Media Advisory – June 7, 2013
Contact: Sonia Laracuente – (831) 824-9266
A tale of two cities in Santa Cruz
As services face cuts, management enjoys large increases
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – While Santa Cruz City executives have enjoyed large wage increases since 2010, frontline workers have sacrificed financially to balance the budget and maintain services through ongoing concessions and no increases.
This is a growing trend in Santa Cruz. Since the recession, city officials who already received six-figure salaries continued to see their salaries spike while the salaries of frontline workers were reduced, their hours were furloughed, and their wages remained stagnant.
The city is now proposing to increase its existing reserves, which it saved thanks to worker concessions, and refusing to provide dignity and respect to workers who can no longer afford to live in Santa Cruz.
At the expense of city services, the city is asking some of the lowest compensated city employees to continue to accept more cuts due to waste by management officials.
This will strain a workforce that is already stretched thin and struggling to meet an increasing demand for services with fewer resources.
On Monday, June 10, city workers and community members will rally against this disparity and for the need of more accountability and transparency to the public.
DETAILS:
WHAT: Santa Cruz City workers and community members will rally against wage disparity and for the need of more accountability and transparency to the public.
WHEN: Monday, June 10, 6:30 – 7:30 a.m.
WHERE: Santa Cruz City Hall, 809 Center St.
WHY: City executives have enjoyed alarming wage increases at taxpayers’ expense while frontline workers make financial sacrifices and bear the burden of balancing the budget.
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The Service Employees International Union is an organization of 2.1 million members united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide. SEIU is dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society. For more information, visit www.seiu521.org
