UNION ASKS MAYOR SCHEPER TO "STOP THE THREATS"

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As union contract negotiations continue between Covington City Hall and the city's public employees, one of the three unions representing workers in Covington has issued a lengthy press release asking for Mayor Chuck Scheper to "stop the threats". The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents Covington dispatchers and public improvement employees, sent the statement from its Louisville office. (See previously: Mayor Scheper warns of little other options other than layoffs) Among AFSME's grievances: 

• After spending millions of taxpayer dollars upgrading the dispatch center, Mayor Scheper is now proposing moving the dispatch center, effectively throwing taxpayer dollars down the drain and hanging dedicated city workers out to dry. 
•  AFSCME Council 62 executive director David Warrick called this a bad move. “To say to the taxpayers of Covington: ‘you paid for these upgrades, but we’re just going to move the dispatch center anyway’ is irresponsible, and to threaten the workers who make Covington run every day is the type of strong-arm tactics we’ve seen enough of from management in this city.” 

Read the entire press release below by clicking the link. 

In recent months the city of Covington management, in a bid to strong-arm city employees into accepting an unfair collective bargaining agreement, have repeatedly threated to lay off city workers who provide essential services to the tax payer. Covington recently upgraded its dispatch center, spending thousands of taxpayer dollars. Later, at a meeting with AFSCME, the designated bargaining agent for city employees, newly appointed Mayor Chuck Scheper proposed moving the dispatching services to another jurisdiction, claiming this move would save the city money. Scheper made this proposal in spite of recent taxpayer-funded upgrades to the dispatch center and in spite of Covington having one of the most well-trained, professional staffs of dispatchers in the Commonwealth. 

AFSCME Council 62 executive director David Warrick called this a bad move. “To say to the taxpayers of Covington: ‘you paid for these upgrades, but we’re just going to move the dispatch center anyway’ is irresponsible, and to threaten the workers who make Covington run every day is the type of strong-arm tactics we’ve seen enough of from management in this city.” 

AFSCME has proposed several ways to cut costs and generate the necessary revenue to stave off layoffs and other undesirable circumstances, including limiting layoffs to managerial classifications, many of whom make salaries far in excess of the average for cities of Covington’s size. AFSCME has also proposed salary cuts for managerial employees to bring their compensation down to levels that are more typical for similarly-sized cities in the region. 

“In tough economic times, everyone needs to sacrifice,” says AFSCME Local 237 president Steve Hedger. “And those sacrifices need to come not just from your average worker, but from city management as well. Management taking a 10% pay cut when they pull in a six-figure salary annually isn’t going to cut it.” 

The union has repeatedly made concessions to the city over the rising costs of health insurance among other items. Yet the city has persisted in attempting to strip from city employees every one of their hard-fought benefits. AFSCME has furthermore called on the city to cut red tape, increase efficiencies in day-to-day operations, and open up discussions with their employees to get input from the front lines about how to make the city run more efficiently and cost-effectively. 

Warrick says the union is standing with their members: “We have bargained and we will continue to bargain in good faith until an agreement is reached that is fair and equitable to all parties involved, including the workers who make this city run, and the taxpayers who pay for them to do so. It’s time for the city of Covington to end their brinksmanship, stop their threats, and come to the bargaining table in good faith, for the sake of the city ofCovington.” 

AFSCME then lists what it calls "the facts":

• The city manager makes a salary many times more than the average employee. Suggesting that management taking a 10% pay cut is a sufficient sacrifice is not true. Management must give up more of their perks if a fair arrangement is to be reached.
• The city has gone from providing their employees with some of the best health insurance imaginable to suddenly, overnight, telling their employees that they can longer include their spouse on their health insurance.
• Not only AFSCME members, but also the fire and police departments have sacrificed to help fix Covington’s budget problems.
• The city council approves the salaries and benefits of both union and non-union employees. If the citizens of Covington knew how much of the city’s budget is eaten up by management salaries, they would likely be outraged.
• After spending millions of taxpayer dollars upgrading the dispatch center, Mayor Scheper is now proposing moving the dispatch center, effectively throwing taxpayer dollars down the drain and hanging dedicated city workers out to dry.
• Covington citizens depend on the vital services city employees provide every day; outsourcing these jobs will hurt city services that the citizens of Covington know they can rely on when they need them.
• AFSCME calls on the citizens of Covington to ask the tough questions of their city leaders: 

1. If average employees are being called to sacrifice, why are you not paying your fair share? 
2. Why, after spending our tax dollars funding upgrades to the dispatch center, are you now proposing moving dispatch services out of Covington?
3. Why can an average citizen not easily find out what figures management and city leaders make? 
4. Is the mayor and his team willing to spend a month working the hours, working in the conditions, and earning the same pay as the average city employee?