Unions guard against givebacks
Justin Murphy – Rochester Democrat and Chronicle USA TODAY NETWORK – in the D&C on 4/11/2020 on page A3
Faced with the need to pare $24 million more from an already scoured budget proposal, several Rochester school board members this week floated the idea of aggressive cuts in personnel costs, including concessions from the district’s four unions.
Salary and benefits for the district’s 6,000 or so employees make up 57% of the $949 million 2020-21 budget proposal. Most of them are unionized, and the two largest unions have effectively insulated their members from changes in pay or employment conditions in the district’s time of need.