Mayor slashes ALL city employees down to minimum wage

[2011GT]

"Doherty has maintained for months that if the City Council had not refused his 2012 budget proposal, which included a 29 percent tax hike, the city would not be in a dire situation."

Seems logical... LMAO

[slow99]

Most shocking part of the story: you can afford to have a stay at home wife and two kids on $1950 a month in Scranton, PA.

[The King]

If they are under contract for certain pay rates they are obligated to get paid those rates. The Mayor broke the law here. I'm not for or against unions but this is clearly not right.

True, and I should have said public employee unions rather than unions in general.

[2011GT]

Unions are the debbil

If they are under contract for certain pay rates they are obligated to get paid those rates. The Mayor broke the law here. I'm not for or against unions but this is clearly not right.

[347Mike]

"If they listened to me and raised taxes."

Yeah, that's it. Need more money, so we can spend more. Sure let's tax people more without looking at our own practices or fixing potential issues. Oh, don't listen, let me cut everyone's pay....

Business runs out of money, it goes under and everyone loses their job.

Government entity runs out of money, people sue it to get money.

I'm kind of curious how they expect to collect when the city is already insolvent. Oh, that's right, it will just appear like magic, and they'll be even further in debt.

[2011GT]

Minimum wage for cops and firefighters? Guess it's going to be like Mexico over there, bribing cops to get out of tickets. For minimum wage I wouldn't give a shit anymore.

[The King]

Unions are the debbil

[Moose242]

Business runs out of money, it goes under and everyone loses their job.

Government entity runs out of money, people sue it to get money.

[Mike]

Aggressive!

[FreightTrain]

So did the mayor cut his own pay.

[Sean88gt]

Good thing the employees of Dunder-Mifflin are there to boost the economy.

I do think this is kind of wrong, but it isn't stopping me from laughing a little. And frankly, it does seem logical. I'm sure it is nothing more than some political bullshit, but it certainly got everyones attention.

Cash-strapped Scranton, Pa., has slashed pay for all city employees—including police and firefighters—to minimum wage, sparking furor among unions that now say they plan to sue in federal court.

A lawyer representing three unions told Scranton's Times-Tribune he will file several motions, including one to hold Mayor Chris Doherty in contempt of court for violating a judge's order to pay full wages.

The lawyer, Thomas Jennings, said he also expects to file a pair federal lawsuits on behalf of the unions—International Association of Firefighters Local 60, the Fraternal Order of Police E.B. Jermyn Lodge 2 and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 2305—alleging the city failed to pay proper wages and overtime, and cut benefits for disabled police and firefighters without a proper hearing.

"Pick a law," Jennings told the Times-Tribune. "They violated it."

Last week, Doherty abruptly cut pay for all 398 city employees to $7.25 per hour, saying it was the only way to keep Scranton solvent.

According to the paper, Scranton—which faces a $16.8 million budget deficit—had $133,000 in cash on hand as of Monday, but owed $3.4 million in various vendor bills, including health insurance.

Roger Leonard, a city employee, told NPR he typically gets a $900 check for two weeks of work. On Friday, it was $340.

"I have two children and a wife, and my wife is a stay-at-home mom," Leonard told NPR. "If the savings gets drained, we won't be OK."

The mayor, meanwhile, blamed the City Council for Scranton's financial woes.

"If they'd gone with my budget, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Doherty said. "The taxes would have been raised. The bills all would have been paid because we would have had a dedicated revenue stream."