Hopes Dim for Borough Workers Facing Layoffs

As the May 17 deadline for the Borough's unions to make concessions and avoid layoffs approaches, it's becoming clear that averting at least some job losses will be difficult, according to elected officials and union leaders.

Patrick Guaschino, vice president of Teamsters Local 97, has been trying to find about $150,000 in savings for the Borough, in order to avoid layoffs for eight of the workers he represents. And while about his prospects of saving their jobs just over two weeks ago, he's no longer as hopeful.

"I don't know how to find that money off of these guy's backs," he said. "It's virtually impossible."

Guaschino originally planned to offer Borough workers the Teamsters dental and prescription plans, which he said could save the Borough $91,000 and $65,000 on their current plans, respectively, enough to save his workers. But the Borough's contract with its current dental provider goes until the end of this year, and the prescription contract ends in August, so there wouldn't be any immediate savings for the 2011 budget.

Councilman Alan Brundage, chair of the budget committee, has set a goal of keeping this year's tax increase as close to flat as possible. As a result, the governing body has explored various cost-cutting measures, including the possible layoffs of 16 Borough employees.

Brundage said he'll only accept permanent cuts in exchange for the workers' jobs, ruling out furlough days, a measure workers told Guaschino they couldn't afford anyway. Though Guaschino and other union leaders haven't proposed anything concrete to Brundage, the councilman said the layoff picture was better than it was a month ago.

"I feel optimistic that we're going to get to the flat tax rate and we're not going to lay off as many people as initially thought," Brundage said.

Guaschino is meeting with other unions leaders and associations representing Borough workers Thursday, hoping to come up with solutions. He noted that the Borough's contract with its Teamsters workers is open, and that he would be willing to negotiate a salary freeze to save the jobs.

But Guaschino admitted he wasn't optimistic about coming up with a viable solution by Tuesday's Mayor and Council work session.

"These guys have families," he said. "They have children that depend on the health benefits. I don't want to see anybody lose their jobs."