Mayor de Blasio on Wednesday announced additional holidays for city employees, saying he will have to take even more painful steps if the federal and state governments do not succeed.
The latest round of layoffs affected more than 9,000 management employees who will have to miss a five-day paycheck between October and March. The move will save the city $ 21 million as it faces colossal losses in tax revenue, de Blasio said.
According to City Labor Relations Commissioner Rene Campion, 9,000 non-union employees began reporting Wednesday morning.
“This is a difficult [step] because it will affect real people and their lives,” de Blasio said at a press conference. “This will affect their families. And these are people who have worked for months without interruption, trying to protect all of you and taking care of the whole city. “
Last week, de Blasio announced a five-day leave of absence for the mayor’s 495 staff members, including himself.
The move comes after months of requests from the mayor to Congress for billions of dollars in aid and to Albany to allow the city to borrow funds to cover operating costs.
So far, President Trump and Senate Republicans have objected, as have Governor Cuomo.
In the summer, the city cut its budget for the first time during the reign of de Blasio. Lawmakers passed the $ 88 billion package, up from $ 93 billion last year.
The latest budget included painful cuts in city agencies. But with the city’s Independent Budget Office forecasting $ 10 billion in tax revenue losses by 2021, the mayor has been saying for months that he may have to lay off up to 22,000 workers.
He had previously stated that layoffs could occur as early as October 1, but slowed down in August amid ongoing negotiations with union leaders.
Harry Nespoli, chairman of the municipal labor committee, said unions are still struggling with possible layoffs.
“They want more from unions than they can give up,” he told the Daily News. “Once you turn away and give up something, you never get it back.”
However, de Blasio pointed out on Wednesday that the future could be even more painful.