Don't Balance the Budget on the Backs of City Workers!

Durham, NC – Fifty city workers and their supporters gathered outside City Hall here, May 18, to protest a decision by the city council to lay off 35 workers and eliminate 113 more positions that are currently unfilled. The result will put a huge strain on the backs of workers who are already understaffed, underpaid and over worked. The job losses will also lead to a deterioration in critical services that these workers provide to the public.

The economic crisis has hit Durham hard, with the city projecting a $24-40 million budget shortfall for the coming year due to lower revenues from sales tax and fewer development permits. This is the excuse that City Manager Tom Bonfield is using to lay off workers and eliminate jobs.

However, organizers with UE 150, the North Carolina Public Service Workers union, point out that the city could spend just 3% of its rainy day fund, worth $10 million, and not have to lay anyone off.

“We are not going to sit by and let this happen,” said Nathanette Mayo, secretary for UE 150’s Durham chapter, and an organizer of the protest. “These are hard times. If workers have to take out from our savings, if we have to use credit cards to get by from month to month, if we have to get our checks cashed in advance – if we have to do that to survive, to use our ‘rainy day fund,’ then they need to go into theirs too.”

UE 150 is organizing public service workers to fight back and wage a “State of Emergency” campaign to protect workers’ jobs. The union notes, “The root of the budget problem faced by municipalities and the state is North Carolina’s outdated revenue systems. Proposals in the state legislature will increase the already huge tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.”

After rallying outside City Hall, the workers marched into the city council meeting. Public comment on the budget was not allowed, so when City Manager Tom Bonfield began to talk about the “regrettable” loss of jobs, the workers walked out of the meeting.

UE 150 and Durham city workers promise to return on June 1 for the next hearing of the proposed budget with a bigger presence. “Our heads are on the line, we need to get organized!” emphasized Angaza Laughinghouse, president of UE 150, as he spoke to workers who walked out of the meeting. “We’re not going to let them bail out bankers and corporations while we can’t afford to eat!”

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