Detroit / Another 500 layoffs looming for Detroit employees in February

Some 2,000 pink slips have already gone out in the last few years. And now, another 500 cuts are scheduled for February.

It’s already worrying union leaders like Leamon Wilson. The president of the AFSCME Local 312 told the Detroit News that more cuts could cripple the city’s bus service. “You can’t deliver the service…It was already functioning at a bare minimum. I don’t see how anything is going to be functioning.”

Police and firefighters also say their ranks are being slashed just as crime and arson are on the rise. Just outside the city, Warren fire commissioner Skip McAdams says it’s a perfect storm.

“We don’t have the staffing to handle the increased workload. This year, we’re gonna exceed 15,000 incidents. In 2008, we responded to some 12,000 incidents. So my numbers of employees have decreased, and my responses have increased by over 2,000 incidents. The work doesn’t go away, there’s just fewer people to do an increasing amount of work.

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via 500 layoffs looming for Detroit employees | Michigan Radio.