Thursday, February 12, 2009

180 job cuts for police and firefighters

The news out of Brockton today is grim. The local mayor James Harrington says the city is facing a $28 million budget short fall. To make up for the shortfall this city is considering laying off 180 policemen and firefighters.

Brockton police chief William Conlon explains:

"I would have to strip a number of divisions right down to bare bones -- detective division would probably just have a few detectives. We'd take officers out of the schools. We'd take officers away from traffic patrol..."

The alternative is for the city union to offer wage and benefit concessions. This is a tricky situation for unions - do they offer concessions that will hurt them in the long run in order to prevent short term acute pain?

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