WOWT.com
OMAHA, Neb. — With a budget battle in play and the jobs of 19 Omaha firefighters on the line, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert offered a new agreement to the Fire Union Tuesday night as a way to dodge January layoffs.
The Memorandum of Agreement, described as “the city’s best effort to avoid the layoffs” sets a November 8 deadline for a deal. If the executed agreement is not submitted by noon on Friday, the mayor’s office says the offer comes off the table and the layoffs of probationary firefighters will proceed.
The city’s proposal states that in exchange for a reduction in the number of paramedics to be trained, the union will be given assurances that layoffs will not take place in 2014. That protection would extend to 2015 if the Fire Department is within a 1/2 percent of its 2014 budget.
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