Council Grants Some LA City Employees Reprieve

As per the LA Weekly, the Los Angeles City Council agreed yesterday to postpone a vote that could result in more than 1,600 layoffs of city employees.  The cuts were part of the council’s latest budget proposal.  The council did agree, however, to cut over 700 jobs in order to eliminate close to $600 million from the current deficit.

Last Tuesday, L.A.’s City Counsel Finance and Budget committee presented a budget recommending the elimination of 1,761 jobs, 1000 more jobs than the 761 positions slated by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his proposed annual budget.  The cuts agreed to yesterday appear to reflect those originally proposed by the mayor.

The council, according to the LA Weekly post, granted the reprieve to allow unions a chance to consider options for avoiding the layoffs, such as wage and retirement concessions.  Union leaders have until October 1 to return with a plan.