A coalition of Oakland municipal unions are calling on city officials to reverse a decision to help balance a massive budget shortfall by, in part, laying off dozens of workers.
In a letter to employees last week, City Administrator Jestin Johnson said the city sent layoff notices to 77 people in an effort to close the city's roughly $130 million budget deficit.
Yesterday during a rally and press conference in front of City Hall, members of four employee unions claimed the layoffs are illegal. They maintained managers failed to follow procedures established by the city's charter and union contracts when sending out notices.
On Monday, union officials said they filed charges with the state Public Employment Relations Board over the layoffs.
In a letter to Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins, Johnson and the City Council, union leaders said the administration never gave them a list of employees targeted for layoffs and failed to provide details about the city's financial situation.
Spokespeople for Johnson and Jenkins didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The unions have long advocated for cuts to the Oakland Police Department's budget. It regularly features tens of millions of dollars in unbudgeted overtime costs. The union also called for cutting top administrative positions and more vigorously collecting the city's business taxes, among other things.
