DPS's Roberts overrides contract, imposes 10% wage cuts
Jennifer Chambers/ The Detroit News
Detroit - Wielding power under a new state law to modify union contracts, Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts this morning imposed a 10 percent wage cut on all employees and moved the district to a more costly benefits plan.
The move, announced by Roberts this morning at a meeting with leaders of eight unions representing nearly 10,000 employees, will save DPS $81.8 million dollars this year alone at a time when the district is struggling with a $327 million budget deficit.
Roberts became the first emergency manager of a Michigan school district to use the power of the state's Emergency Manager Law to modify existing collective bargaining agreements.
"This is not aimed at bad people. It's bad economic times. There is a dual crisis at Detroit Public Schools. One is academic — this one is financial," Roberts said today.
Roberts first announced the wage concession when the district released it annual budget last month. Union
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110729/SCHOOLS/107290408/DPS’s-Roberts-overrides-contract--imposes-10--wage-cuts#ixzz1TVgEjojJ