Motion to rescind layoffs of Otoe County workers fails (members of my local)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10416557

Published Tuesday August 26, 2008
Motion to rescind layoffs of Otoe County workers fails
BY ELIZABETH AHLIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. - A heated Otoe County Board meeting ended in tears for at least one Nebraska City woman.

A motion to rescind the layoffs of seven county employees fell flat today when Dale Haverty and Joy Schroder did not second the motion made by board member Nicki Kreifels.

The packed courtroom erupted in shouts of protest, and Victoria Neumeister burst into tears. Her fiancee, Matt Watkins, will be out of work on Labor Day, as will six other full-time road crew employees.

The layoffs are a cost-cutting measure, Haverty said.

But union representatives don't think the county explored all cost-cutting alternatives before firing the employees, said George Forst, vice-president of Nebraska Public Employees Local Union 251, which represents the road crew.

Forst and Kevin Brown, union president, both pleaded with the county board to examine the budget to look for other ways to make up the estimated $218,596 that board members say the layoffs will save the county. Haverty and Schroder refused.

"There's no sense in hashing it and hashing it. It's done," Schroder said.

Attorney General Jon Bruning's office is examining a complaint that the county board violated state open meeting laws when it voted at an Aug. 12 meeting to lay off the employees.