Cohen asked for the givebacks to cut the number of layoffs the city may have to make to balance the budget.
Richard CohenAGAWAM - So far, Mayor Richard A. Cohen has found no takers for his suggestion that unionized city employees give back 1 percent cost of living raises to help him balance the fiscal 2012 budget.
Of the city’s 13 collective bargaining units, two have rejected the idea. They are the Agawam Education Association, which represents teachers, and the union for School Department clerical workers.
Robert Janik, president of the teachers union, who had already ripped the mayor’s proposal last week when the mayor put it forth, said teachers have rejected the proposal. Cohen had said he would take a 1 percent pay cut if unionized workers agreed to give up their 1 percent raises negotiated for the financial year that starts July 1.
“People really do feel that they have given enough,” Janik said, alluding to the fact that teachers did not get any cost-of-living raises this year.
Of the approximately 400-member teachers union, Janik said about 200 responded to his email outlining the proposal and his views. Of those, only three were willing to give up their raises, according to Janik.
“The town still has lots of money and they haven’t done any cost-cutting that we can see,” Janik said, adding that it has funds in free cash and stabilization accounts. “If they had no money, of course the teachers would pitch in.”
The city currently has $4,882,516 in free cash and $3,683,271 in its stabilization fund. Cohen has said he has set aside $1.5 million to apply to the fiscal 2012 budget.
The mayor has argued that it is unwise to take much more money out of those accounts because the money will be needed to shore up budgets in coming years.
Cohen has asked for the givebacks to cut the number of layoffs the city may have to make to balance the budget. The School Department is eyeing reducing its ranks by 13 full-time equivalent positions.
Cohen, who is still working on the budget for the municipal sector, declined to comment on the issue of layoffs.
“I’m going to just continue to put together a budget and continue to maintain the services we are able to,” Cohen said.
Meanwhile, Town Clerk Richard Theroux, who offered at a recent School Committee meeting to take a 1 percent cut, said the cuts should be borne by all employees to be effective.
Theroux, who leads the 37-member Agawam Administrative Union, said he is unsure of how those employees feel about the proposal.
“Us going it alone is not going to make much difference,” Theroux said.
No one in the clerical workers union could be reached for comment.