USWA: Dallas City Workers Union Asks to Meet Mayor on Budget Problems; Urge Fairness in Setting Future Pay Increases

    DALLAS, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The union of city workers has requested a
 meeting with Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and individual members of the City
 Council to discuss the upcoming budget and its impact on the city's civilian
 workforce, who are facing threatened cuts due to city budget shortfalls.
     Representatives of the North Texas Association of Public Employees
 (NTAPE), affiliated with the 650,000-member United Steelworkers of America,
 sent a letter to Mayor Miller requesting the meeting as soon as possible.
 (Copy below.)  The letter states that, "Our members, most of whom live, vote
 and pay taxes in the city, are extremely upset over the city manager's
 proposed plan to balance the city's budget on their backs."
     Many city workers are upset that at the same time job and pay cuts are
 being discussed for civilian city employees, large wage increases are in the
 pipeline for police and firefighters.
     In light of the recent vote by firefighters concerning the priorities for
 the forthcoming city budget, representative Mark Pitt said, "We want to
 commend the leadership of the Firefighters Union for their effort to show
 support for civilian city employees."
     Pitt said, "The civilian workers of Dallas perform vital jobs for the
 people of this city, and deserve to be treated with respect.  It's outrageous
 for the city's leadership to agree to give some of public employees raises at
 the same time demanding pay cuts from others."
     NTAPE representatives say that they are ready to organize large-scale
 opposition to the proposed city budget until such time as the concerns of
 civilian city workers are taken into account.
 
          (TEXT OF LETTER SENT TO MAYOR MILLER BY CITY WORKERS UNION)
 
 
      July 12, 2002
 
      Hon. Laura Miller
      Mayor City of Dallas
      1500 Marilla St.
      5th Floor
      Dallas, TX 75201-6390
 
      Re: Civilian Employees
 
      Dear Mayor Miller:
 
      As I am sure you are aware of, over the past several months the civilian
      employees of the City have been organizing a new labor union.  The number
      of employees involved in this effort grows on a daily basis.  To date
      over 1,500, of your employees have chosen to join the North Texas
      Association of Public Employees.  This organization is affiliated with
      the United Steelworkers of America, one of the largest labor unions in
      the country.
 
      Our members, most of whom live, vote, and pay taxes in the City are
      extremely upset over the City Manager's proposed plan to balance the
      city's budget on their backs.  While we respect and support the hard
      working men and women who work for the Police and Fire Department, it is
      unconscionable for City to be thinking about cutting the civilian
      employees pay after having voted to give pay increases to these
      employees.
 
      All city employees perform important and vital services.  While it is
      certainly true that some of the employees perform more hazardous duties
      than others, this fact is appropriately recognized in the various pay
      levels already in place, not by rewarding wage increases to some and cuts
      in pay to others.  When it comes to yearly increases we firmly believe
      that all city employees should be treated the same.
 
      I would like to request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss
      this issue.  I look forward to hearing from you.
 
      Sincerely,
 
      Mark A. Pitt
      Special Projects Coordinator
 
      cc: NTAPE
 
 
     CONTACT:  Mark Pitt, USWA Organizer, +1-412-352-9925, or Howard Scott,
 USWA Organizing Dept., +1-412-562-2529.
 
     Web site:  http://www.uswa.org
 
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SOURCE  United Steelworkers of America