Mayor Warren announces massive workforce reduction for City of Rochester
Written by Site Hub on May 7, 2020
On Tuesday, May 5, Mayor Lovely Warren announced that the City of Rochester would see a reduction of 403 “non-essential” workers (178 furloughs, 208 job shares, and 17 separations) starting next Monday. Layoffs had been expected for some time because of the negative impact of SARS-CoV-2 on revenues, the high cost to pay employees and the upcoming 2021 budget deadline. During a press conference, Mayor Warren explained that officials believe they can save $2.1 million that they can then redirect to essential critical services and first responders:
“Our city’s challenge is America’s challenge… It is my sincere hope that our federal and state leaders act to provide needed resources to our local government so that we can continue to provide the vital service that we need to provide to our residents.”
As previously reported, officials hope that workers will receive the money that they need to live through unemployment. Yet, as reported by several media outlets, New York workers are still experiencing problems with an overwhelmed state unemployment system. They are also having difficulty receiving timely unemployment payments because many workers failed to realize that they must re-certify every week to continue to receive payments. Also, some workers must apply for relief specific to COVID-19, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, instead of regular Unemployment Insurance.
City officials have also confirmed that up to 3,000 more workers could lose their jobs at the start of this summer.
This is an ongoing story.
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