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The layoffs, the second round of cutbacks since Ganim took office in December, are being planned even as the city of Bridgeport prepares to vote on a massive property tax increase on Tuesday. (Click here to read about the tax issue on the Daily Voice.)
"My administration has been unable to come to an accommodation with the various city employee labor unions that would get us to a figure of $4 million in savings that is required in order to balance the budget for the coming fiscal year," Ganim said in a statement.
"Our administration has been working very hard for months in cooperation with labor unions trying to close the budget gap through some modest concessions such as wage freezes and furlough days," he said.
Appointed officials in the Ganim administration have agreed to such measures, he said.
"We have been as flexible as we can be, and we have negotiated in good faith. ... My current administration is committed to good working relations with all bargaining units in the municipal employee labor force," he said.
Ganim conceded that workers are facing a tough economy.
"We know these are tough times, and we know that labor unions have given concessions in recent years," he said. "We know that it is a significant ask to request another $4 million in savings, and we would not do so if balancing the budget did not depend on it."
Layoffs are the only option remaining, Ganim said.
"As we have been very consistently telling the labor unions, the inability to reach a consensus on labor cost savings for the coming fiscal year now requires us to implement a new round of layoffs," he said.
A list of municipal employees to be laid off was being prepared, Ganim said.
"This is a very unfortunate result, and not the outcome I wanted to see as chief executive of our city," he said. "My administration has already laid off approximately 100 employees since taking over last December. The last thing we want to do is to separate more employees from their jobs.
"But in fairness to the taxpayers of Bridgeport, we must do what we can to balance the budget. If that means doing the work of the people of Bridgeport with less employees, then that we are prepared to take this difficult step."
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