Menino: City may lay off 700 workers

Will the parks department stay in tact? Geeze, I see them driving around all day. Why aren't they on the chopping block????

I have an Idea, How about WELFARE reform. To include a Fraud Hotline Where if a call leads to a finding of fraud the caller gets $$$. The system is fraught with waste and fraud. And Working individuals are losing their jobs while these lie abouts get paid for doing nothing. NO $$$ for Criminaliens just a ticket home. We cannot afford to help these people anymore.

Why cant the Mayor make the police dept use flaggers and save the city over 30 million per year? We are the only state not doing this?

Menino is as stupid as he sounds... but SLASHING 700 jobs shows that he has some commonsense. The GREEDY union pukes will be going down in this economy.

With UNEMPLOYMENT hovering around 8%, may I suggest that the City of Boston and the State of Mass cut 8% of current full-time employees from their payrolls - selected at RANDOM (to avoid cronyism). Every City and State employee participates: NO exceptions!

Don't worry, he's bluffing.

As Homer Simpson would say DO"OH!!!!! Stupid unions!! LOL

This is such a joke! Why are the people of the Commonwealth being punished with cuts in essential services? We the people need police, fire, and the teaching staffing levels to remain the same. We deal with these essential services everyday. How about cuts in non-essential services? And I know where we can start: before a single police officer, fireman, or teacher loses his or her job, lets lay off the Mayor and not staff the position. Does the position of Mayor do anything for us? No! Does he arrest criminals - NO! Does he put out fires - NO! Does he teach our kids how to read - NO! I truly believe there needs to be a constitutional amendment that requires the first round of budget cuts in any level of government to be limited to non-essential positions and services.

why does he think we are all stupid? He does this everytime the financial pressure is on..we need to lay off ploice, fire and teachers. obviously this means public safety is NOT his priority. What about the 24/7 police protection for his little house (regardless if they are there or not) Eliminating that would save THOUSANDS!! yers folks, that is 24 hours a day, 7 dyas a week, 52 weeks a year and that idiot ahs been there how many yeasr?? Yes, get rid of that and saev jobs Mumbles.
What about over staffed depts, ofh right...the pressure is on for a political campaign..Saev those hat will work politicaly for you jerk. Lay off lower level people that need jobs. ANd to say he can't sleep at night - come on, he could care less..

what about the mayors daughter in law's $108,000 secratarial position?

Many of us in the private sector have been dealing with wage freezes and cuts in benefits for over a year now. No reason the unions shouldn't be subject to the same suffering

Hang tough, Mr Mayor. If only the state government would show some spine and do the same thing...

At least there are some good results from Obama and his pals making the banks give mortgages to illegal aliens and deadbeats.

Parks dept. and police rather than flaggers are state, not city issues. Menino isn't governor, he's Boston's mayor. Stop confusing the two.

Unions are being very short sighted and stubborn. Most people when asked if they'd rather have a pay freeze or have hundreds laid off, they'd say "pay freeze". These unions want their pay increases more than their jobs? I don't get that. This year I had a pay freeze, which I am not thrilled about, but it beats having no job or having to take a job at a much lower rate of pay. City workers should wake up and read a paper. Watch a news broadcast. A one year freeze won't kill you.

The Fire Department is still wating for a raise x 3 years. Stop sending empty school buses around the city and let kids go to their local schools especially those whose parents have been forced to live in the city to keep their jobs. Plenty of other places to cut costs. Menino insists on making the most dramatic ones.

Do it! Oh, God, please do it! Best job cut news all year.

$131 Million divided by 700 workers is $187,142 per year in salary. Who in the world are these people, what do they do, and why are they organized by a union meant to protect "workers" from the "robber barons" and evil industrialists (who in this case are the city taxpayers).

How about all of Menino's friends who have do-nothing jobs in city hall and earn top dollar? I don't see them on the chopping block.

My wife was one of the teachers hit by this layoff. Despite the fact that she has her masters and is currently in a PHD program she is being bumped by a permanent teacher who very well might be less qualified. Her principal could not make her permanent because Carol Johnson rejected it twice. Thus, teachers who are more qualified are being laid off just because someone was made permanent earlier. It really sickens me. How about this? How about salary reduction for all city workers so that everyone can have a job. I like to see Carol Johnson fired!

Gee whiz, how about saving $200M-plus by ending busing in Boston? It now serves absolutely no purpose what-so-ever.

don't worry it's just bluffing, like california , at the end just raise more tax

That's a nice start...now add a zero.

As a State and employee and member of a Union, I take offense to some of these comments. Are there some lazy government employees who read the paper/take long lunches/come in late and leave early--yes, but at the same time there are hard working individuals who work in say payroll, IT, Human Resources, Customer Service, and other departments who do not deserve to have our jobs cuts at random (and thankfully, as a vested Union employee, I know this is not going to happen).
Some of you sound jealous that some of us have the jobs you would do anything to have--it's good work if you can find it.

As a part of a union, I see why we need them. However, there always needs to be room for negotiation. As long as the pay freeze is clearly outlined for just a year's time, I see nothing wrong with that. It's much better than anyone losing their jobs. Yet this needs to be something that is considered to be special circumstances. If contracts can't be honored, that opens the door to contracts being invaild and useless.
Besides welfare fraud though, there's so much waste in all government jobs on both the city and state level. Not to mention, the corruption, hello, Wilkerson? Barry? I don't want to see less firefighters or police but they're some of the biggest abusers.

why can't the Stupid unions just accept the wage freeze in order to save others their jobs. Greedy greedy and discusting.

JH Hill,

So what if all of the City's network engineers numbers come up? Will you turn off the cities computers? I think we need to be smarter about cuts then simply picking employees randomly.

In response to Hippotoddomus: I think it's important to clarify that "welfare" has nothing to do with our city budget. It comes Federal and State dollars, and most recipients are actually children. Also, unless you can proove you have a disability, recipients are required to perform job search, related education, or volunteering close to 30 hours per week. Your frustration with waste is understandable. However, let's not scapegoat the people at the bottom of the economic ladder.

I think he needs to follow through with the numbers of layoffs, it makes sense. My question is with the layoffs in law enforcement will this lead to more over time pay? Seems to me that if that is the case then the lay offs in law enforment will make less of a financial difference. I also believe that parents should have to pay something to educate their kids; there should be a yearly charge per student. Even if it's $100 per year per student it's something.

It's not like city employees actually do any work to begin with; I say save the money and trim some fat. Make these lazy slobs go out and find a real job where you are actually accountable for the work you do (or in the case of city workers don't do) after you're hired.

I doubt he's bluffing...look at whats happening in the private sector...it's also the perfect opportunity to avoid blame by putting it on the unions...

Why are raises an issue anyway? No one in the public sector expects them in this economy...most are just lucky to still have a job...

TMM ------------ TOO MANY MUMBLES!!!

A pay cut would work, but unions that call themselves "brotherhoods", suddenly form into "every man for himself" when jobs are on the line.

As usual,police fire and teachers go first,while the layabouts get their checks, and we still have "cultural centers". Oh yeah and a rascist bussing system that takes inner city kids all over eastern mass to go to school.....how much does that cost?

Still waiting for the daughter-in-law to get her pink slip

JH. Hill. What is the logic behind cutting 8% of city/ state workers at random with the unemployment rate already over 8.1% and climing? The idea is to decrease the unemployment number idiot. But don't worry . . . Obama will save us all!!! So much for hope and change. Well change is here and it is getting worse. Great job!

Excluding the EMTs, the unions are far too selfish to take a one-year wage freeze and would rather see the newer hires desperate and on the street than compromise and think of what is best for the city.

It's just another example of WHY lving and doing business in Boston is so expensive.

Besides lay-offs, the Mayor and his staff need to push harder on creating efficiencies in City government. There are plenty of sacred cows that should not be so sacred anymore. This is a new day, and we need to be more realistic. Time to clear out dead weight, eliminate programs with no return on dollars spent, control in the union increases and out of line demands, stipends, and hidden differentials in their contracts. Times are different and our City government needs to manage to the changed times.

I wonder how many of those 700 voted for Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soweto/whoever this liar, Marxist, coward, thief is?
How your vote working out for you now, Sheeple?
Hope & Change, Comrades!
Seig Heil, Obama!

I think the Mayor or Idiot, whatever you want to call him should get rid of busing.If so, it will free up $70 million. Here is an idea. You can send you kid(s) to any Boston Public School for free and the city of Boston will pay for it. Just one thing. You the parents have to get your kid(s) to school by any means possible. CAR, BUS, TRAIN. Lets put that on the mayor (idiot) and free up alot of money and save these 700 jobs. It Is time for a change. out with the old, in with the new. come November Elections, VOTE MENINO OUT OF OFFICE

The City's unions are a problem. A good union will fight for safer working conditions, against patronage, and against management abuse. A bad union will fight for wages and job safety through tenure, not performance.

He wants wage freezes....but just recently he has no problem dishing out pay increases to his top department heads such as the fire and police commissioners? Is that a logical decision??? The department heads really need those 4% pay increases!

I am currently a Boston teacher and to let you know...they have already laid us off! Most of the provisional teachers in the city were told we don't have jobs next year. Why would unions agree to this freeze when people are still losing jobs. It isn't helping, it is just a fake solution. Maybe Menino could use some of these rainy day funds and help us out instead of ruining the futures of these children.

"As long as the pay freeze is clearly outlined for just a year's time, I see nothing wrong with that."

The pay freeze has no outline, that's the real issue and why we're holding out. We cannot get any guarantee that it will end after a year if at all. And we've been told that there will be layoffs anyway even if we do take the the pay freeze. The teachers were the first to question this and that's why they're getting the first and largest cut, because they had the gall to stand up for themselves. Menino is nothing more than a lying bully.

Perhaps the unions would agree to the salary freeze IF the mayor would give them the information on the jobs to be aved that they have asked for. Furthermore is threatening considered negotiation in good faith.

democraddict - you are typical union person. Nice of you to accept a pay freeze but for only one year. Also interesting that you think your union is necessary. I guess you don't have the talent or work ethic to make it without a safety net? By the way, hiding behind the contract thing is fine, but that means you'll be saying bye bye to lots of your union brothers and sisters. Laying you off is allowed per the contract so let's focus on that piece.

I'll believe this layoff when I see it. It appears that the only place there is no recession is in the halls of government. State government is still hiring. The Feds- under Obama- are talking about adding 250,000 new hires.

I'd be happy if they cut all government administration by 50% and all other jobs by 8%. We don't need all the teachers, cops or firemen we have now. How many times in your life have you had to call a cop or fireman and why can't you have 35 kids per class? If your business were run like the government, you''d have layers and layers of every job.

We have to stop being so damn conservative about having 5 layers of everything. People have to stop falling for the scare tactics.

Anyone got stats? If BFD, BPD, City Hall, etc are so underpaid and so overworked and such risky jobs, HOW MANY OF ABOVE EVER QUIT! I would bet close to zero, why? Because they've got it GOOD, REAL GOOD and the union protection means there is little the city can do about it besides layoffs.
So do what you can, lay them off, create chaos, and then sort it out.

If you could assess the teachers and cut the worst 100 I think all the schools would be better off. Oh yea, cant perform merit based assessments because....THE UNIONS... duh

UNIONS SUCK!!! All they do is cost the city more money!!! Gotta love that the Unions won't take a freeze(not a pay cut mind you) on salaries so 700 people will lose their jobs. My first cut, Union chiefs. Funny how private companies function just fine without Unions. As for work sites using flaggers instead of police officers, we wouldn't want our police officers to make less than 100K/year with OT now would we....(sarcasm there in case you didn't catch it)
Here's an idea, anyone in a union loses their job. Then we can fill positions with people willing to work hard for their money and save the city money at the same time.

700 good start don't stop there eradicate wasteful employees or should we say useless employees. Good Ridennce

35 kids in a classroom could be a possibility but not until we stop treating our schools like the cheapest form of daycare available. All too often our teachers are abused by both students and their parents. Let's make education in this country a top priority again and then we can discuss 35 in a classroom. Let's do away with the busses that are mostly empty and are burning up fuel and put all the kids back on the T where they can terrorize the private sector workers. The unions have asked for monetary figures from the mayor which is not an unfair request. The BTU has offered to loan the city money in order to avoid layoffs....has the mayor discussed this at all???