Morantz eyes reviving city’s furlough program

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/11/2014 (3435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is growing political will at city hall to revive a voluntary furlough program that was quietly cancelled by the administration this year.

Finance chairman Marty Morantz said he wants another look at the program following a meeting where the administration said it doesn’t have the bodies to spare to make the program work.

“I’m very interested in having a look at that and seeing if it’s possible to bring back the furlough program,” Morantz (Charleswood-Tuxedo) said.

Mayor Brian Bowman said Wednesday he’s also interested in bringing the program back.

The furlough program was initiated by city council in 1996 and went into effect the following year. It allows staff in some civic departments to take time off without pay, so long as service delivery in their department isn’t affected.

It was former councillor Paula Havixbeck who raised the issue at council this summer, requesting the administration report on the program’s effectiveness.

The administrative report to the finance committee said the administration quietly cancelled the program for 2014 because the participating departments found they couldn’t afford to give staff time off without impacting how work was being done.

The report found that in 2013, the city saved $182,000 when 109 employees took a combined 798 days off without pay.

The program’s best year saw the city save $658,000 in 2002 when staff took a combined 4,237.5 days off with pay but the savings dropped off beginning in 2010. By 2012, only five civic departments were allowing staff to take time off, those included audit, city clerks, legal services, water and waste, and civilians within the Winnipeg Police.

A separate report to the committee showed that the city has 2,500 fewer staff on payroll this year than was authorized by the city budget.

Union officials have repeatedly criticized the politicians for keeping staffing levels at levels below what’s necessary to do the work expected of city hall.

Morantz said he’ll want a more detailed explanation as to why the program was cancelled without council’s authorization, adding he wants to explore bringing it back to make it effective.

“I want to have further discussions (with administration) to see if it’s possible to bring it back, or re-invent it or re-implement it in some way or fashion,” Morantz said. “I think we need to be fiscally responsible and make sure taxpayers are getting value for their dollars and we want to make sure the city is doing everything possible in every area to reduce its costs without affecting services.”

 

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca