Long Beach City Council Votes for Pay Cut

The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday approved two resolutions: one requires roughly 23 exempt employees to pay a 10 percent portion of their health care premiums; the other asks council members’ to cut their nearly $20,000 annual salaries by 10 percent, the latter measure of which passed unanimously.

The resolutions come at a time when City Manager Jack Schnirman is calling for layoffs and asking unions to pay a portion of their health care premiums. The city manager said:

“We wouldn’t ask the unions to do anything we wouldn’t do ourselves. We feel that the right thing to do is show some leadership before we ask for contributions from our labor partners that we’d be willing to do so ourselves,” according to the Long Beach Herald.

Exempt employees, the resolution reads, “shall be entitled to the same maternity leave, hospitalization, major medical and prescription, dental and optical plans, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment and disability insurance available to civil service employees pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement then in effect. Exempt employees shall be responsible for 10 percent of their annual health care premium, to be paid with pre-tax dollars, to be deducted from their bi-weekly paycheck.”

The resolution passed 3-1, with Councilmen John McLaughlin casting the lone opposing vote, while Councilman Michael Fagen abstained, calling the measure “disingenuous” and “not proportionate.”