A city official said Tuesday he was optimistic about current efforts to save Sacramento $5 million and 50 jobs through negotiations with the local firefighters’ union.

Gus Vina, a Sacramento assistant city manager, said the city is currently in talks with the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522.

The city government is trying to convince the firefighters’ union to give up pay increases scheduled for July.

Vina said the city and the firefighters’ union are engaged in “very productive” discussions.

If the firefighters’ union does not give up its pay increases, Vina said the city will need to lay off 50 department employees. The positions could come from any of the following types of firefighting jobs: firefighters, captains or the operators who drive the fire trucks.

But if the union makes concessions, Vina said, the city will save $5 million and won’t need to make the cuts.

Meanwhile, Chris Harvey, spokesman for the firefighters’ union, said the union disagrees with the city’s assessment that it will need to lay off 50 firefighters. Harvey called the figure of 50 layoffs “arbitrary.” He said that if 10 people from the department retire, the city wouldn’t have to lay off 50 people.

In addition to the discussion of whether the firefighters will give up scheduled pay increases, Harvey said the union is also discussing other issues with the city.

It does not necessarily mean that if Vina is happy, then the “union is prepared to give back the raises,” Harvey said.

But Harvey also said the union is happy that the attitude from both parties in the negotiations has been positive.

The city and Local 522 have not always had the best relationship, Harvey noted. If nothing else, the tone of the current negotiations is much better than past negotiations, he said.

Sacramento’s deficit is about $50 million. The city will release its proposed 2009/2010 budget Friday. It must approve a final budget by June 30.

Vina estimated that the city still needs to cut about 300 positions in city government in order to address its budget problems.

He said he hopes to complete negotiations with all city unions by the end of May.

If management convinces all eight of the city’s labor unions to make concessions, the city may only need to cut 150 positions, Vina said.
He pointed out that the city currently has a volunteer separation program in which employees accept buyouts.

The employee buyouts are part of the city’s strategy to further reduce the number of layoffs it may make, according to Vina.

So, Vina said, the number may be even lower than 150.

The city is asking the non-emergency services unions to give up pay increases, as well as for employees to take one furlough day per month, according to Vina.

City Manager Ray Kerridge wrote in an April 3 letter to employees that layoff notifications will take place in early June.

Joan Bryant, director of public employees for the Stationary Engineers, which includes a local union chapter for Sacramento workers, said the union has been talking with city management about the magnitude of the city’s budget deficit and management’s expectations for workers.

She said the union needs to gather more information to make sure it will act in the best interests of its members and the city.

Asked if the union’s members might be willing to give up pay increases and start a once-per-month furlough, Bryant said the union will look at all of those options.

She said the union was waiting to receive information from the city. Once the union gets the information it needs, it will have a better idea of what it will decide, she added.

At this point, one union has made concessions to the city. The police department’s union, the Sacramento Police Officers Association, chose to give up its July salary increases, Vina said. As a result, the city will not cut police officers, he noted.