Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, struggling to close an estimated $325 million budget hole, has engaged in an open war of words with the city's public employee unions.At a press conference Thursday, the mayor said resistance from the American Federation of State, Council and Municipal Employees to renegotiated contracts was costing the city $500,000 per month.
"Either they can't read or they can't add or they can't comprehend -- it has to be one of the three," Bing said.
The union shot back, in a press release, claiming Bing was attempting to establish "autocratic rule" over the city and added: "Apparently, Mayor Bing can't or won't read the law, or he can't comprehend the law and his duties. Either way, he is a disgrace to the City of Detroit, and owes an apology to the hardworking families he has insulted while venting his spleen."
What's causing this fuss? The mayor is seeking a 10% pay cut by requiring the estimated 3,600 workers to take 26 furlough days and lose some fringe benefits.
Here's the funny part. The unions aren't upset about the pay cuts, according to the Detroit News:
Union officials say they understand the city's precarious finances and are willing to commit to the furlough days. But they say the city hasn't made a case for many of the fringe benefit changes they want, including changes to vacation, sick time and health care.And what exactly are those fringe benefits? They include suspending tuition reimbursement until 2012, eliminating bonus vacation days for not calling in sick, no longer letting employees add adult dependents (parents or adult children) to their health care plans and dropping coverage for fertility or impotency drugs such as Viagra. The final item alone reportedly costs the city $1.6 million a year.
AFSCME has resisted the cuts by calling for "fact-finding" missions first, a right that Bing concedes he has to abide by. The process is expected to drag on until at least July, by which time Detroit could be $2.5 million deeper in the hole.