Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposal to force only some employees to take unpaid leave is creating tension among the county’s powerful labor unions.
Leggett has proposed that about 6,000 county employees take a 10-day furlough to help the county bridge what is approaching a $1 billion budget gap. The affected employees are represented by the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization union or are managers who aren’t represented by a union.
About 25,000 employees, including uniformed public safety personnel and teachers, wouldn’t be furloughed under the plan from Leggett, who said education and public safety are two of his priorities.
Union leaders are unanimous in their opposition to furloughs in general, saying the county can close its budget gap without them. But if forced unpaid leave is necessary, the leaders differ on how it should be done.
“The pain needs to be equally distributed, period,” said Gino Renne, president of MCGEO.
Renne said he would like more solidarity from his counterparts in the county’s school union. “To suggest that your particular demographic is so unique and special and shouldn’t share in the burden is just irresponsible in my mind,” he said.
Renne’s concerns about fairness were echoed by Fraternal Order of Police union chief negotiator Walt Bader, who said there was a “bloated bureaucracy” in the schools budget.
“If we’re going to talk about equity, let’s talk about equity all across the budget,” Bader said.
But the county’s teachers union said teachers are already feeling pain in Leggett’s proposed budget through a loss of staff and programs, and furloughs are impractical for teachers and support staff.
“For teachers, the work is not only at school, but it’s what you take home with you,” said Doug Prouty, president of the Montgomery County Education Association. “No one is talking about reducing the work load.”
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Plan
Employees furloughed
Length
Pay decrease for affected employees
Savings per day
Total savings
Ike Leggett’s
6,000
10 days
3.8%
$1.5 million
$15 million
County Council staff
30,000+
1.5 days
0.6%
$9.9 million
$15 million
Leggett’s 10-day furlough plan would correspond to a 3.8 percent pay decrease for affected employees. An alternative plan of furloughing every employee for 1.5 days, being floated by County Council staff, would save $15 million, as much as Leggett’s plan but with only a corresponding 0.6 percent pay cut.
Steve Farber, County Council staff director, noted that other counties implemented across-the-board furloughs without hurting any service.
