Mayor Negotiates with Angry City Workers

A showdown was underway on the final day of Atlanta’s city budget talks. Nearly 300 City of Atlanta employees demonstrated for extra money in their paychecks under a threat of a worker slowdown.

This happened as the mayor conducted one last round of negotiations.

Police officers encircled the entire building on Friday moing in case there might be trouble. The workers who gathered were surprised to hear from Mayor Kasim Reed himself, who gave them an 11th hour opportunity to make their case directly to him.

The workers want more money in their paychecks, and what could have been a hostile start tued into a point of negotiation.

Andre Hunt, who works for the sewer department, brought along photos to demonstrate why the work he does is deserving of a larger paycheck.

A 3.5% pay raise has already been granted to both police and firefighters, and all city workers were offered a $300 budget. But many say that’s not enough.

On Friday, Reed came back with an alteative, saying he would write workers a check within 30 days and increase their bonus money up to $450 to $500.

The city council was working on the deal Friday afteoon.