Week of October 15, 2009
CUTS, TAKE TWO: He's working also to set that bar with current staff. After a failed bid this month to cut pay for employees who aren't covered by unions, Mr. Gimenez is to try again Tuesday. He's proposing cutting 15.5% for non-union employees earning more than $250,000, 10.5% for those making $150,000 to $250,000, and 8% for those making $100,000 to $150,000. Last time he tried 15%, 10% and 7.5% cuts, but commissioners killed it in an 8-4 vote with no discussion, customary for initial votes. To bring the measure back, he had to tweak it. Union workers' salaries rest on collective bargaining agreements — still unsettled at the county. Only 4,175 of the county's 33,456 employees are non-union. UNION CONTRACTS, TAKE THREE: County commissioners cut a purported $444 million to balance the fiscal 2010 budget — but nearly $200 million of those cuts aren't final because of unresolved union pacts. Three of the county's 10 unions were to come before the commission in September to resolve contracts but deferred to earlier this month, when they deferred again to a meeting set for Tuesday. The commission-approved $106 million in would-be wage cuts and tens of millions that would be saved by eliminating some benefits depends on settling the contracts. AUGUST ADDS: Domestic passenger arrivals at Miami International Airport increased 3.7% in August from August 2008. Passenger arrivals rose 1.6% despite a 0.3% drop in international arrivals. Of 1.54 million arrivals 792,000, or about 51.5%, were international. |
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