By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — Mayor Susan D. Menard is seeking big concessions from the city’s labor unions in attempts to make up for an anticipated mid-year cut of some $3.2 million in state revenues.

Those concessions include unpaid furlough days, cuts in benefits and a rollback to a four-day workweek at City Hall.
An internal memo obtained by The Call says Menard is also considering a variety of other strategies for balancing the 2008 fiscal year budget, including:
n Shutting down one of the city’s five fire stations. The most likely targets of such a move include the Fairmount, Providence Street or North Main Street stations.
n Eliminating three-family tenements from the curbside trash pickup program, plus the imposition of as-yet-undetermined new fees associated with certain refuse disposal or recycling programs. Such a move means the city would pick up trash only at single-families and duplexes.
n The elimination of up to nine positions at City Hall and a similar number at the Woonsocket Police Department, many through attrition or by leaving certain positions unfilled, including that of deputy police chief.
n Imposition of uniform co-pays for health insurance for all city employees, including police, fire and municipal workers. Only some City Hall workers pay health insurance co-pays, depending on when they were hired, and none do in the police or fire departments. The mayor wants across-the-board co-pays of 1 percent of wages for workers with individual coverage, 2 percent for those with family plans.
n Relaxation of minimum manning rules on the Fire Department, a union-negotiated measure that drives overtime. The rules require a certain number of firefighters on public safety apparatus at all times, which means if a firefighter calls in sick a substitute must be called to fill in, often at overtime pay rates, to meet the staffing requirements.
Menard is reportedly also considering a variety of adjustments to longevity, sick time and vacation time benefits for workers in the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the International Association of Fire Fighters and two units of Council 94. The four unions make up the lion’s share of all workers in city government, which doesn’t include teachers.
Although the moves are aimed at compensating for an anticipated cut of some $3.2 million in state revenues, the figure is a worst-case scenario. It remains to be seen exactly how much Gov. Donald H. Carcieri will propose taking back from cities and towns — and to what extent House and Senate lawmakers will go along — before the city knows exactly how deep it will have to cut.
The anticipated cuts come as state government attempts to close a budget gap of some $350 million in a sagging, revenue-depleted economy.
Repeated efforts to allow Menard discuss the proposed city cuts with The Call have not been successful. Menard says it is premature to discuss the matter until further progress is made on talks with unions.
However, she told radio station WNRI earlier this week that she had spoken with the leaders of all the city’s labor unions. With the exception of one bargaining unit, which she did not identify, Menard said the unions seemed receptive to the proposals currently on the table.
She said the point she has been making to the unions is that layoffs will be even more widespread than currently envisioned if workers do not accept concessions. Ultimately, she said, even if the unions do not accept the concessions she is seeking, the city may impose them unilaterally.
The mayor said such a move would invariably trigger arbitration, litigation or both, but she said the city has no other choice. She said if the unions do not accept concessions, the city will run out of money to meet payrolls well before the end of the fiscal year, which arrives on June 30, 2009.