According to the article, St. Petersburg city administrators have been meeting in recent days to discuss shortening the work week of some full-time employees, as well as mandating unpaid furloughs, to help fill the city's budget gap, created by reduced property tax collections. The four-day work week, in which employees would work slightly longer hours and keep their full salaries, is a gentler option that offers the most potential for savings over time. Furloughs, which result in smaller annual paychecks, are a more aggressive measure, according to the article.
Any plan affecting employee workload would have to be hammered out with the Florida Public Services Union, a local branch of the Service Employees International Union, which represents most city workers. Shaughnessy said the city would need to implement the changes carefully to avoid harming employee morale or incurring gender- or race-based lawsuits.