to try to come up with an agreement.

The City Council will discuss other possible cost-cutting measures, including layoffs and privatizing some operations, such as park maintenance, on April 15, Rose said.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.