FUD Wrote:
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> The question is: how many of those workers are
> truly "front line?" There are lots of managers and
> mid-level staff who are probably doing make-work
> right now to justify collecting a salary, while
> actual front-liners like Muni drivers and utility
> workers are exposed (when they're actually working
> chez Muni) to all the nastiness out there. One
> might wonder whether some of those on-butts
> workers like Muni (who are being paid to do
> nothing while the bus and rail lines are shut
> down) might be reclassified to utility workers to
> get some of the water/sewer/power systems in
> better shape? Or even just pick up garbage (that
> the homeless strew around)?
>
> Salaried people *can* be furloughed. It's normal
> in a recession. There's probably only 4 days a
> week of work to do anyway, for a lot of them. When
> I worked for the state, we were furloughed twice;
> in one case, we were required to take a day off
> every week or 2 (forget the details); in the
> other, we had to work 5/40 anyway, while accruing
> time off to be used like extra vacation. So why
> isn't SF doing something like that to reduce at
> least the current cash flow?
>
> Yeah, I know, Not Invented Here, and We're
> Special.

Truth is many Muni operators and other city employees are serving as Disaster Service Workers handling out masks to transit riders or other tasks
Managers can be laid off
The city delayed workers pay raises for six months and is canceling or delaying many projects