NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- North Las Vegas has reached a deal with its police officers union. The new contract could save the city from shutting down its recreation and senior centers.
Under the deal, union members would give up a cost-of-living raise in 2012, which will save about $2 million. City leaders said they needed about $1.5 million to keep the centers open.
The city council voted to approve the deal Wednesday. Councilwoman Anita Wood cast the lone dissenting vote. She says the plan is a short-term solution that will hurt the city in the future.
She also says other unions that have agreed to concessions will not be happy with the deal.
"It doesn't help. It doesn't get us where we need to be. It continues the situation that we have in North Las Vegas where we have some unions that have gone out of their way, that have taken 5% pay cuts - both Teamsters and our IAFF - and then we have our police union that took a raise in 2010 and are still getting the benefits of that raise today. It's creating a huge disparity," she said.
"When you have some that are plus five or just about there, and some that are negative five, I mean you've got a real 10% variance there," she said. "It's created a lot of dissension and disharmony in the city."
"I'm happy to fix it for the fiscal year," said Mayor Shari Buck. "It gets us down the road, some more time to work on the budget for next year. We have to build relationships with these unions to where they'll give."
Mayor Buck was pleased with the deal, because it means the city's recreation and senior centers will not have to shut down next month. She says when the deferral period ends, the city will go back and ask the union for better concessions.
