Mayor announces $1 million in savings for City from union concessions

Mayor Giuliano held a 2PM press conference at City Hall on Wednesday to announce that his negotiations with the four unions representing city employees had yielded over $1 million in savings in next year's budget. The press conference was attended by about 50 union members, who were lauded by the mayor for being "the best work force going."

Union Concessions
The four municipal bargaining units which gave concessions that directly affect the city budget are:

• Police Union, Local #1361
• American Federation of State, and County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), local #466. This union represents employees throughout the city government, including Public Works, clerical, Parks and Rec, etc.
• Firefighters Union.
• Middletown Managers and Professional Association, Local #6092. This union represents 49 engineers and managers working for the City.

These unions agreed to unpaid furloughs, delays in raises, and changes in insurance plans. The mayor was asked by Jamie Muro (News Channel 8) why Middletown was successful in negotiating concessions from the unions when other towns and cities in Connecticut were not. Giuliano credited the workforce and the unions:

They put their community first in everything they do.... I have a great deal of respect for them and I think they have a corresponding degree of respect for me.

Giuliano said that he supported furloughs over pay freezes because a furlough does not have a permanent negative impact on future salaries, and it did not affect pension contributions as much. He said that non-union city employees, including directors and himself, would also be taking unpaid furloughs, "The pain will be spread around."

I asked Mayor Giuliano what sort of service cuts the residents might expect to see when city employees took furloughs. Giuliano said he did not foresee any reduction in service, he said that the furlough days would be spread uniformly, and that the efficiency and dedication of the employees would ensure no reduction in service.

Union support
The union members in the audience loudly cheered the mayor several times during the press conference. After the press conference ended, Jeff Daniels (picture in blue shirt at right), president of AFSCME 466, told The Eye how his union approached the budget discussions, "I knew what we were up against. It's important for us to look out for the community, our job is to step up."

Daniels echoed the mayor's words in speaking frankly of his frustration with the Board of Education budget process. He wanted the Board of Education to be accountable to the taxpayer, "There's no control over the Board of Ed, that bothers me.... If they don't get what they want, they threaten to close schools."

Two other unions, the Middletown Federation of Teachers, Local 1381, and the Middletown Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 3161, have joined with the above four unions in forming the Middletown Coalition of Municipal Employee Unions. This coalition authored a letter and spreadsheet to the Mayor recommending a long list of cuts to the City and the Department of Education budget.

Their suggested changes in the Board of Ed budget include the return of surplus funding from this year, and cuts in 7 administrative positions (the "Business Manager", "Assistant Superintendent of Pupil Services" 4 "preK-12 Supervisors, and "Alternative Education Supervisor"). The letter from the coalition claims that these changes would allow the Board of Ed to avoid cutting 13 teachers in next year's budget.

Unions look to Common Council
Both Mayor Giuliano and the union leadership spoke about the role of the Democratically controlled Common Council in the budget process moving forward.

Derek Puorro, President of the Police Union, told The Eye that all of the union members were prepared to become heavily involved in the Common Council elections taking place later this year, "We pay attention to how Council votes. We let our family know, we let our friends know how things go." John Milardo, president of MMPA (pictured in green shirt at right), echoed those thoughts in a letter to his union members, "You better think hard and long when you go into the voting booth this coming year."