Detroit Mayor Slashes City Workers' Pay By 10%

Another tangible sign of Detroit's bleak finances: The mayor today said the city's unionized workers must take a 10% pay cut along with reduced health care benefits, reports the Detroit Free Press. The unions promise a court fight, but Dave Bing says the in-the-red city has no choice but to impose the changes, which are expected to save more than $100 million a year. The city council tried to block the move yesterday, but the state has given Bing more authority to take such action because of the city's financial trouble.

• Bing: “This is a tough day for me; a tough day for city workers, and a tough day for all Detroiters. However, it’s a necessary day.”
• Detroit's CFO Jack Martin: “We have to do this. We know it’s painful on our employees, but this allows us to fix the problem in an orderly manner. If we do nothing, there will be chaos.”
• Union leader: "I'm not surprised, but I don't think it will hold up," one tells the Detroit News. "Quickness to do it is another example of (Bing's) mean-spiritedness. This will have to be resolved in the courts and we'll see how that plays out."

(More Detroit stories.)