to dismiss (an employee), esp. temporarily because of slack business. (via Dictionary.com)
On March 5, 2010, I along 15,000 other SF city workers was handed a pink slip at work. In a dramatic overhaul on behalf of the Mayor, the massive lay offs are part of Mayor Newsom's solution to the city's current $522 billion budget deficit. His order is cutting workers wages by 6.25% and shortening work weeks to 37.5 hour part-time positions. For a city that depends on the various programs offered by city services: Nurses, Airport Controllers, Legal Clerks, Teachers are all facing the worst, myself included. I was featured in the local news on CBS 5 on Friday's evening news regarding the issue. The irony in all of this happened right after receiving the letter first thing in the morning, I was faced with triple the amount of work while having to fake a smile to all our customers, including the brides dressed in white gowns and their grooms donned black and white suits ready to say their "I Do's."
After receiving the letter that I had been hearing about all week on the news and would come to us that Friday. A lot of emotions ran through my head. Most of all I felt like a low blow on behalf of the Mayor to all the people that provide the necessary civil services to San Francisco's residents. It made me question my commitment to being a civil service worker instead of opting for the corporate world right after graduating college. I asked myself what did this mean for my hard-earned college degree and for the $50k and under working families who are dependent on a single salary to survive in what's becoming one of the most expensive cities in the US. And then came the million and one questions that are still un-answered and What's Next? Already having experienced some shortfalls in the past year as a city worker, a majority of us gave up paid legal holidays in our last Union agreement with the City. I knew a slippery slope of collective bargaining with City officials was ahead of us.
In a deteriorating economy, where the city's transportation: MUNI is also facing a pitfall with fee increases and proposed shorter bus service, a state lingering in debt and furlough days, and an INCREASE in Tuition Fees for all of its Public Universities and Colleges. This only feels like the beginning of a state that is scrummaging for money while putting everything on the backbones of its poorest residents. I take this action by the Mayor, the first in the history of the city, to put in perspective the future of the city. I take it as a sign to move forward and try something new, whether that be going back to Grad School as I had already started planning out or looking for work in my desired field. These are the next steps I must take because no matter where I go the situation will still hold the same and the opportunities are slim as everyone is struggling for a good paying job. Whether I will receive an invitation back as a part-time worker is still up in the air. And whether I want to take that offer is another question I have yet to answer. The easy answer would be "yes." But to compromise that for something worse in the future I don't want to be part of the cities puppet like so called "solutions." I am not here to complain about loosing my job. As a taxpayer and a working class adult I know you must sometimes give up things to allow for other opportunities. But to continue doing it to the lowest working people in the workforce and letting the big time players passerby without any consequences is no fair game to me.
Just this past Thursday, across California students marched in solidarity against the Tuition Fee increases for all the UC's and CSU's along with Junior Colleges no longer offering summer school. Outside of City Hall, students from all age groups picketed and showed their anger for putting another obstacle in obtaining their diplomas.
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