DWP FACES ROADBLOCK IN FIRINGS; HEARINGS ORDERED BY CITY EMPLOYEE RELATIONS BOARD.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer In a setback setback In architecture, a steplike recession in the profile of a high-rise building. Usually dictated by building codes to allow sunlight to reach streets and lower floors, the building must take another step back from the street for every specified added height interval. to the Department of Water and Power's plan to lay off 2,000 workers beginning next week, the city's Employee Relations Board on Monday ordered hearings into whether the workers should be fired. The action came as members of the Engineers and Architects Association prepare to go to court Thursday to block the firing of DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection workers on the grounds that the city failed to justify the need for layoffs. Howard Z. Rosen, an attorney for the union, said the association will argue Thursday that the court should halt the layoffs pending the review by the Employee Relations Board, which aren't scheduled until March 12 and 13. But DWP officials said they will argue that the layoffs must proceed. ``Each week we wait costs us $2.5 million,'' said Mitch Kadama, executive assistant to DWP General Manager David Freeman. ``If we get a favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. decision (from the court) we intend to follow through with the layoff Layoff 1. When a company eliminates jobs regardless of how good the employees' performance. 2. A risk reduction, made by investment bankers, that minimizes the potential downside associated with a commitment to purchase and sell a stock issue unsubscribed by stockholders holding process next week.'' The Employee Relations Board is charged with ensuring the city's labor laws labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. are followed, including all provisions of collective bargaining collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union. . The ERB will decide whether the DWP bargained appropriately with the unions over the layoff plan, which the utility's management has said is needed to pay off $4.5 billion of its debt and prepare it for energy deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. . If it decides for the union, it could force the DWP to rehire Re`hire´ v. t. 1. To hire again. and give back pay to any worker who is laid off. The union had argued the DWP wanted to negotiate only over severance package A severance package is pay and benefits an employee receives when they leave employment at a company. In addition to the employee's remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following:
``The layoffs are a dagger in the heart of the city-owned utility that may lead to a breakdown in the reliability of service to its customers and endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. both workers and customers,'' said Bob Duncan, the union's executive director. ``There has not been any plan for how the department will operate after the layoffs occur.'' ERB Executive Director R. Douglas Collins said the union and the DWP agreed to the hearing. ``We are moving as quickly as we can and scheduled this for the earliest date available,'' Collins said. ``We recognize the importance of this.'' Collins said the hearings will be to determine whether the DWP followed proper procedures in its negotiations. If it loses, it could return to the bargaining table with the union and follow any new requirements. The city has fashioned a $350 million severance package that could result in total payouts equaling $161,000 to each worker to encourage retirement. Freeman has said that failing to eliminate the jobs will mean the utility spends $2.5 million a week in salaries as it tries to pay off $400 million a year in debt. Under the terms of the complicated proposal, a total of $275 million would be offered in incentives for workers to retire early, giving them full retirement benefits at 63 percent of their salary. It also allows certain workers to get credit toward their pension for military service. The remaining money would be used to give workers not close to retirement an incentive to leave. Those workers would get two weeks' pay for each year they worked at the agency, with workers qualifying for a minimum of $25,000 and a maximum of $50,000. Also, $5 million is to be used as bonuses for specialized classes of workers needed to stay on in the agency. |
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