BURBANK : New City Contracts Freeze Workers’ Pay
The Burbank City Council has approved contracts with five employee unions that freeze workers’ pay for a year in return for the city ruling out layoffs during that period.
The contracts, approved Tuesday night in a series of votes, will allow the city to save about $3 million in postponed cost-of-living increases, said City Manager Robert Ovrom.
The contracts were ratified by five unions representing the city’s 1,200 employees after several months of negotiations. The city anticipated reaching such an agreement in drawing up a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, Ovrom said.
“Without the salary freeze, we probably would have had to lay off about 17 people immediately. This way, nobody has to hit the bricks,” Ovrom said. “This put our budget in balance.” The city still plans to eliminate 40 positions this year through attrition, Ovrom said.
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