Vol. 76/No. 28      July 30, 2012

The city council blocked an earlier proposal from the mayor to raise property taxes. Doherty countered with a pay proposal. He then carried out his threat despite an injunction against the move by Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse.

Public workers unions, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, filed a petition demanding the mayor be held in contempt. They also filed a lawsuit against the city for abrogation of contracts.

The city government’s credit has tanked and banks have stopped lending. Now the mayor and city council, all members of the Democratic Party, are scrambling for loans.

Workers on the street expressed various points of view.

“This is horrible,” said Devin McNear, a 19-year-old construction roofer who makes $10 an hour. “Something has to change. Something has to be done and somebody has to do it.”

“It’s a hard situation to straighten out,” said John Benson, a retired hospital laundry worker. “They should have raised taxes a long time ago.” Benson’s employer ran three shifts cleaning laundry for hospitals in the region before closing and moving to New Jersey.

“How are people supposed to live?” asked Melvin Lundy, who works at a local restaurant. “They should fight. If the city gets away with it here they’ll get away with it everywhere.”

Scranton is one of about 20 cities across Pennsylvania operating under a state law for fiscally distressed cities, which includes Harrisburg, the capital, and Pittsburgh, the state’s second-biggest city.

Bankrupt cities from Stockton, Calif., to Jefferson County, Ala., have also cut public workers’ pay, benefits and hours.

In November 2009, President Barack Obama froze the pay of federal employees for 2011 and 2012.
 
 
Related articles:
Thousands rally in NY to back workers locked out by Con Ed
‘No choice but to strike against Caterpillar’
Black lung is on the rise among younger miners
On the Picket Line
Miners, other workers protest job cuts in Spain  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home