Litigation vs. Negotiation
The City of North Las Vegas has been forced to make a very hard decision but one that is necessary. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal they have had no cooperation from unions in establishing negotiations for reasonable concessions to the unions generous contracts.
The same union contracts that were negotiated before the housing market crash have been in affect ever since. However, the City of North Las Vegas saw its budget cut nearly in half and that has meant less spending on public services, but not the unions in fact just the opposite. The Teamsters voted Thursday to reject concessions, which means roughly 60 jail employees will be laid off. The effects of this layoff seem to have hit the city prematurely as nearly 70 jail inmates were released during the “sick-out.”
Now it seems that the generously negotiated union contracts are worth enough that unions are choosing litigation rather than negotiating. The fire and police unions said court papers will be filed to stop the city manager from doing anything at all.
The decision was easy for the unions, however, because they know that the state Department of Taxation is already monitoring the situation and could step in and impose its own rules.
“Besides, said Yarter, the police officers union president, the city probably would be better off if the state took over, anyway.”
State law would allow the department to raise some taxes. This action will cost more for the city’s tax payers and the unions will remain as they currently are, better off.
Real Recessions Require Real Concessions
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