Twp. officials, union head clash over financial woes
Voluntary pay cuts, furloughs could save jobs, mayor says
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
If all Brick employees and officials voluntarily took a 10 percent pay cut, the 53 jobs on the layoff list now in the hands of state Department of Personnel officials might be saved, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said.

"If everybody is willing to give up 10 percent of their pay … I bet we are pretty close to the 50 people," Acropolis said at the Township Council meeting Oct. 28.

The mayor made the remarks, after sparring with Transport Workers Union Local 225 President Christopher Mickkelson during the public portion of the meeting, over how to plug a nearly $4 million hole in next year's municipal budget.

Acropolis asked Mickkelson how much he makes as union president.

"Thirteen thousand dollars a year," Mickkelson replied. "With no benefits. My pay has nothing to do with Brick Township."

"Are we really serious about saving jobs?" Acropolis asked. "Let's put our money where our mouth is. Let's all take a 10 percent pay cut. Is it better to lose part of your salary or all of your salary? I don't have the option of raising taxes to pay for this."

When Mickkelson first came to the microphone, he said township officials had unfairly targeted the public works department with the proposed layoffs.

"It's totally unfair; the TWU is being targeted here," he said. "All of the departments in the township are not being targeted. I didn't see administrators in the layoff list. Let's open it up, so the junior people go first. You don't hire people here at the township [administrative positions] and then a year later announce layoffs and say you are going to keep them. That ain't fair."

Acropolis said two people in the mayor's office were on the layoff list.

"We're going to look at the parks and recreation department," the mayor said. "I don't believe that's what we should be doing. The plan may be adjusted for the future. Right now, it's with the Department of Personnel. Nothing can happen without their approval."

Mickkelson also questioned a proposal to eliminate the township building department.

"I asked a simple question about the building department," he said. "They are still making a lot of money in permits."

"They are also costing money right now," council President Ruthanne Scaturro said. "This is a time of compromise. No one can live the way they lived before in this economy. I'm willing to make sacrifices. I don't hear [that] the people of your group are willing to make sacrifices. You can save yourselves. I guess you are not willing to do that. Somebody has to be first, sir."

The TWU represents roughly 225 township employees. Their contract expired Dec. 31, 2007. The union and the township reached an impasse after 12 negotiation sessions.

Union members have balked at having to pay anything toward the cost of their health care premiums. Brick employees currently pay nothing toward the cost of premiums with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the township's health insurance carrier. The township's health care premium costs rose $1.3 million this year and the township absorbed the cost, Business Administrator Scott M. Pezarras has said.

Department heads and unclassified employees will begin contributing 1 percent of their salaries for health care costs starting in January. Township officials want the TWU and other unions to do the same.

Acropolis invited union members and police department representatives to go with him to Trenton to ask legislators to put police department operations outside of the cap.

"If people don't want to go, I'm going on my own," he said. "You cannot have public safety inside the cap."

Mickkelson said the union members "didn'twant to be first" to agree to any givebacks.

"Nothing like this was presented to us in the negotiation process," he said. "The possibility of 53 layoffs — that was never even hinted at."

"You're cutting off your nose to spite your face," Scaturro said. "We can't do anything right now as a township. I think it could have been saved somewhere before it got to this point."

TWU International Vice President Susan Resch suggested the administration send individual letters to employees who are eligible to retire or who could take work furloughs, much like in 1992, the last time the township had layoffs.

Furloughs would be an "individual choice," she said.

"Somebody out there making $40,000 a year might not be able to," she said.

Resch said she and union members would be glad to go to Trenton with Acropolis.

"Steve, you want to take one of our senior buses to Trenton, we'll be on the bus with you," she said.

In a related matter, Councilwoman Kathy Russell suggested a possible four-day workweek, with longer hours each day, to cut back on energy costs in town hall.

But Councilman Daniel Toth said there were obstacles to a four-day week.

"We can't shut down the building, because we have a 24-hour police department," he said. "It's not feasible to do the entire building because we are all housed under the same roof."

Councilman Anthony Matthews said longer workdays could lead to a decrease

in productivity.

"Productivity at a certain point in the day begins to suffer," he said. "We want to be careful services don't get hurt. That could create problems."

The state-mandated cap that went into effect earlier this year limits the amount that municipalities can raise through taxation. Municipalities this year were allowed to keep pension costs and other expenses outside of the cap. But most of the exceptions will disappear in 2009, the mayor has said.

"The world is different today," Acropolis said at the meeting. "The world as we knew it before January 1 of this year is over. My offer is on the table."