Atlantic City Plans To Lay Off 200 Workers

Atlantic City has submitted a layoff plan to the Civil Service Commission that would cut about 200 positions, the mayor's chief of staff confirmed Monday.

The list includes 85 firefighters and 40 positions in the Recreation Department, Chris Filiciello said.

Mayor Don Guardian tried working with the fire union, but instead was forced to call in an arbitrator, the chief of staff said, adding that the union is now challenging arbitration.

"The mayor views every firefighter as a hero, and has the utmost respect for the firefighters but unfortunately, their union has not come up with a solution to save money at this point."

Fire Union President Chris Emmell said that is not true.

"We came to him numerous times to tell him how to save money and generate money for the city and he turned us down," Emmell said. "This is just a ploy. The mayor’s letting down the residents in the city of Atlantic City."

The plan was submitted to the Civil Service Commission on April 17, said Peter Lyden, the commission's spokesman. It was approved Friday, but is still being processed, so is not yet being released publicly.

"From the beginning we knew we had to be downsized by 300 to 400 employees," Filiciello said. "So far, we’re down about 200 positions through aggressive attrition. Submitting a layoff plan was the final piece to that puzzle."
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