Yesterday The City employees voted 102 to 47 in favor of joining the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
From Mayor Ashton Hayward: “Over the past several months – from the charter campaign and the Mayoral election, to the transition period and my first 30 days as Mayor, I’ve met with city employees from every city department. The common thread in each of these conversations was that our city workers have been frustrated with budget and staffing cuts over the years, concerned about the new charter and the strong mayor form of government, as well as the ongoing state and national conversations about cuts to municipal budgets and services, so frankly I’m not surprised at this vote. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.
However, we’re all in this together, and I’m expecting all of our city employees – union or not, to work with me and move our city forward. I’m committed to working with the new union leadership and engaging them in my effort to make our city more responsive, efficient, and livable for our citizens.â€