Talk turns to layoffs, pay cuts

A deepening recession and impending state budget cuts prompted Clark County leaders to meet with union officials Thursday to begin discussing how to avoid layoffs.

Commissioner Rory Reid, who called the meeting, said it was unprecedented for the three main unions representing county employees to talk about cost-cutting while their labor contracts are in place.

Reid and union leaders said they have not decided on ways to trim labor costs, which may include reducing overtime or annual pay raises. But Reid indicated he would be open to renegotiating union contracts to avoid layoffs and further cuts in services.

"Everything is on the table," Reid said.

The county already has done a two-phase reduction to save money, Reid said. The first phase involved not filling 350 jobs that were budgeted. The second phase included slashing some services at University Medical Center.

The next phase would be employee layoffs, which no one wants, he said.

County leaders can't change labor agreements without bargaining with unions, but they can cut staffing, Reid said.

Labor leaders from the Service Employees International Union, the International Association of Firefighters, and the Police Protective Association said they wanted to study the county's books to ensure the financial picture is as dire as characterized.

After they review finance reports, they will meet with county officials in December.

"The county says they are in a budget crisis, but we have yet to see any numbers or books to confirm that position," Police Protective Association President Chris Collins said in a statement.

Collins acknowledged that the economy was bad, but he argued that public safety should be the top priority. The county must eliminate all unnecessary spending before cutting the police budget in ways that compromise the public's safety, Collins said.

The police union represents almost 3,300 police and correction officers. Its labor contract, which expires in June, is already covered by the current budget, so there's no point in renegotiating it, Collins said.

Ed Burke, director of SEIU Local 1107, said every type of creative cost-cutting must be done before the union would consider reworking a contract that doesn't expire until mid-2010. Burke said he couldn't say whether the union would accept smaller pay raises to avert layoffs.

"We clearly would not come to this meeting and endorse wage scale-backs and layoffs. We will not ... be looking at any cuts at this point."

The SEIU represents more than 9,600 of the county's 12,000 employees. Its contract calls for a yearly cost-of-living raise of 3 percent and merit raises ranging from 3 percent to 5 percent.

About 25 percent of SEIU county workers are ineligible for merit raises because they've reached the top of their wage scales. The other 75 percent average about 4 percent a year, said Don Burnette, the county's chief administrative officer.

That is an average salary increase of 6 percent yearly, Burnette said. He noted that every 1 percent pay increase that SEIU workers receive costs taxpayers $4 million.

Reid said county workers are well-compensated but make up a leaner per-capita workforce than those in cities.

County staffing has dropped from 3.6 workers for every 1,000 residents in 1997 to 2.5 per 1,000 today, Reid said.

By comparison, Henderson employs 6.8 workers per 1,000 residents, he said. North Las Vegas has 6.7 employees for every 1,000 residents, and Las Vegas has 4.8 workers to serve every 1,000 residents.

Still, labor is a large part of the budget, and Reid said the county must look at whether the costs are sustainable.

Ryan Beaman, president of the firefighters union, was asked about the $200,000-plus some firefighters earn annually because of overtime pay.

Beaman said many firefighters rack up overtime because they often are on call, and that crews are understaffed.

Last year, an audit showed that 523 of the county's 770 firefighters made more than $100,000 because of overtime and extra pay for being called back to work less than 12 hours after a shift ends, said Geoffrey Lawrence, fiscal policy analyst for the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

The audit revealed 114 firefighters made more than $50,000 in combined overtime and call-back pay, and three firefighters topped $100,000.

More employees should become salaried to reduce overtime pay, Lawrence said.

"Some are getting more in overtime than they are in their base salaries. I would call that excessive."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.