City-Parish Workers Hold Pay Raise Rally
by GREG GARLAND - Advocate (excerpt)

About 45 city-parish workers and their families rallied outside the governmental building Tuesday to kick off negotiations for a new three-year contract. The workers are seeking pay raises and other contract changes to help bring them up to a “living wage” and improve their working conditions, said Helene O’Brien, president of Service Employees International Union Local 21.

She conceded that negotiating a pay raise for workers will be tough given the severe fiscal problems the city-parish faces as it prepares a budget for 2011. Sales tax collections through May were only $63.6 million — $4.3 million behind what was anticipated for the first five months of 2010, according to finance department figures.

Scott Dyer, an aide to Mayor-President Kip Holden, said the administration had no comment on the union’s rally or the prospects of an employee pay raise. Mayor Pro Tem Mike Walker said the city-parish is “facing extremely difficult budgetary times” as revenues decline and retirement benefits and other costs skyrocket. He said pay raises “may be out of the question” this year other than step increases some employees are eligible to receive. “We’re trying to keep everybody employed and the budget balanced,” Walker said. “Our goal is to try to not lay anybody off.”

COMMENTARY: These folks must be smoking crack!!!