Government officials and public employees can work together to get through tough times

EDITOR:

It’s said that the Great Depression brought out the best and worst in people. So it is today as Ohio’s local governments grapple with the worst economic crises in modern memory.

Faced with budgets stretched to the breaking point, dozens of mayors, city managers and county officials are now slashing wages and laying-off workers at a pace that would make an auto executive blush. For example, in Dayton, the city manager demanded that workers immediately accept his wage cut demands or have their jobs outsourced. In Lawrence County, officials may lay off 30 Job and Family Services workers, leaving 37 people to handle a soaring workload that was once covered by 130 workers. And in Ashtabula, city officials are now using “volunteer” inmate labor in place of municipal employees.

While public officials routinely slap themselves on their backs for making the “tough choice” to cut jobs and wages, the reality is that their decisions will ultimately hurt the people they’re pledged to serve. After all, it’s public employees who process unemployment claims, food stamp applications, and help troubled Ohioans find the assistance they need simply to survive. What’s more, local government employees are also the men and women who pick up the trash and recycling, maintain our streets and waterworks, and provide every other service families and businesses depend on.

Am I saying public employees don’t have a role to play in helping government cut costs during hard times? Hardly. We recognize the need for shared sacrifice and we are going above and beyond the call of duty to keep our counties and cities afloat. For instance, Ashland County Job and Family Services employees voted overwhelmingly to reduce work week hours in order to avoid layoffs and ensure that residents in an area with 12.6 percent unemployment continue to receive the assistance they need. Similarly, Mahoning County workers agreed to take one day of unpaid furlough every two weeks to maintain staffing and services.

As a union, we’re always willing to sit down with employers to find needed budget cuts. That’s why our union has a team of economists to help local officials find savings that can help protect public services — and the workers who provide them. But to find solutions we must first decide to lower our voices, roll up our sleeves, and work together to help Ohioans make it through these times. The public we serve deserves no less.

JOHN A, LYALL

Mineral Ridge

X The writer is president of Ohio Council 8 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO. The union represents 50,000 Ohioans working in the public sector, health care, and other services.