Montreal mayor calls for massive staff reductions

MONTREAL – Mayor Denis Coderre is planning massive staff reductions to save the city of Montreal millions of dollars.

At a Thursday morning press conference, Coderre announced his intention to reduce the labour force by ten per cent over the next five years.

He estimated that 2,200 jobs are planned to be cut through attrition, but confirmed that none would come from the police or fire departments.

Coderre said the cuts would save Montreal $240 million, an amount that would be reinvested into the city’s ageing infrastructure.

“We have to make the city work, make people proud again,” Coderre said.

“I’m not just here to cut ribbons or look good.”

Almost 52 per cent of the city’s budget is spent on salaries alone.

That is nine per cent more than in 2002, when city salaries represented 43 per cent of the total budget.

Blue collar, white collar, professional workers and senior management could all be affected from the cuts.

Coderre insisted that no one would lose their jobs, the cuts would come from retiring employees, workers voluntarily quitting or contracts expiring.

In addition, half of all jobs vacant since last December won’t be filled, a decision that represents 500 positions.

The mayor said that all boroughs would need to be on board with the plan or they may not have any savings to do their own infrastructure work.

Coderre outlined his long term vision for improving the city’s roads, sewers and water mains.

Montreal officials plan to spend an average of $1.3 billion annually for the next ten years.

But Coderre said that this number is still short of his objective. He said that he believes an infrastructure budget of $2.1 billion per year is needed.