As the city of Tacoma faces a $40 million deficit, city leaders have been repeating the same sentiment: They want to “do more with less.”
Though they won’t announce until September how they will do so, with personnel services consisting of 59% of the city’s general fund expenses in the 2025-2026 budget year, layoffs of city employees are a real possibility.
The city has roughly 4,000 employees, about 70% of whom are represented by a union. For the 31 labor unions the city bargains with, which exist to maintain and improve working conditions, doing more with less is ostensibly contrary to their entire reason for being…