Strapped for cash to pay off mounting bills to suppliers, the Chapala municipal government is taking dire steps to save money by pressuring low level personnel to accept temporary layoffs without pay. 

Labor union leader Juan Cuevas Gudiño claims that the forced furloughs have targeted a number of long-time workers and involved unethical arm-twisting tactics that violate or compromise their legal rights.

The job suspensions started in mid-May when several dozen employees were greeted with verbal notifications from their superiors when they reported for work. They were told that their services were not needed at the moment, but that they would be reinstated in two or three months’ time.  The exact number of affected parties cannot be calculated accurately as the total count seems to fluctuate from day to day and vary according to the source of information.

Cuevas initially reported that 25 workers had been sacked without getting anything in writing to verify the length and terms of the layoff.  Under those circumstances, he instructed them to continue reporting for work as usual to avoid any chance of being written up for abandonment of the work place as justification for firing. Workers loose the right to file suit for unjustified dismissal 60 days after leaving a job. 

Over the last couple of weeks, Cuevas has negotiated reassignment for some unionized workers in other departments.  He haunts city hall daily to advocate for other personnel put on leave.

So far, Mayor Javier Degollado, along with City Manager Sergio Hugo García Díaz and the government’s press office have ignored repeated requests from local media to provide documentation that clarifies how many employees have been axed, much less specifying their respective names, departments of employment, antiquity and status as either a base or temporary worker. 

During a press gaggle last week, Degollado declared that most individuals put on descanso (rest) were temporary workers who had been assigned to specific projects that are now finished. He said most will be picked again when funding for 2017 comes in for launching new public works programs. Some of these temporales have job histories at city hall that date back more than a decade.

The mayor said the layoffs will represent savings of three million pesos needed to settle pending bills for outside services and material supplies. 

But Degollado got an earful at the May 31 city council session when opposition party city councilors raised objection to the layoffs and the criteria for selecting workers. Juan Carlos Pelayo and Moises Anaya suggested that the cost-cutting measure be applied to employees put on staff during the current administration before hitting experienced and loyal workers devoted to public service for long years.

As it becomes increasingly apparent that the city coffers are practically empty, Degollado will not publically acknowledge that the payroll has become bloated under his watch. And the time has come to pay the piper.

Chapala’s own payroll records posted under the transparency section of the government website show skyrocketing numbers since the October 1, 2015 change of administration. 

Comparison of files for the first two-week pay period of May tell the story. In 2015 the sum of gross salaries listed for base and eventual employees totaled 2,329,037.88 pesos per two-week pay period. Two years later the amount has soared to 3,488,070.98 pesos. Double the difference for a monthly total, do the math for a full year and it is obvious why the treasury is in a deep hole.

In contrast, Cuevas recalls how former mayor Joaquin Huerta made reducing payroll a priority of his 2012-2015 term. He managed to implement a temporary furlough program to get over a financial hump during his first year in office and eventually entice dozens of workers to voluntarily resign in exchange for severance packages that surpassed benefits dictated by law.

Frustrated by the current situation, Cuevas is now grappling with decisions on whether to call workers to strike, dive into messy labor suits and perhaps finally throw in the towel as long-time the director of Chapala’s troubled Aseo Público sanitation department.