Dispatchers Laid Off in Reorganization

The city of Flint (Mich.) has wrestling with its budget and wants to cut costs, and has been looking at its public safety comm center to save money. City officials have debated for years whether to move dispatching operations back to Genesee County’s 911 center, where 911 calls for the city where handled prior to a split in 1995. Now the city has taken a drastic cost-cutting step–they’ve given layoff notices to 24 comm center employees, and then asked them to immediately re-apply for the same jobs under different classifications that offer lower pay, and switch from full-time to part-time. The dispatchers union is studying the situation, and city officials aren’t providing more information about any possible merger plans.