Clifton layoffs loom

Friday, March 6, 2009
Last updated: Friday March 6, 2009, 6:35 AM

BY JAMES YOO

CLIFTON – Dozens of municipal employees will lose their jobs today barring a last-minute settlement between their unions and the city.

Some positions have been salvaged by the city through a mix of funds. More could be saved pending concessions from the unions and by securing other funds.

If the layoffs do occur, residents could experience longer wait times at departments because of the loss of support staff, and a firehouse on Dumont Avenue would be closed.

City workers, meanwhile, would face an uncertain future as they contemplate how to support their families and pay mortgages. As of Thursday, the city planned to lay off more than 50 employees.

“It’s really just hit me now,” said Jason McGurk, a city firefighter who was slated to lose his job before four retirements this week, and possibly lose the house he bought last year. “I was hoping for something to happen with the town to our offer and we wouldn’t lose our jobs.”

This week, the City Council rejected an offer from the firefighters that would have saved $600,000.

Today is the last day for the city |and employees unions to strike a deal to stave off layoffs. Under state law, the city must give 75 days’ notice to civil service workers before a layoff.

The negotiations went on into Thursday night. Meanwhile, the negotiating committee for the firefighters union planned to meet today to discuss possibly submitting a new offer to the city, said Robert De Luca, the union president.

The city administration has asked unions representing most municipal employees to take no raises this |year, which would have saved $4 million.

As of Wednesday, city expenses were about $8 million over the 2008 municipal tax levy, said Al Greco, the city manager.

Costs of insurance, major medical coverage, pension and contractual salary increases all have risen, said Mayor James Anzaldi.

The city started the layoff process in December, calling for eliminating 47 full-time, 13 part-time and 25 unfilled positions.

Over the past weeks, the city has negotiated with employee unions to reach some agreement to cut costs. The city rejected an offer from the Clifton Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association that would have cut costs by $600,000. Council members had said they could not agree to a contract extension and a guarantee of no further layoffs – two items the union wanted in exchange for the salary concessions.

The city found funding to preserve several jobs using money from a mix of federal funds, sponsorships, seasonal budgets, and funds made available when workers retired, Greco said.

Anzaldi, the mayor, said retirements and promotions in the Fire Department would save four jobs. But how that would affect the 17 members who would have been laid off will be determined by civil service rules, he added.

If layoffs go forward, it could inconvenience residents but not lead to a loss of services, Greco said.

For example, the loss of secretaries in the tax assessor, tax collection and city clerk’s offices may mean residents would have to wait longer for help.

The city also will make two moves it had planned to do anyway: convert a nighttime weekend sewer crew to an emergency response team and stop cleaning pipes that connect residents’ homes to main sewer lines, Greco said.

But the loss of firefighters worries Billy Lauritano, a 37-year-old Clifton native and city fireman for 2½ years, because it could affect response times. Lauritano is one of 17 members of the Fire Department who were originally slated to lose their jobs in the layoff plan.

“I’m upset for me, but I’m upset for the citizens,” he said, expressing concerns that aid to his mother, who lives in the city, could take longer with fewer firemen. City firefighters also operate ambulances as EMTs.