HAYWARD — Some city union workers have agreed to take up to 55 hours of unpaid furloughs in the latest move by Hayward to cut spending.
Hayward is facing a possible $9.6 million drop in revenue over fiscal year 2020-2021 because of the shelter in place, Finance Director Dustin Claussen told the council during a budget workshop Tuesday.
Management workers represented by the Hayward Association of Management Employees also agreed to take up to 80 hours of unpaid furlough time in the next fiscal year. The union workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
The combined furloughs will save the city $691,448 in wages and benefits over the next year.
Because revenue declines are expected to continue in the upcoming fiscal year, City Manager Kelly McAdoo sent two formal proposals to each city employee bargaining units asking that all workers agree to 80 hours of furloughs or forgo a scheduled July 1 pay raise. SEIU accepted 55 hours of unpaid furlough.
It is expected that the delay of cost of living pay increases, with McAdoo, firefighters and fire department managers, will save a combined $487,215 in fiscal year 2021. The mayor and council members also voted to cut their own pay and expense budgets this fiscal year to save an additional $11,800.
On May 26, the council approved changes in compensation agreements, including with police department captains, including forgoing cost of living raises, for a savings of $273,000 for fiscal year 2021.
On Tuesday, Alicia Lawrence of the Hayward Collective, an activist organization that has campaigned around tenants’ rights and other issues, told the council it should look at money allocated to the police and whether that should be spent on other programs. Her call came amid the massive civic unrest that has followed the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
“We are a better, stronger and more resilient as a community when we invest in the mental, emotional and physical health of each other as opposed to police each other,” Lawrence said.