Oakland unions ratify contracts that lower deficit OAKLAND

Emmanuel Wright, clapping, and Preston Pinkey, fist raised, join about 130 protesters outside City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, to support union labor and demonstrate against certain budget cuts. Wright works as an equipment supervisor for Oakland and Pinkney is a golf specialist for the city. less Emmanuel Wright, clapping, and Preston Pinkey, fist raised, join about 130 protesters outside City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, to support union labor and demonstrate against certain ... more Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland unions ratify contracts that lower deficit 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

All five of Oakland's unions have ratified contracts with the city of Oakland, eliminating $23 million of the city's projected $58 million budget deficit.

Some of the savings will come through increased pension contributions and reduced pension benefits for new hires. But much of it will come through increased shut-downs of city services. Some workers will have mandatory furloughs of over three weeks a year, not including vacations or sick leave.

The result is that even as the last of the city's unions approved contracts early Friday morning, some questioned whether furloughs were the right path for the city to be pursuing.

"This continuing death-by-a-thousand-cuts budgeting has to end," said Bruce Nye, board chair of Make Oakland Better Now, a government reform group which advocates prioritizing services. The five unions represent public employees from police officers to sewer workers and librarians. Service Employees International Union Local 1021 said it had argued for rotating furlough days so services were available to the public. But they said they were rebuffed by the city.

"This is not a good, happy contract," said Dwight McElroy, president of Local 1021. "This is a contract where people who don't make decisions had to fix the car for the people who had the wreck." Council President Larry Reid said shutting down the city for furlough days was the most viable option given that layoffs were the alternative.

Furloughs "were a concern to a number of my colleagues," he said. "But to avoid laying off more employees, those were concessions that had to be made. We have to do better with less."