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Union officials and city workers wore bright green t-shirts to protest plans by the city of Des Moines, Iowa to cut 90 city jobs.

 

Speaking to the City Council, union representative Bill Ferrell urged the city to “consider every option” before making job cuts.

 

The layoffs are part of a plan to erase between $6 and 9 million from the city's budget deficit.

 

City Manager Rick Clark proposed the job eliminations — primarily turf maintenance workers in the parks department and custodians at the airport — to help balance the city’s $610 million annual budget without a property tax increase.

 

Front-line police officers and firefighters would not be cut under the proposal, but other personnel in the two departments could face job eliminations. Four district fire chief positions could be cut to save $300,000 in salaries, and police support positions could be eliminated to help trim $369,000 from the budget.

 

Critics of the plan say it unfairly targets laborers and spares the upper echelons of city management from making similar sacrifices.

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