Now that we have made our concessions many people are wondering how do we proceed with incorporating the obligations.  After all the concessions were agreed to many people started to ask questions about  how furloughs are to be done and will there be increments or full blocks of time required. These questions and many more have cause a tremendous amount of concern and the city management has decided to sit down and with the labor groups and work out the details.  This discussion will take place sometime in April.
Because there are many details to be worked out, we are urging people not to take any furloughs at this time and wait until the actual period of the contract begins which is after July 12 of 2010. All the labor groups will meet and discuss how each unit will implement their concessions, as well as the process for taking furloughs.
Even after we implemented a democratic process to have our membership voice their thoughts many people were not happy with the outcome. I too was quite surprised at the outcome but agreed to stand by the majority’s selection. I can say a lot but I will keep my thoughts to myself and go with the majority. After many discussions and meetings with all the labor groups none are pleased with having to do what we had to do, but the goal was to save jobs. In the end, WE SAVED JOBS! According to the latest information only less than 15 people left the city. That is a tremendous drop from the original number of 2,000.
  Aside from all the disappointments we will all continue with our efforts to march forward. As I have stated before we have reached a cross roads in our existence and our future will change forever. It is very important not to lose sight of how much our membership has grown but to continue to grow. Don’t think because we have been able to weather the storm that we are to bask in the sun. A lot of work lies ahead and unity is critical in making sure that we continue to be heard and our presence respected.
Changing our character is never easy or embraced with open arms. Major struggles lie  ahead of us and having the support our people is very important. There are a lot soft hearts out there who will become fearful to the moment of resistance but history has shown us that in order to reach positive goals efforts must be consistent and have a resolve of perseverance.
In the next few weeks I will be scheduling a general membership meeting to discuss the concessions and the implementation. Watch our web page for updates.