LV board OKs pay cut plan for nonunion city workers

City of Las Vegas workers who are not represented by a union are in line to take an 8 percent pay cut in the next budget year, provided that similar concessions are reached with the city's four bargaining units.

The Las Vegas City Council approved the plan Wednesday. It is scheduled to take effect July 1.

There are 298 elected and appointive employees at the city, working as directors, managers, analysts, and professional and support staff. The rollback will save about $3 million.

City Manager Betsy Fretwell has asked all city employees to accept the wage cut in order to meet yawning budget deficits brought about by the economic downturn.

For the rest of the workers, doing so requires revising labor contracts, which union members must agree to reopen for negotiations.

Whether that will happen remains to be seen. The largest city union, the Las Vegas City Employees Association, balked at the request because Fretwell couldn't guarantee that layoffs would be avoided if the concessions were made.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said without concessions, the only alternative is "reducing our employee work force, and we certainly don't want to do that."