"Members of the bargaining teams demanded an updated list of the layoffs," bargaining team members Gus Malkoun and Fred Burnett wrote in an email sent on Wednesday night. "In updating the list, the number got smaller and smaller."

• Transportation and General Services Departments eliminated layoffs planned for their departments.
• Building & Safety and ITA reduced their layoff numbers.

Read more at SEIU721.org.

May 7, 2010—LA City workers are continuing to stand for a strong budget for LA that enhances public safety and focuses on cost-effective delivery of critical front-line services—without layoffs and furloughs. It expects the City of Los Angeles to be more agile and responsive, and manage smarter:

• Collect some of the millions owed it by big debtors
  
• Trim non-essential contracts and find savings in the essential ones
  
• Hold banks accountable for maintaining foreclosed proper ties that blight our neighborhoods
  
• Contract work in for greater efficiency

April 19, 2010—LA city trash trucks rolled out across the city this morning with a bright red message to Mayor Villaraigosa: "Don't Give Up on LA, Mr. Mayor."

Nearly 800 trucks that pick up trash daily from 150,000 households across the city carried posters referring residents to www.keepLAstrong.com, a project of SEIU 721 and the Coalition of LA City Unions, where city workers have made their own budget proposals to close the $432 million budget gap for next year and protect parks and libraries.

Management discovered the posters and halted many of the trucks. But dozens still got through to deliver the word of our strong budget to thousands of homes. Read more at seiu721.org.

April 16, 2010

• Visit www.keepLAstrong.com to watch a video and learn more about what LA City workers are proposing.

• See photos from the Strong Budget release at the SEIU 721 Facebook page.

• Read City Council President Eric Garcetti's motion calling the proposal a "methodical, reasoned approach" to addressing the City's budget issues.

April 12, 2010—City of LA chemist Stacee Karnya, an SEIU 721 member, spent her furlough day with a TV crew from NBC Nightly News last week to raise awareness of city services that are just as essential as fire and police. She explained how she and her colleagues test water samples to keep swimmers and surfers safe from toxic runoff: "We consider ourselves public safety," she said. "We protect the public's health by testing the beach water -- over 54 miles are tested every day to make sure it's OK to swim, that the fish you catch are OK to eat."

VIDEO: Watch Stacee Karnya on NBC Nightly News
VIDEO: Watch SEIU 721 President Bob Schoonover on Good Day LA

• $106 million in collectible debt owed the city (total debt $447 million)
• $40 million from bringing engineering and tree-trimming contracts in-house and demanding tough oversight and review
• $24 million from implementing 10% cuts on contractors
• $97.3 million from banks--canceling toxic debt and making banks pay their fair share on foreclosed properties
• $285 million from full implementation of the "Better Way for LA" agreement

Read more about SEIU's budget solutions at seiu721.org and download the 3/31/10 Budget Update to share with co-workers.

March 26, 2010—There are smarter ways to address the City's budget problems than to cut experienced staff through furloughs or layoffs, writes civil engineering associate Michael Affeldt, of the Bureau of Engineering.