Sep 9, 2009 9:28 am US/Eastern
Miami Mayor To Unions: Pay Cuts Or Layoffs
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Miami Mayor Manny Diaz
Lawrence Jackson/AP
A battle is brewing in the City of Miami over police and firefighter positions.
In order to make up for a budget shortfall of $118 million, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz wants the unions which represent police officers, firefighters and some city workers to accept pay and pension cuts or else face the prospect of massive layoffs.
If the unions don't agree to the cuts, Diaz's budget proposal calls for the elimination of 191 police officer positions, five firefighter positions, 305 other union employee jobs and 110 non-union positions, according to
CBS4 news partners
The Miami Herald. The mayor's budget proposal also targets some well-paid city employees for steep pay cuts.
A large part of the city's mounting financials problems are due to rising union pension obligations.
"The commissioners are seeing a bare bones City of Miami budget, based on approximately 100-million dollars of pension costs on a 500-million dollar budget," said city commissioner Marc Sarnoff.
Armando Aguilar, with the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said cutting law enforcement positions is not the answer.
"People don't feel safe in their community and now they want to lay off 177 police officers because of their wasteful spending of city funds. I think it's not only abusive, it's criminal," said Aguilar.
Aguilar said he's willing to discuss the pension issue, but salary cuts are out of the question.
The first of several public hearings on the budget will be held Thursday.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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